Author: Press Room

Published on 15/04/2026 – 11:24 GMT+2 Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, is now facing trial on charges of influence peddling and embezzlement, accused of using her position to secure funding for her private university projects. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Second, Sánchez’s inner circle is collapsing. Last June, his former senior aide Santos Cerdán was placed in pre-trial detention for alleged bribery. Then in November, his former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and top aide Koldo García were placed in custody over the so-called “Koldo Case”. The two officials allegedly accepted secret cash payments to award lucrative government face mask…

Despite global tensions and the 2025 Trump tariff war, trade between the European Union and China last year remained strong. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The EU exported €199.6 billion worth of goods to China, while imports reached €559.4 billion, creating a trade deficit of €359.8 billion, according to the latest Eurostat figures. Compared with 2024, EU exports fell by 6.5%, while imports from the Asian giant rose by 6.4%. But over the longer term, since 2015, EU exports to China have grown by 37.1%, while imports have surged by 89%. EU exports to China are led by machinery and mechanical appliances, such…

Péter Magyar, the winner of the Hungarian elections and the country’s incoming prime minister, has called on Viktor Orbán to lift his controversial veto on the €90 billion loan for Ukraine before vacating his office in May. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The financial scheme was agreed by the 27 leaders of the European Union in December, but Orbán used his veto in mid-February to block the legal procedure over an unrelated dispute with Kyiv involving the Druzhba pipeline, which carries low-cost Russian oil. The spat featured prominently in Orbán’s failed re-election campaign. “Viktor Orbán accepted the loan (in December), and he said…

Published on 15/04/2026 – 11:32 GMT+2 Hungary’s prime minister-elect, Péter Magyar, has announced plans to suspend the signal of the national broadcaster after forming a government, following a very heated appearance on public Hungarian television on Wednesday morning. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Magyar, whose Tisza Party secured a landslide victory in last Sunday’s election, has long accused state media of bias against his movement. The interview marked his first appearance on the national broadcaster in 18 months, although MTVA, the state media authority, said it had extended multiple invitations to Magyar and his party during the campaign. Magyar gave two interviews —…

Published on 15/04/2026 – 9:31 GMT+2 US President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched a stinging criticism of Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of his main European allies, over her unwillingness to join the Iran war. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “I’m shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong,” he said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera. The interview was published the day after Meloni condemned as “unacceptable” Trump’s criticism of Pope Leo XIV, after the supreme pontiff’s repeated calls for an end to the US intervention in Iran. “She’s unacceptable because she doesn’t mind…

Published on 14/04/2026 – 20:29 GMT+2 Holocaust survivors from around the world joined thousands of people in the March of the Living on Tuesday, an annual event held at the site of the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland in memory of the 6 million Jews killed by Nazi Germany during World War II. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Of the 50 survivors taking part, some had travelled from Israel, organisers said, despite logistical difficulties caused by airspace restrictions associated with the Iran war. Revital Yakin Krakovsky, deputy chief executive of the International March of the Living organisation, warned that antisemitism is alive today…

Spain’s government finalised a migrant amnesty measure on Tuesday that it announced earlier this year, paving the way for hundreds of thousands of immigrants living and working without authorisation in the country to apply for legal status. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The approach sharply differs from much of Europe’s prevailing attitudes on immigration in which governments are trying to reduce the number of arrivals and step up deportations. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hailed the measure as “an act of justice and a necessity.” He reiterated his government’s position that people who already live and work in the country of 49 million people…

Péter Magyar’s election as Hungary’s next prime minister — ending 16 years of Viktor Orbán’s rule — could reshape Orbán’s influence network in Brussels, from EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi to MCC Brussels, a government-linked think tank. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Magyar’s Tisza Party, which secured a two-thirds constitutional majority, has pledged to reorient Hungary’s relationships with the EU and NATO. While Magyar has yet to detail his plans for Brussels, he promised sweeping change during the campaign and after the vote. “A simple change of government is not enough to solve these problems; a change of regime is needed, because an organised…

Ukraine to hold talks with the European partners this week focused on creating a joint defence system, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced before visiting Berlin on Tuesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “I am confident: either Ukraine becomes an integral part of Europe’s security system, or some in Europe risk becoming part of the ‘Russian world,'” Zelenskyy said. Ukraine’s president reiterated that Kyiv stands ready to “support those who support us”. “Our Ukrainian security experience and our military expertise are now the most sought-after products for dozens of countries worldwide,” Zelenskyy said, referring to Kyiv’s recently signed defence agreements with the Middle East.…

Published on 14/04/2026 – 10:44 GMT+2•Updated 11:06 The President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has warned of a “much more serious economic impact” on the EU if the war in the Middle East escalates after diplomatic efforts between the US and Iran to reach a deal fell flat. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking to Euronews on Monday, Odile Renaud-Basso, who has led the multilateral development bank since 2020, said that while the current scenario in the Middle East risks curbing growth and increasing inflation in the economies in which the EBRD operates, the economic repercussions of a drawn-out war…