Author: Press Room

After a stop in the Netherlands to meet with Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten on Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron will embark on a two-day visit to Britain, becoming the first EU leader to meet new Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Downing Street. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The French President and Dutch Premier will meet in Eindhoven to discuss how to strengthen ties, especially concerning the shared priority of bolstering European sovereignty. According to the Elysée, Macron is set to be accompanied by a delegation of French companies, including Mistral AI — widely viewed as Europe’s leading AI champion — during his…

This morning, there’s a palpable sense here that the confrontation between Russia and European nations has entered a dangerous new phase. Leaders across Europe have issued scathing condemnations after Germany formally concluded yesterday that the Kremlin was responsible for a recent attempted drone attack on Leipzig airport. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Not at war, but…: Announcing fresh sanctions on Moscow in response to the incident – including tighter entry controls on Russian nationals – German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said on Tuesday: “Let me be very clear: we are not at war. But we are the target of hybrid attacks on a…

On 29 August, a majority of Icelanders rejected reopening EU accession talks, frozen since 2013, turning down what the government called a “now or never” moment. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The result means no new negotiations with Brussels and no change to Iceland’s existing ties: full access to the single market and Schengen area through the European Economic Area, but no seat in the European Parliament or vote in the Council. The referendum was legally advisory, but the government pledged to respect it, effectively shelving the question for years. Iceland already adopts most EU law through the European Economic Area. Still, it…

Published on 02/09/2026 – 8:01 GMT+2•Updated 8:37 Shona Murray reports from Ireland on a crucial gathering of EU foreign ministers as Berlin’s decision to formally attribute last month’s drone attack to Russia has raised the stakes. Their talks come as Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen meets with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte later today. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Sasha Vakulina breaks down the latest developments in Russia’s war against Ukraine as the UN Secretary General António Guterres urges world leaders to bring this and the Middle East conflict, which is flaring up again, to an end. Our Europe Editor Maria Tadeo…

Published on 01/09/2026 – 10:49 GMT+2•Updated 16:37 Sweden’s armed forces have carried out a full-scale exercise in the logistics of burying fallen soldiers, part of a broader shift by the once-neutral Nordic country toward “total defence” planning since joining NATO in 2024. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The mortuary drill formed part of Aurora 26, Sweden’s largest national military exercise since the 1990s, which ran from late April to mid-May 2026 and involved roughly 18,000 troops from 13 nations, according to the Swedish Armed Forces. A peer-reviewed account published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry describes a mortuary affairs component using more than…

Published on 01/09/2026 – 12:05 GMT+2•Updated 15:16 A person has died and two police officers were injured following a shooting overnight in Overasselt, a village in the Dutch province of Gelderland, police said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Officers were called to Ewijkseweg street at around 4:20am CET after reports of gunfire. One person was found dead at the scene; the two injured officers were taken to hospital and are “out of danger,” a police spokesperson said, according to Dutch public broadcaster, NOS. Security footage published by Dutch news outlet De Telegraaf showed a large group of masked individuals walking around in the…

Published on 01/09/2026 – 12:56 GMT+2 Germany is looking for gas deals with Algeria to diversify its supply, Berlin’s foreign minister said in Algiers on Tuesday, where he joined a business delegation visiting the North African country. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “We need to diversify…We need long-term gas contracts,” Johann Wadephul told German public broadcaster ZDF on the second day of his trip, as concerns grow in Germany that gas storage depots are only half full as autumn nears. Wadephul said that he would meet with Energy Minister Mourad Adjal and that representatives of German companies looking for long-term contracts were travelling…

Published on 01/09/2026 – 13:32 GMT+2 Norway’s King Haakon VIII pledged an oath of allegiance to the country’s constitution in parliament on Tuesday, an important symbolic step as he takes over at the helm of the Scandinavian country after his late father’s 35-year reign. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Haakon became Norway’s monarch when King Harald V died on Friday at 89. He has adopted the motto “All for Norway,” which dates back to his great-grandfather. He was driven the short distance from the royal palace to the Storting, or parliament, in an open car. There, speaker Masud Gharahkhani read the official announcement…

Published on 01/09/2026 – 14:05 GMT+2•Updated 14:34 Several improvised explosive devices were found at a substation near a coal-fired power plant in Germany on Tuesday and several power lines were damaged, police and a grid operator said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Operator 50Hertz said there was a “brief interruption of service” but all lines are now back in operation at the Preilack substation, which distributes power from the nearby Jänschwalde power plant. Police said no one was hurt. The apparent aim was to trigger a large-scale power outage in the area around the nearby coal-fired power plant. According to initial findings, however,…

The European Union is becoming increasingly dependent on the Arctic for its climate transition and defence goals and the bloc should mobilise efforts to use its own critical raw materials in the far North to cut dependencies on China, according to a European Commission official. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking at an event on the EU’s Arctic strategy on Tuesday, the bloc’s special envoy for Arctic affairs, Jyrki Katainen, argued that the war in Ukraine, China’s growing influence and changing US policy had fundamentally altered the region’s geopolitical and economic importance. “We are becoming increasingly dependent on the Arctic, economically and militarily.…