Author: Press Room

Defence contractor Rheinmetall has been awarded a major contract to manufacture combat drones for the German armed forces in a deal approved by the Bundestag Budget Committee on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT New combat drones are planned in particular for use as part of the so-called Lithuania Brigade. The unit consists of around 5,000 soldiers who guarantee the defence and security of NATO’s eastern flank at Lithuanian bases until the end of 2027, as threats from Russia persist following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The framework agreement provides for a possible total volume of up to €2.4 billion,…

Published on 16/04/2026 – 11:39 GMT+2 Hungary’s outgoing foreign minister, Péter Szijjártó, will skip next week’s foreign affairs meeting in Luxembourg following the defeat of Viktor Orbán’s government, EU diplomats told Euronews. His office did not respond to a request for comment. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Yesterday, diplomats confirmed that outgoing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will skip next week’s informal European Summit in Cyprus. Szijjártó was at the centre of controversy during the campaign over his close ties to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Leaked phone calls suggested he had offered to help remove Russian businessmen from the EU sanctions list and…

Russia launched hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles at cities overnight on Thursday across Ukraine including the capital Kyiv, killing at least 16 people and injuring scores, authorities said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Ukraine’s air force said Russia launched 659 drones and 44 missiles, of which it shot down or neutralised 636 drones and 31 missiles. Four people were killed in Kyiv, including a 12-year-old, and at least 50 others were injured, according to local authorities. The attack caused damage in several locations in the Ukrainian capital, including residential buildings, a hotel, and an office building, Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote…

Published on 16/04/2026 – 7:51 GMT+2•Updated 8:01 On today’s show: ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Top story: Euronews’ Sándor Zsíros on Péter Magyar’s next steps as Hungary’s PM-elect. Euronews’ Sasha Vakulina on Zelenskyy’s European tour. Euronews correspondent Aadel Haleem live from Doha on António Costa’s visit to Qatar. Interview with Jasem Albudaiwi, Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and Hana Jalloul Muro, MEP (S&D, Spain). Euronews’ Vincenzo Genovese on Meloni and Trump’s break up. When and where to watch Europe Today? You can join Euronews’ chief anchor Méabh Mc Mahon and our EU editor Maria Tadeo live on TV and Euronews’ website…

Published on 16/04/2026 – 8:00 GMT+2 Before Russia’s invasion, no European military fielded more than 2,000 drones. Now, both armies are burning through up to seven million units a year. Drones have vaulted from niche gadgets to the backbone of modern warfare, and Europe is racing to catch up. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The numbers alone show an extraordinary transformation. Ukraine doubled drone output from 2.2 million in 2024 to 4.5 million in 2025. But sheer volume is only half the battle. The real race is technological; the guts of these machines are obsolete almost as soon as they roll off the…

US President Donald Trump has turned on Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, calling her “unacceptable” and claiming she lacks “courage” to back the US intervention in Iran after she condemned his attacks on Pope Leo XIV. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The unexpected public rift between the two leaders, who cultivated one of the closest transatlantic relationships over the past year, erupted after Trump criticised the pontiff for his anti-war stance on Iran. “I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” Trump told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Tuesday. Trump previously called Meloni “one of the real leaders of the world”…

Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán will not attend next week’s informal summit of European Union leaders, according to several EU officials. It would have been his last summit as Hungarian prime minister in what is usually a customary farewell. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Orbán, who was decisively defeated in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, is expected to remain in office until opposition leader Péter Magyar, who won by a landslide, takes office sometime in May. Officials familiar with the preparations told Euronews they no longer expect Orbán to participate in the gathering, which will take place in Nicosia, Cyprus. The tradition in Brussels…

Hungary’s Prime Minister-designate Péter Magyar said on Wednesday that the country’s president had assured him in a meeting that his new government could take power in the first week of May, an accelerated timeline for the end of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s 16-year reign. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Following Magyar and his centre-right Tisza party’s landslide victory in Sunday’s election in which it won a two-thirds parliamentary majority, the opposition leader has pushed for the transfer of power to occur as quickly as possible. Under Hungarian law, the inaugural session of the new parliament, which must elect a new prime minister, must…

Published on 15/04/2026 – 20:30 GMT+2 Péter Magyar’s landslide victory in Hungary’s parliamentary elections on Sunday has sparked renewed optimism in Brussels. After years of Viktor Orbán’s controversial rule, including numerous vetoes, the change in government has raised hopes that previously stalled EU support for Ukraine may finally be unblocked. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT While the European Union faces increasing global challenges – from Ukraine to the Middle East – its foreign policy responses often appear slow and fragmented, raising doubts about whether its current structure remains fit for purpose. In this context, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) Daniel Freund (Greens)…

Dozens of boats carrying activists and aid for Palestinians in Gaza set sail from the northeastern Spanish city of Barcelona on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say that more than 70 boats and 1,000 people from around the world will participate, with campaigners saying it’s the biggest civilian-led mobilisation of its kind against Israel’s actions in the Palestinian territory. Nearly 40 boats left Barcelona while the rest will join the fleet from other ports along the Mediterranean as they sail eastward, according to Thiago Ávila, one of the flotilla’s leaders who spoke at a news conference…