Author: Press Room
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Rally, is seeking to become France’s next president on a hardline anti-EU platform, pledging to cut the country’s contributions to the EU budget and end funding for Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On Ukraine, Le Pen has repeatedly pledged to end financial assistance. Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Wednesday, she said that if elected, France could only sustain funding for six months because of the “perilous” state of its public finances. “This funding will stop, and it is a matter of honesty to tell [Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy] the truth,” she told Euronews.…
The European Union’s carbon market emerged as one of the most contested topics at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday and Friday – just days after high-level political talks between EU environment ministers revealed deep splits on the issue. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In lengthy debates that dragged late into the night on Thursday, the leaders of the three Nordic members faced off against the four-nation Visegrad group – Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland –over the future of the bloc’s Emissions Trading System (ETS). Italy and Greece also backed the Visegrad four as the bloc’s carbon market…
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar held his first bilateral meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sidelines of the European Council summit, following months of negotiations over when and where the two leaders would meet. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The highly symbolic encounter marks a step towards normalising relations between Kyiv and Budapest after years of tension. Under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Hungary portrayed Ukraine as a security threat, while Orbán fiercely opposed Kyiv’s bid to join the EU. Following his Tisza Party’s election victory, Magyar pledged a more pragmatic approach and sought to repair relations with Ukraine. However, his…
By Ema Gil Pires & Euronews Published on 16/10/2026 – 13:08 GMT+2 Lisbon Mayor Carlos Moedas announced on Thursday that he intended to suspend the shared e-scooter scheme in the Portuguese capital. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In a video posted on his social media, Moedas called the scheme a “disgrace” and said it was “not working.” “This is a disgrace and it is going to stop. The system as it stands is not working. Scooters are being ridden the wrong way down streets, people are behaving dangerously, accidents are on the rise, and scooters are being left abandoned in public spaces,” he said in the…
Published on 16/10/2026 – 14:00 GMT+2•Updated 14:09 Croatian leaders have slammed pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic chants by Hajduk Split football fans ahead of their UEFA Conference League match against Ajax, while Israel’s embassy voiced shock. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Groups of Hajduk Split fans, known as the Torcida, marched through the coastal town ahead of Thursday’s match chanting: “Crush the Jews”, “Rise up Adolf (Hitler)” and “Let’s go Ustasha”, referring to the country’s World War II pro-Nazi regime, local media reported. Dozens of fans were detained ahead of Thursday’s match for violence. During the match Torcida fans set off flares and other pyrotechnics…
The Vatican has released the first photographs of Pope Leo XIV since he underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumour from his right lung. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The images, published on Friday, show the pontiff celebrating Mass at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he is recovering following the operation. The Vatican said the Pope’s condition was continuing to improve, with his post-operative recovery allowing him to carry out daily activities independently and remain in good spirits.
A high-level meeting between the European Union and Turkey is expected to take place in October, focusing on efforts to restart talks on the Cyprus issue and the future of EU-Turkey relations, Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides said on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking to journalists, he said he had been informed of the planned meeting following recent discussions in New York with UN Secretary-General António Guterres, as well as talks between Guterres and EU leaders. The meeting, being organised at the request of the UN Secretary-General, aims to explore ways to create the conditions needed to resume negotiations on the Cyprus…
Published on 16/10/2026 – 18:30 GMT+2 The European Commission announced on Friday a joint task force with Ukraine to speed up accession work, after Hungary lifted its veto on opening further negotiating clusters. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT EU and Ukrainian officials will sit on the task force, which is meant to help Kyiv complete its accession homework. Earlier this week, member states agreed to open two more clusters. The remaining two are now expected by the end of the year. “Ukraine is among the countries making most progress towards EU membership. Following the opening of two more negotiating clusters this week, I…
Pope Leo XIV spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, calling for a ceasefire in a Russian-occupied city in southern Ukraine while recovering in hospital from lung cancer surgery. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The Vatican said that Pope Leo “expressed his deep concern about the grave humanitarian situation in the city of Oleshky, in the Kherson region, and called for a ceasefire to allow the delivery of food and medical assistance, and the voluntary and safe evacuation of the civilian population”. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said it was “the Holy Father who took the initiative” to…
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday rejected criticism from several European leaders over Spain’s migration policy and defended his government’s approach to tackling irregular immigration and managing migration flows. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “If you look at the facts, at the figures – which is kind of always what happens with the far right – it’s like night and day,” he said in Brussels, where he is attending the European Council summit. “What is being said has nothing to do with reality (…) one thing is the blah, blah, blah and another is reality.” Sanchez was responding to comments by Czech…