Author: Press Room

Published on 11/03/2026 – 9:41 GMT+1•Updated 10:35 Lebanese Energy Minister Joe Saddi confirmed his country has asked for direct talks with Israel, through a US intermediary, to try to put an end to an Israeli offensive that has cost close to 500 lives and displaced some 700,000 people along the border. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called earlier this week for a ceasefire to stop hostilities by land and air, and said his country was being forced into a fatal choice of direct military confrontation with Israeli or risk turning Lebanon into another Gaza. Looking for European support, Lebanese…

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has underlined the European Union’s “unwavering commitment” to international law and the multilateral system, two days after she invited controversy by declaring the 27-member bloc could “no longer be a custodian for the old-world order, for a world that has gone and will not return”. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT That speech, delivered on Monday morning at the annual conference of ambassadors, met a mixed reception: von der Leyen’s defenders said it was a much-needed dose of realpolitik, but critics said it risked giving permission for Europeans to turn a blind eye to legal breaches. The…

Published on 11/03/2026 – 10:17 GMT+1 Speaking to Euronews’ flagship morning program Europe Today, Jørgensen urged European countries to “lower their taxes on electricity” as soon as possible in response to the current spikes in energy prices due to the war in the Middle East. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Of course, there’s a very clear concern fo us that the prices are too high for our citizens and our indistries,” Jørgensen said. “we’ve sent a very clear signal to the member states of the Union, and we recommend that you lower the taxes on electricity.” Tax cuts applied quickly would “make it…

As the conflict between Israel, the US, and Iran escalates, the EU is implementing measures to protect its citizens and economies, including evacuation flights and management of oil reserves. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT On March 6, EU foreign ministers warned that the conflict puts Europeans in the region at risk and could cause global economic problems. In response, they put Europe’s crisis plans into action. To protect citizens, EU embassies have issued travel alerts, tracked nationals abroad, and organised evacuation flights. In severe scenarios, member states can request joint disaster-response support, sharing planes, medical teams and generators, coordinated around the clock from…

EU leaders are calling on the European Commission to revise electricity prices for households and industrial sites and to urgently present concrete proposals to bring down power costs in the short term, according to an internal document seen by Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The move reflects growing political pressure across the bloc to tackle persistently high electricity prices, with oil prices surpassing $114 (around €98) per barrel for the first time since 2022 on Monday amid heightened tensions over the Iran war, which has put both production and shipping in the Middle East under extreme threat. Even before the United States…

The European Commission is endorsing nuclear energy as a viable option to the bloc’s ambition to reach climate neutrality by 2050, ensuring grid stability when wind and solar can’t cover demand, EU officials said on Tuesday, bringing back a dormant scenario in which risk and environmental concerns may haunt European countries. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The EU plan to roll out small nuclear reactors (SMRs) by the early 2030s is designed to provide low-carbon electricity and heat while also decarbonising and lowering energy costs for heavy industries such as steel and chemicals. But many environmentalists argue that the technology is unproven, expensive…

After a long series of advances and setbacks, the controversial EU-US trade deal could soon be approved by the European Parliament. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Negotiators from the Parliament’s political groups met on Tuesday with Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič to discuss the recent developments, and according to sources, they are set to strike an agreement in the next meeting on March 17. If so, the deal would be voted on two days later in the Committee on International Trade, eventually get the final green light by the Parliament’s Plenary on March 26. Commissioner Šefčovič urged lawmakers on Tuesday to move ahead even…

Published on 10/03/2026 – 16:15 GMT+1 Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he reached agreement with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on the need to restore the Druzhba oil pipeline, following a meeting on the sidelines of the World Nuclear Forum. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The pipeline, which carries Russian oil through Ukraine to Slovakia and Hungary, was struck in a Russian drone attack in late January and has yet to be repaired. Bratislava and Budapest maintain that it remains operational, and accuse Kyiv of using the matter for political blackmail. “We discussed the need to resume the transit…

As the war in the Middle East sends oil prices soaring, Russia is once again driving a wedge between the European Union and the United States. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT President Donald Trump, whose endgame in Iran is not clear to Western allies, has suggestedsuspending US sanctions on foreign oil in an attempt to bring down global prices, reassure panicked investors and contain the fallout from the war he launched. “We have sanctions on some countries. We’re going to take those sanctions off till this straightens out,” Trump said on Monday. “Then, who knows? Maybe we won’t have to put them on…

Published on 10/03/2026 – 14:23 GMT+1 Someone clever once said that history is not about recording dates but about connecting the dots. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT For Europe, this signals a cold winter of diplomacy. The newly appointed Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei is a shadow operator with deep ties to the elite Revolutionary Guards military corps, and his rise suggests that Tehran has no interest in negotiations. And Europe must now prepare for three shocks. First, the war will not end quickly. Mojtaba Khamenei is a hardline choice for a hardline moment. Second, oil prices are already surging past $100, threatening a new…