Author: Press Room

Published on 31/08/2026 – 16:10 GMT+2 Hungary has fulfilled all the milestones required to receive the full €10 billion in post-coronavirus recovery funds earmarked for the country, Transport and Investment Minister Dávid Vitézy announced on social media. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The deadline for meeting the conditions attached to the payments expired on Monday. Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who won a landslide election victory in April, had campaigned on a promise to unlock EU funds that were suspended during Viktor Orbán’s 16-year rule In May, Magyar and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to release €16.4 billion in EU funding…

Published on 31/08/2026 – 15:16 GMT+2•Updated 15:34 Romania is set to lose at least €770 million in EU funds after political disagreements prevented the country from meeting a key deadline in its post-pandemic recovery plan. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The main political parties failed to reach a consensus on a new public-sector salary law before the 31 August deadline for completing reforms linked to the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. According to EU sources, the missed deadline will cost Romania around €770 million, to be deducted from the €8.44 billion in EU funds still due to the country – around 40% of…

Published on 31/08/2026 – 14:20 GMT+2•Updated 14:33 European countries that still hold significant stocks of interceptor missiles are expected to face pressure from the European Commission to transfer them to Ukraine, as Kyiv’s need for air-defence systems grows increasingly urgent, EU officials told Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Spain and Greece, in particular, are expected to come under pressure at a defence meeting on Tuesday in County Wicklow, Ireland, to provide some of their stocks. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late August that deliveries of Patriot interceptors had declined even as Russian missile attacks on Ukraine intensified. He said Kyiv needs an…

Israel’s defence ministry said on Monday it had signed a deal with Athens worth approximately €3 billion to set up the “Achilles Shield” aerial defence system for Greece. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Under the deal, Israel will build Greece a comprehensive, multi-layered air defence array, drawing entirely on Israeli-made systems and on the extensive operational experience Israel’s defence establishment has gained during the war,” the ministry said in a statement. “This is the largest defence export deal in the history of Israel-Greece relations and one of the largest in the history of the State of Israel,” it added. The deal was signed…

Italy’s government announced a 15-day extension to the suspension of the Schengen agreement with Spain after the mass influx of at least 72,000 migrants from Morocco entered the Spanish territory of Ceuta last month. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT According to a statement from the Interior Ministry “the government is in the process of notifying the EU of the extension, for a further 15 days, of checks at air and sea borders with Spain.” “The considerations behind the extension measure were set out by Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi to his Spanish counterpart, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, during a constructive phone conversation,” the statement said. Border…

Published on 31/08/2026 – 11:38 GMT+2 Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Monday that a mass influx of at least 72,000 migrants to the enclave of Ceuta a month ago was still under investigation, while denouncing “fake information” spread by the “ultra-right.” ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “After July 30 and 31, there was a spread of rumours and disinformation, from social networks linked both to Russia and to Israel, and to an ultra-right international that always uses migration not only to attack Spain, but also to attack Europe and divide it,” Sánchez told Cadena Ser radio. Sánchez also ruled out any…

Published on 31/08/2026 – 10:00 GMT+2•Updated 10:02 Europe must accept higher short-term costs to reduce its dependence on China for clean-energy technologies, EU Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra has told Euronews, warning that delaying action will make the strategic vulnerability harder and more expensive to unwind. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The EU should have confronted its reliance on China “five to ten years ago”, Hoekstra said, arguing that waiting longer would bring greater disruption and costs. “But it will be much cheaper and much more to our advantage to do it now than be wishy washy and wait another five to 10…

After a summer of dramatic wildfires and an intense heatwave across Europe, EU climate chief Wopke Hoekstra is calling for more investment in climate prevention, saying it’s better to pay upfront than fix the damage later. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In an exclusive interview with Maria Tadeo, he also warned the EU has built too many strategic dependencies and must level the playing field with China to win the climate transition, accusing Beijing of not playing by international trade rules.

Europe must spend more upfront to protect itself from increasingly severe climate disasters, European Union Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told Euronews, arguing that paying for fires, floods and other damage after they strike will ultimately cost far more. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “All evidence shows that making the upfront investments is way cheaper than just being hit by fire, being hit by floods and then paying for the damage. That’s just way more costly,” Hoekstra said. Describing the summer as “dramatic”, the Dutch Commissioner said the EU was better prepared than last year, with more firefighters, planes and helicopters deployed, but…

Published on 30/08/2026 – 21:14 GMT+2 US defence contractor Covenant plans to start producing medium-range missiles near Leipzig from 2027, according to sources, with up to 1,000 missiles a year thought to be possible. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The plans could bring a previously little-known cruise missile into greater focus in Germany. But what is actually known about the new weapon? A reported range of more than 1,500 kilometres The missiles are expected to have a range of more than 1,500 kilometres, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. So far, however, few other technical details are known. According to sources,…