Author: Press Room
My grandfather had survived the Holocaust. On October 7, 2023, I was with him in Belgium when the images from Israel began to arrive. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT For our family, genocide was not an abstract word. It was part of the history that had shaped his life and made my own possible. Now, alongside him, I was watching the first images of another massacre of Jews. I felt horror, fear and helplessness. Nevertheless, there was something particularly painful about experiencing that moment with my grandfather. After everything he had survived, he had lived long enough to witness this. The attack by…
The Commission put forth on Tuesday a comprehensive proposal that includes institutional “safeguards” that could strip new member states of voting rights up to 15 years after they joined the EU. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The proposed measure is meant to avoid that regime change in a new EU country disrupts the EU decision-making process, and is accompanied by new suggestions on how to bring candidate countries closer to the Union. “I was criticised heavily when I first mentioned that I don’t want to see new Trojan horses in the European Union. This was still before the elections in Hungary. Today I…
Official government figures put the number of demonstrators at over a quarter of a million nationwide on this third day of protest. As pupils blockaded high schools, large crowds waving flags and placards gathered in Marseille, Strasbourg and other cities. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In Paris 56.000 took to the streets and small groups clashed with riot police at the end of a largely peaceful march. Students have drawn attention to rundown classrooms that lack basics such as desks and chairs, become sweltering in summer without air conditioning and, in some cases, are infested with rats. Other common complaints include staff shortages…
The European Commission proposed to exclude certain agricultural products from accessing the European market and receiving EU funding even after Ukraine becomes a full member of the bloc. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The proposal comes as part of an enlargement strategy meant to prepare the Union to better absorb new countries, and is meant to address concerns from several member states that their agricultural sector could be undercut by the Ukrainian one. “One area where we have to be very careful is agriculture. Why? Because the structure and the size of agriculture in Ukraine is really unique, therefore, we are proposing that…
By Anna Kirchheim with AFP Published on 06/10/2026 – 23:36 GMT+2•Updated 07/10/2026 – 0:51 GMT+2 Swedish police say they shot an armed man outside the Royal Palace in central Stockholm on Tuesday evening after receiving reports of a disruptive individual carrying a weapon. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Police said officers responding to the incident opened fire on the man. “The man was hit and taken to hospital,” Stockholm police spokeswoman Susanna Rinaldo told AFP. She said his injuries were considered serious but not life-threatening. Rinaldo initially declined to specify the type of weapon involved, adding that the police operation remained ongoing but that there was…
Published on 06/10/2026 – 20:07 GMT+2 Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced the decision to take over the tasks currently carried out by the Netherlands. The Swedish regiment will be responsible for protecting the hub from threats coming from the air, including drones and rockets. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Commander of the Swedish air defence regiment, Colonel Sofia Westermark, described the operation as the most complex mission Sweden has undertaken as a NATO member. She stressed that the location is exposed to threats both from the air and from the ground. The importance of Rzeszów-Jasionka is exceptional. It is one of…
After months of tensions, relations between Brussels and Beijing are entering a crucial phase, with the European Commission having set October as a deadline to secure “tangible” results with Beijing to rebalance their trade relationship. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The stakes are high for the EU, whose trade deficit with China has now reached a record €1 billion a day. Key talks will take place in Beijing at the end of this week between EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao. They will be followed next week by a meeting of EU leaders, with China set to top…
Lithuania has taken a step towards removing a constitutional ban on nuclear weapons from its territory, bringing the Baltic state closer to the legal position of its neighbours as European allies debate how to strengthen NATO’s deterrence in the face of Russia. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, voted 106-18, with six abstentions, on Tuesday to advance a constitutional amendment removing a provision that bars weapons of mass destruction and foreign military bases from Lithuanian territory. The change still requires a second vote after a constitutionally mandated three-month waiting period. At least 94 of the Seimas’ 141 members must…
Spanish Supreme Court judge Pablo Llarena has revoked the national arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont after Spain’s Constitutional Court endorsed applying the amnesty law linked to Catalan’s independence drive that culminated in a 2017 referendum. The decision removes one of the main legal hurdles to the former president of Catalonia’s regional government returning to Spain. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Llarena’s move follows a Constitutional Court ruling in favour of former Catalan regional minister Dolors Bassa. Until now, the Supreme Court had refused to apply the amnesty, a 2024 law covering those prosecuted over the “procés”, to embezzlement connected to the bid for…
Published on 06/10/2026 – 11:12 GMT+2•Updated 11:58 Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev has condemned a drone attack on two commercial ships in the Black Sea that sank one of them, calling it “a flagrant violation of maritime law”. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Such an attack within the Bulgarian exclusive economic zone is absolutely unacceptable,” he told reporters on Tuesday at the start of an emergency government meeting on the strikes. Sea and aerial drones hit the vessels at about 3am local time (2am CET), around 70 nautical miles east of the town of Byala according to Radev, the Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA)…