Author: Press Room
The Spanish government is seeking to contain a scandal linked to EU pandemic funds, categorically denying that it used European money to pay pensions, as member states prepare for tough budget talks amid deep divisions over how funding should be allocated. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT An official in Madrid with direct knowledge of how EU funds are structured told Euronews that a technical matter is being instrumentalised in a way that is “simply false”, accusing the opposition of playing politics over what it describes as an accounting issue. A Spanish budget watchdog reported earlier this month that the government of Pedro Sánchez…
Published on 15/05/2026 – 18:13 GMT+2 Norway’s foreign ministry has defended a decision to revoke export licenses linked to a naval missile system for Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur warned that the move could impact confidence in European defense suppliers. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The move had blocked delivery of the Naval Strike Missile system as well as launcher components that had been destined for Malaysia’s littoral combat ship program under the terms of a 2018 deal. The purchase had been planned as part of the Southeast Asian nation’s wider naval modernisation efforts. The Norwegian ministry on Friday said that while Oslo “greatly…
At least seven individuals — including multiple figures with ties to Europe’s far-right — have been barred from attending a rally organised by far-right activist Tommy Robinson in central London on 16 May. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT A number of those barred by British authorities were set to address crowds at the “Unite the Kingdom” march, but the Home Office declined their electronic travel authorisation (ETA), a system brought in earlier in 2026 that, once granted, allows visa-exempt foreign nationals to visit the UK multiple times over a period of two years. Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, said that they were banned…
Five countries pushed back against the European Commission’s plans over what they see as an increasingly centralised vision for planning Europe’s future electricity, according to a document seen by Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Bulgaria, Finland, France, Poland and Sweden argue that the European Union’s green transition risks becoming slower, more expensive and less secure if Brussels attempts to command grid development from the centre. Instead, they are proposing a Europe of coordinated regions rather than a fully centralised energy union. “An exclusive focus on a top-down approach would hinder the (Grids) Package’s objective. We alternatively suggest that the regional planning and…
Published on 15/05/2026 – 14:02 GMT+2•Updated 14:04 Ukraine and Russia exchanged 205 prisoners of war each on Friday, Kyiv and Moscow said, a week after US President Donald Trump announced a large swap would take place between the two countries. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In a post on Telegram, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that most of the Ukrainians handed over had been in Russian captivity since 2022, the year Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “This is the first phase of the 1,000-for-1,000 prisoner exchange,” he said. Zelenskyy also posted pictures of the released Ukrainians, showing them wrapped in national…
Two young innovators from Poland and Finland have built one of the world’s best satellite systems. The radar sensors of ICEYE monitor oil spills, hurricanes and forest fires from an altitude of 600 km. The nanosatellites detect illegal loggers, collect data on flooding, and keep an eye on the movements of military equipment. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Even through cloud cover and in the middle of the night, the small satellites deliver ultra-precise detailed images. They identify aircraft types at hostile airports. The eyes of ICEYE track suspicious ship movements across vast stretches of ocean. The fourth generation of satellites currently in…
Spanish football club FC Barcelona have declined to provide comment on accusations made by the Israeli defence minister towards its star player Lamine Yamal of “inciting hatred” against the country after he waved a Palestinian flag at a victory parade. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Katz said the player’s gesture, made during Barcelona’s recent La Liga title celebrations, amounted to “inciting hatred towards Israel and the Jewish people”, adding that anyone who supports actions like Yamal’s should “ask themselves: is this humanitarian? Is this moral?” Israel’s defence minister also said that Yamal chose to do it “while Israeli soldiers were fighting the terrorist…
The Commission’s €1.8 trillion budget proposal does not say “we are cutting NGOs.” But, if cuts happen, they will come through structural design, fewer dedicated funding lines, weaker earmarks, and more money routed through national governments. Civil society coalitions warn it could be slow defunding dressed up as simplification. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT No clear defenders The MFF reorganises the EU budget from 52 programmes to 16, folding cohesion, social, and agricultural spending into 27 national partnership plans. The protected headings are defence, competitiveness, and digital and green transitions. Civil society is not one of them. “We are in a moment of…
Published on 15/05/2026 – 11:40 GMT+2 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that joint debt was not an option to finance the European economy, speaking at a ceremony awarding former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi the Charlemagne Prize. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In his speech at Aachen Cathedral, Merz echoed Draghi’s call to boost European competitiveness, but differences remain over how to finance it. “Some now believe we can evade this painful task by taking on new debt, European debt, by financing regular spending through debt. Germany cannot follow this path for constitutional reasons alone, and, ladies and gentlemen, we…
By Inês Trindade Pereira & video by Léa Becquet Published on 15/05/2026 – 10:23 GMT+2•Updated 10:40 Germany was the world’s largest exporter of plastic waste in 2025, sending 810,000 tonnes overseas, according to a new study. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT It was followed by the UK, which exported 675,000 tonnes abroad, said the report, which was carried out by journalists at Watershed Investigations and the environmental NGO Basel Action Network (BAN) for British news outlet The Guardian. It’s the country’s highest level in eight years and produced enough to fill about 127,000 shipping containers. Meanwhile, at an EU level, the bloc exported 1.5 billion kg/year…