Author: Press Room

Published on 06/08/2026 – 14:02 GMT+2 European Commission spokesperson Guillaume Mercier confirmed on Thursday that discussions between Spain and Brussels were at “full speed” regarding extra financial support for Ceuta after 72,000 individuals stormed the Spanish exclave from Morocco last week. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Responding to a question asked by Euronews, Mercier said the EU executive received the first needs assessment from Spain on Wednesday. Technical discussions occurred earlier in the week, with Brussels now reviewing the assessment. “Then, the next step will be actually for Spain to make an application and submit formally to the Commission,” he said. The new…

Published on 06/08/2026 – 13:13 GMT+2 A Russian drone attack reportedly targeted the German cargo ship “EMIL” on Wednesday, as reported by the Germany daily newspaper Bild. The freighter is said to have been hit several times by drones. A fire is then reported to have broken out and several technical systems failed, leaving the vessel unable to manoeuvre. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT While crew members were being brought to safety, the freighter was reportedly attacked again. There were said to be 11 people on board, none of them German nationals. No injuries have been reported. The “EMIL” is reported to have…

Published on 06/08/2026 – 11:45 GMT+2 Hungary’s parliament will vote on a new president next Tuesday, but no candidate has yet been nominated for the post. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT A change of guard in key state positions was one of Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s main promises after his Tisza party won a landslide victory in April’s general election, ending Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. In July, Magyar’s government used a constitutional amendment to remove the previous president, Tamás Sulyok, whom the prime minister described as an Orbán “puppet”. Shortly afterwards, Magyar offered the role to chess legend and former world…

A significant drop in migrant flows towards Greece’s sea borders has been recorded in the first half of 2026, according to figures presented by the Greek minister for maritime affairs, Vassilis Kikilias. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT As noted in a post on X, total arrivals from Turkey and Libya have fallen by 34% compared with the same period in 2025. Since the beginning of the year, 15,389 arrivals have been recorded, against 23,243 in the same period last year. The steepest decline was seen in migrant flows from Turkey, which are down 59%, while arrivals from Libya showed a smaller decrease of…

Published on 06/08/2026 – 10:20 GMT+2 Trees age very slowly. The reason is that they constantly renew their tissues: needles or leaves, bark, twigs, trunk and roots are continuously regenerated while older parts gradually die off. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT A remarkable fact: while trunk and crown are exposed to wind, weather, animals and loggers, a tree’s vast underground root system can continue to live on, hidden from view, for much longer. Germany’s probably oldest tree stands in complete seclusion on a grazed alpine meadow between Steibis and Balderschwang in the Upper Allgäu, at an altitude of 1,100 metres. The German Dendrological…

More than 434,976 hectares have burned across the EU so far, according to the July 30th data from the European Forest Fires Information System (EFFIS). In 2025, more than one million hectares burned, making it the worst wildfire season since records began. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT This is why Brussels decided to rewrite the rulebook on how Europe deals with fire. For decades, EU wildfire policy meant buying more planes, trucks, and firefighters. Now, the emphasis is shifting toward something more consequential: stopping fires from becoming catastrophic in the first place. Why response alone was never going to work The logic is…

The European Union is rearming at an eye-watering pace not witnessed in decades. Yet as the continent invests billions into its military might, and confronts its most perilous environment since the Cold War, four EU countries cling to a defining principle: neutrality. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Austria, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus have each maintained policies of neutrality or military non-alignment — though they differ considerably in their legal status and interpretation. These concepts have adapted — or are adapting — to an increasingly volatile world, punctuated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a turbulent US presidency. For these countries, neutrality is a…

“We are not interested in having the extension of Russia on our borders for many reasons,” Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys said of neighbouring Belarus. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Those concerns are part of the reason for the Bundeswehr’s first permanently stationed combat brigade abroad in its 71-year history. By the end of 2027, around 5,000 German soldiers will be permanently stationed in Lithuania, just a few kilometres from the Belarusian border, to help protect NATO’s eastern flank. The Lithuania Brigade – officially Panzerbrigade 45 – will be the Bundeswehr’s first permanent overseas deployment since it was founded in 1955. Budrys added…

Pope Leo XIV will visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from 6-17 November, the Vatican said on Wednesday, in a return to the continent where the pontiff spent decades as a missionary. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The pope, who was born Robert Francis Prevost in the US city of Chicago, lived for more than two decades in Peru, where he was a missionary and bishop in Chiclayo. The northern city will be among the stops the head of the Roman Catholic Church will make in the Andean nation, along with the capital Lima, Cusco and Pucallpa. The pope, who obtained Peruvian citizenship in…

Moroccan prosecutors have charged 25 people in connection with last Thursday’s mass crossing of migrants into the Spanish territory of Ceuta. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The charges include organising illegal border crossings, transporting passengers without a license, overcrowding vessels, overstaying visas, insulting and assaulting security forces, and deliberately damaging public property. The Moroccan news outlet Hespress reported the developments this week. On Monday, the Moroccan government denied that it had given in to “pressure or blackmail” during the crisis – which saw tens of thousands of migrants enter Ceuta – while expressing its “disappointment” at the reactions of several European leaders, accusing…