Author: Press Room

EU pledges €6.1bn for Ukraine, including aid for Patriot interceptors

Published on 11/09/2026 – 12:40 GMT+2•Updated 15:32 The European Union is set to provide Ukraine with €6.1 billion in additional assistance to help the war-weary country purchase military equipment, notably the Patriot interceptors badly needed to shoot down Russia’s devastating ballistic missiles. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The funding, announcedon Friday, will come from the bloc’s €90 billion support loan, which reserves €28.3 billion for military aid and €16.7 billion for budget aid this year. The loan’s “Made In Europe” requirement will be lifted to procure Patriots, which are made in the United States, and drones, which depend on Chinese components. The newly…

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NATO’s deterrence increasingly undermined by lack of response to Russian ‘hybrid’ attacks

Incidents of Russian-orchestrated hybrid war attacks across NATO territory are entering a new dangerous, kinetic phase, leaders across the continent agree. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT At a meeting in early September, EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aim is to “scare us away from supporting Ukraine.” “He will not succeed,” she told journalists at a meeting of EU foreign ministers. However, others in European diplomatic circles have told Euronews that the lack of a powerful deterrent response is leaving the continent vulnerable to an escalation in Russian attacks. Germany’s decision to formally blame the Kremlin for planting…

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French blockade looms over Commission’s plan to fast-track trade deals in English

Published on 07/03/2026 – 8:00 GMT+1•Updated 11/09/2026 – 22:42 GMT+2 France will push back against a European Commission plan to fast-track ratification of trade agreements by circulating only English-language versions during talks with EU governments and lawmakers, skipping translation into the bloc’s 24 official languages, according to several sources. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The slow ratification of the contentious EU–Mercosur trade deal has frustrated the Commission, which wants to accelerate negotiations and bring deals into force more quickly as it seeks new markets amid rising geopolitical tensions. Translating the agreements into every official EU language can take months due to the legal…

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UK police ban face coverings at planned anti-migrant protest

Published on 11/09/2026 – 22:02 GMT+2 Police in southern England have banned face coverings at an anti-immigration rally as well as in a counter-protest planned in Portsmouth on Saturday, amid concerns over potential unrest. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The demonstration, organised by protesters calling themselves “patriots”, is expected to begin at around noon. Hampshire Police, which has responsibility for Portsmouth, said the mask ban was to “reduce opportunities for violence, intimidation and criminality”. It said the move followed “recent incidents of violence and intimidation by a minority of those who have been intent on disrupting peaceful protest”. A separate order will allow…

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UK lawmakers reject assisted dying bill for England and Wales

Published on 11/09/2026 – 18:15 GMT+2 UK lawmakers on Friday rejected legislation that would have allowed terminally ill adults in England and Wales to choose to end their lives. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Following an impassioned four-hour debate in the House of Commons, the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was rejected by 286 votes to 270. The outcome marked a notable reversal from last year, when an almost identical bill passed with a majority of 23 votes. The bill would have allowed adults in England and Wales with fewer than six months to live to apply for an assisted death,…

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French father jailed for threatening to behead his son’s teacher

A French court has sentenced a man to six months in prison after he threatened to “cut off the head” of a teacher at his son’s school last week. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The defendant confronted his son’s teacher in the school car park in the southwestern town of Le Fauga last week, after the nine-year-old was moved to another class because of his behaviour. He threatened to decapitate the 58-year-old teacher before entering the school, where he repeated the threats in front of the headteacher. Remarks of ‘great violence’ The court sentenced the defendant to six months in prison, to be…

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France joins Slovakia in asking to delist Russian oligarch Usmanov

By&nbspLuca Bertuzzi&nbsp&&nbspMaria Tadeo&nbsp&&nbspJorge Liboreiro Published on 11/09/2026 – 18:37 GMT+2•Updated 19:00 The French government has joined Slovakia in seeking the delisting of Russian-Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov, causing “huge frustration” among other EU countries, four EU diplomats told Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Slovakia has long pushed for Usmanov and another Russian oligarch, Mikhail Fridman, to be removed from the EU’s sanctions list targeting individuals close to Vladimir Putin’s regime and the military-industrial complex sustaining the war in Ukraine. But Bratislava is no longer alone. Paris has also called for Usmanov, who has been under EU sanctions since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022,…

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ECB chief Christine Lagarde rejects Mélenchon’s debt cancellation proposal

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde on Thursday criticised a proposal by left-wing French presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon to cancel France’s debt held by the central bank. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Lagarde said the proposal by the La France Insoumise (LFI) leader was “really not a good idea” during a press conference following the ECB’s announcement of another increase in its key interest rates. The president added that the move would amount to a “clear violation of the treaty” on the European Union. Mélenchon’s proposal essentially entails cancelling the 18% of France’s debt that is currently held by the country’s central…

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Norway’s Princess Astrid dies two days after funeral of brother King Harald

Published on 11/09/2026 – 17:14 GMT+2 Norway’s Princess Astrid, the older sister of the late King Harald, died on Friday at the age of 94, the Norwegian Royal Palace said in a statement. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Aunt Astrid was an important source of support for King Harald and the rest of our family. We learned a great deal from her, and she was never afraid to speak her mind,” King Haakon VIII ⁠said ​in the ​statement. “Her passing is a great loss to us. We will miss her.” The King added that Princess Astrid had stepped into the role of First…

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Russian assets are not the focus now, Brussels says as calls for action grow louder

Published on 11/09/2026 – 15:49 GMT+2 The immobilised assets from the Russian Central Bank are not “the primary focus” at the moment, the European Commission said on Friday amid growing calls to channel the €210 billion into additional support for cash-strapped Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Sweden, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, backed by the Baltics, have asked the executive to devise new legal options to tap the assets. Ukraine has endorsed the initiative and pitched creating an EU-owned custodian to hold the assets kept at Euroclear, a depository in central Brussels. And this week, a cross-party group of 122 members of…

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