Author: Press Room

Almost one year ago, Ursula von der Leyen made one of her boldest moves as president of the European Commission: she proposed using the immobilised assets of the Russian Central Bank to support Ukraine’s budgetary and financial needs. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT By tapping the assets, she said, the bloc could raise up to €210 billion in fresh assistance for Kyiv without encumbering public coffers. European taxpayers would be spared. And the void left by the United States, under President Donald Trump, would be filled. It was an idea, quite simply, without precedent in modern history: the aggressor’s money would pay for…

Seven key candidates from across the political spectrum vying to become France’s next president clashed in a debate hosted by the MEDEF, the country’s largest employer federation, on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Less than eight months ahead of the presidential election, the economy, pensions and public debt dominated the debate held at Roland-Garros, the home of the French open. The seven candidates included two of French President Emmanuel Macron’s former prime ministers, centrist Gabriel Attal and centre-right figure Edouard Philippe. Divisive figures such as hard-left leader Jean Luc Mélenchon, as well as far-right politician Marine Le Pen were present, alongside centre-left…

Germany, Austria, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden want to cut the EU’s proposed long-term budget for 2027–2034, but have yet to agree on how much. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hosted the leaders of Finland, Austria and Denmark for a lunch meeting in Berlin on Thursday to discuss cuts to the EU’s next seven-year budget. The prime ministers of the Netherlands and Sweden joined by video conference. The meeting of the so-called “frugals” — vocal net contributors to the EU budget — was intended to reaffirm their shared demand to reduce the budget’s overall size. But they again…

Police arrested the head of the Polish Olympic Committee on Thursday on suspicion that he took bribes from a crypto trader in return for sponsorship deals, officials said. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Radosław Piesiewicz, who is considered close to Poland’s nationalist right, is suspected of receiving kickbacks from Zondacrypto, which the government accuses of having links to nationalist opposition groups, organised crime and Russian intelligence services. “Radosław Piesiewicz has been arrested,” Poland’s Sports Minister Jakub Rudnicki confirmed in a post on X. “Such a person should never have been president of the Polish Olympic Committee…Piesiewicz has discredited Polish Olympics,” he added. Interior…

Divided Cyprus’ rival leaders agreed to hold weekly meetings following talks on Wednesday, after UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged them to step up preparations for long-stalled reunification talks. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Guterres has personally undertaken the initiative to get Cyprus talks back on track, visiting the island in July for meetings with Nikos Christodoulides, president of the internationally recognised Republic of Cyprus in the Greek-speaking south, and Tufan Erhürman, the pro-unification leader of the Turkish-occupied north. Wednesday’s sit-down in Cyprus’ UN-controlled buffer zone was the first time the pair have met face to face since Guterres’ visit and was seen as…

A group of four countries have relaunched the push to unlock immobilised Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s budgetary and military needs before European Union member states become distracted by their own domestic elections. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The EU holds €210 billion of these assets, most of it in Belgium. “Ukraine needs more financial support in both the short and long term. The EU, in dialogue with its partners, should continue to provide comprehensive, predictable and structured financial support to Ukraine in line with its need,” the letter reads. The letter was led by Sweden and co-signed by the Netherlands, Spain and…

Published on 27/08/2026 – 16:22 GMT+2•Updated 16:53 UEFA is preparing a criminal complaint against FIFA President Gianni Infantino in Swiss courts for possible financial mismanagement over his failed plan to sell future World Cup profits to private investors. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT UEFA said on Thursday it filed documents in a Manhattan court requesting discovery of potential evidence from the New York investment fund, Thrive Capital Management, founded by Joshua Kushner. Thrive and Kushner were to be the anchor investors intending to pay FIFA $4.2 billion (€3.6 billion) for a 20% stake in a subsidiary that would run the soccer body’s commercial…

After a summer of record heatwaves, devastating wildfires and drought, environmental researchers are urging European Union countries to step up efforts to restore ecosystems ahead of a 1 September deadline while flagging a €65 billion annual shortfall in the bloc’s nature restoration funds. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT EU capitals have just days left to submit their draft nature restoration plans to the European Commission, as mandated by the bloc’s Nature Restoration Regulation. The appeal comes after Spain and France lost thousands of hectares to raging wildfires and Hungary and Romania had to shut down part of their nuclear power plants as water…

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Vladimir Putin is “not going to attack” NATO territory, pushing back against media reports that Washington is concerned about a possible Russian move on Europe. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Trump’s comments came two days after CIA Director John Ratcliffe flew to Moscow for surprise talks that the Wall Street Journal and CBS News had said was an attempt to dissuade Russia from attacking NATO members, amid US intelligence assessments that Moscow could seek to test the alliance. “I’ve had good talks with him. He’s not going to be attacking a NATO territory,” Trump told…

Published on 27/08/2026 – 22:25 GMT+2 Switzerland announced its intention to build a military drone battalion on Thursday, amid a rearmament trend across Europe. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “From 2028, the army will deploy its own drone battalion for reconnaissance, operations and defence,” the defence ministry said in a statement. The battalion will be backed up by a specialised recruitment and training programme. The ministry outlined plans for a civilian-military centre for drones and robotics, consisting of a tech hub and a military command. “New solutions are to be jointly developed, tested and quickly made usable for military use,” it said. The…