Author: Press Room

Published on 17/07/2026 – 16:41 GMT+2•Updated 16:42 Hungary has taken significant steps to restore the rule of law in the two months since Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office, the European Commission said in a report presented on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The new government has launched “intense reform efforts”, with several legislative changes already advanced, according to the report, which describes the progress made as “impressive” given the short time since the change of government. “You have a very radical change compared with last year’s report. Things have moved very, very quickly in the right direction,” a senior EU official…

The European Union’s economy should reach a 46 percent electrification target in transport, industry and buildings by 2040 in order to cut €260 billion per year in imported fossil fuel costs, the EU Commission said on Friday as it unveiled a set of proposals to ease the process. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The proposed measures include reforms to fees charged by energy network operators, energy taxation, and building efficiency. Brussels is stepping up its electrification efforts as part of a scramble to find quick solutions to offset the loss of oil and gas from the Strait of Hormuz, which exposed the EU’s…

What began as spontaneous anger over Mykhailo Fedorov’s dismissal has swelled into public outrage over Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s management of the military, with protesters demanding radical changes at the top command**.** ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Zelenskyy is now scrambling to contain a bitter stand-off between the reform‑minded, tech-saavy former defence boss, widely supported by the military and civil society, and the army chief at the heart of Ukraine’s war effort. Reshuffle gone wrong On Sunday 12 July Zelenskyy announced a sweeping cabinet reshuffle. With nationwide elections suspended under martial law amid Moscow’s full‑scale war, a cabinet revamp is his only viable instrument for…

The European Union’s push to approve a new round of sanctions against Russia has bumped into a formidable roadblock: Greece. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The country, which hosts the world’s largest merchant fleet, has put its foot down and demanded an adjustment to the EU-wide ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), scheduled to take full effect on the first day of 2027. The ban, as agreed last year, will prohibit the “purchase, import or transfer, directly or indirectly,” of LNG that “originates in Russia or is exported from Russia”. Greece now seeks to reopen the measure and insert an exemption to…

Published on 17/07/2026 – 12:57 GMT+2 Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar is seeking a refund of the European Union’s €1 million daily migration fine imposed on his country. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Brussels fined Hungary a lump sum of €200 million, plus a daily penalty, in 2024, after Viktor Orbán’s government failed to implement a 2020 European Court of Justice ruling on migration. The court had found that Hungary had breached EU law by failing to guarantee asylum seekers the right to fair treatment. At the time, Hungary had built a border fence with Serbia to prevent migrants from entering the country.…

The severe thunderstorms that hit France on Thursday evening left at least two people dead, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In Saint-Victurnien, in the Haute-Vienne département, a woman died after a tree fell. In Dolomieu, in the Isère département, a man was found charred in a workshop that burned down after a lightning strike. Thirty départements in central and eastern France were placed on orange alert for thunderstorms, with a risk of large hailstones, on Thursday evening. Power grid operator Enedis said on Friday morning that nearly 53 000 households had been affected by power cuts following the…

Spain is facing three active wildfires and one that has already been extinguished this Friday, on a day marked by heat, wind and a lack of humidity. The most serious is in the Cinco Villas district in the province of Zaragoza, which has become the largest fire of the year in the country after burning 12,000 hectares. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Declared on Wednesday, the fire remains “fairly active” and advanced significantly during Thursday night and the early hours of Friday, according to the authorities. The perimeter has already reached 60 kilometres and has forced the evacuation of six villages: Orés, Asín,…

Rarely has a week gone by in recent years that NATO has not been making headlines. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now well into its fifth year, continues to be a priority for the military alliance as it reiterates its steadfast support for Kyiv, and European allies rally to boost their own defences. US President Donald Trump has used his second term to shake NATO to its very core; from threats to seize Greenland from Denmark and to annex Canada (both fellow members), to criticism of what he calls a lack of defence spending by other countries, and…

First, a scoop: My colleague Vincenzo Genovese reports that US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner called for a radical overhaul of financial support for Gaza while addressing a closed-door meeting of the Palestine Donor Group in Brussels, in which European and Arab delegates pledged a nearly €900-million recovery package. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking via video last week, Kushner dismissed the Gaza aid initiatives carried out so far as “designed step by step by NGOs and terrorists”, and called for a fundamental shift in approach to “turn the tide”, according to people familiar with the content of the private talks consulted…

Published on 17/07/2026 – 7:30 GMT+2 Restricting Chinese access to the EU’s market of 450 million consumers could undermine Beijing’s export-driven economy and pose a risk to the country’s political stability, German liberal MEP Engin Eroglu, chair of the European Parliament’s delegation for relations with China, told Euronews, arguing that China’s model is “flawed.” ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT His comments come as tensions between Brussels and Beijing have ramped up in recent weeks. The EU has set an October deadlinewith China last month to discuss how they can reduce their trade imbalance, after the bloc’s deficit with China reached a record €1…