Author: Press Room

Published on 07/07/2026 – 20:42 GMT+2•Updated 20:57 Marine Le Pen will remain a candidate for France’s 2027 presidential election despite a French court upholding her conviction for the embezzling of EU funds, the leader of the National Rally announced on French TV channel TF1. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Tonight, I am a candidate for the presidential election,” Le Pen told the channel, adding that she would refer her case to France’s highest court, the court of cassation. **”**I want to pursue all available avenues of appeal so that I can defend my innocence in this case.” Le Pen made clear that the…

The European Union’s post-pandemic recovery fund has poured €43 billion into improving the energy efficiency of private homes, but a damning report from the European Court of Auditors (ECA) published on Tuesday concludes the program has failed to maximise energy savings, monitor results properly or ensure taxpayers received value for money. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “EU renovation funding for private homes should go to those projects with the greatest potential for cutting energy use. However, we saw all too often that Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) funds went where they were easiest to spend, not where they would make the biggest difference”,…

Published on 07/07/2026 – 17:15 GMT+2 US defence giant Lockheed Martin and Germany’s Rheinmetall have agreed to begin producing ATACMS short-range ballistic missiles in Germany, marking the first time the US-developed weapon system will be manufactured outside the United States. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT With a range of up to 300 kilometres, the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) has been widely used by Ukraine throughout the war. The announcement comes as NATO leaders gather in Turkey for the alliance’s summit, where Europe’s military build-up is expected to take centre stage amid pressure from US President Donald Trump for allies to boost defence…

Published on 07/07/2026 – 17:37 GMT+2 Broadcasts on Hungary’s national television and radio channels stopped on Tuesday afternoon after a temporary management team was installed. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Shutting down the service had long been a promise of Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who took power in April after ousting Viktor Orbán, who had governed Hungary for 16 years. MTVA’s television channel is currently showing a black screen with a message of apology: “Public media cannot lie. We apologise because we did this anyway.” The message went on to say the broadcaster will be restructured to become independent and credible in future.…

Published on 07/07/2026 – 16:24 GMT+2 The European Commission has presented its plan for tackling the cybersecurity risks posed by cutting-edge AI, but Brussels has little to offer beyond recommendations and an attempt to negotiate early access with US AI companies. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Artificial intelligence is redefining the cyber threat landscape, letting malicious actors run cheaper, more scalable and more sophisticated operations. In what critics see as a typical EU reflex to generate paperwork rather than solve complicated problems, the Commission has produced an action plan — a patchwork of existing regulatory tools and new initiatives stitched together into a…

Published on 07/07/2026 – 15:18 GMT+2•Updated 15:32 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his country should be member of NATO because it already possesses some of the most advanced battlefield capabilities in Europe. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Addressing NATO’s Summit Defence Industry Forum in Ankara, he insisted that Ukraine is no longer a security recipient, but now a provider. Kyiv’s military has become a “source of extraordinary defensive capability” for Europe, Zelenskyy said, due to Ukraine’s rapid technological adaptation. “Do you really believe it would be right to leave outside NATO, a country and people with this level of defensive capability?” he…

Published on 07/07/2026 – 13:59 GMT+2•Updated 14:57 A Paris appeals court handed France’s far-right chief Marine Le Pen one year of house arrest over a fake jobs scam in the European parliament on Tuesday, casting doubt on whether she will run for president next April. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The appeals court handed the three-time presidential candidate a 45-month ban from office, 30 months of which were suspended. The other 15 months were expected to be backdated from the initial verdict by a lower court in March last year and therefore to have expired, meaning she could in theory be a candidate.…

A Ukrainian military intelligence officer confessed to killing a woman suspected of attempting to assassinate a businessman in Monaco last week, the Prosecutor’s Office and the Security Service (SBU) said on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The woman, identified last week as 39-year-old Anastasiia Berezovska, was suspected of carrying out a bomb attack in Monaco and was found shot dead in Ukraine, police said, adding that an active intelligence officer and an accomplice had been detained on suspicion of her murder. In a statement, Ukraine’s national police said officers had “detained two individuals on suspicion of murdering a woman who was wanted…

Updated: 07/07/2026 – 11:53 GMT+2 Rolf R. Strauch, Chief Economist at the European Stability Mechanism, said governments “have to create growth” to avoid a possible recession. The global instability poses “high demands” in governments that have to face them with limited fiscal space. … More

Published on 07/07/2026 – 11:14 GMT+2•Updated 11:29 Allies not on their way to spending 5 percent of GDP on defence will come under pressure from fellow NATO allies, Dutch Defence Minister Dilan Yeşilgöz-Zegerius has told Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT NATO leaders are meeting for their summit in Ankara, where the first day’s business will centre around multiple defence investment announcements by NATO countries expected to total hundreds of billions of euros. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has called on allies to translate their commitment to ramp up spending into actual capabilities such as patriot defence systems, drone technology, and ammunition. “Here…