Author: Press Room

Published on 29/04/2026 – 18:54 GMT+2 An international taskforce formed to crack down on “violence for hire” has led to 280 arrests in its first year, the European Union’s police agency Europol said on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The arrests underscore a trend across the continent of criminals hiring people, many of them youngsters, via social media and messaging apps to carry out acts of violence ranging from assaults to murders in a chilling form of a gig economy. “Violence is no longer confined to isolated acts or local dynamics. It is increasingly offered as a service: accessible, scalable and driven…

Published on 29/04/2026 – 17:47 GMT+2 Women MEPs will be allowed to delegate their vote to a colleague before and after childbirth, thanks to a new measure aimed at strengthening work-life balance – despite claims that it runs against the European Parliament’s gender equality policy. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The changes, adopted by MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday, introduce a temporary waiver to the rule requiring in-person voting for the Parliament’s plenary sessions. The rules will let female MEPs delegate their vote to a trusted fellow lawmaker for up to three months before their due date and for six months after giving…

Published on 29/04/2026 – 16:57 GMT+2 The European Union will ease its strict state aid rules to help fuel-dependent sectors cope with surging energy prices and other economic effects of the crisis in the Middle East, the European Commission announced on Wednesday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The emergency, short-term measures will allow national governments to subsidise up to 70% of the extra cost of fuel and fertilisers for farmers, fishing firms and road transport carriers. The measures are “a targeted, temporary and proportionate response that will help to shield European businesses from the immediately felt effects of the Middle East conflict,” EU…

Published on 29/04/2026 – 13:07 GMT+2•Updated 15:15 The EU must deal with the US as an equal partner, not as a junior one, European Parliament vice-president Sophie Wilmès told Euronews on Wednesday, as EU leaders weigh a harder line with Washington over the Iran war and trade tariffs. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “What is very important regarding the United States is that we are talking to each other as equal partners and not as a big brother against the little brother or the little sister,” Wilmès said. “Europe should do with Europe,” the former Belgian prime minister replied when asked whether the…

Published on 29/04/2026 – 14:28 GMT+2•Updated 14:49 Two people were stabbed in north London on Wednesday, Jewish groups said, following a series of arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in the area, as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident “deeply concerning.” ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT A man was arrested after he was seen running with a knife “attempting to stab Jewish members of the public,” the Shomrim Jewish neighbourhood watch said on social media. It added that two people were stabbed and were being treated by Hatzola, a Jewish volunteer ambulance service. The incident happened in Golders Green, a part of…

EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius is pushing a new geopolitical proposal: a treaty-backed European Defence Union that would include the EU as well as Britain, Norway and Ukraine. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking in Poland on Wednesday, Kubilius said Europe must be ready to defend itself with or without allies in Washington – adding, “there is no time to waste”. “It would (be) a big strategic mistake from our side not to seek such an integration,” Kubilius said. “Let’s be realistic. NATO membership for Ukraine for the time being is not available and full membership of the European Union is a complicated…

The world should end new fossil fuel drilling, EU Climate Action Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra has said, adding that global energy security depends on reducing oil and gas dependency. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Speaking on Tuesday at an international conference in Santa Marta, Colombia, aimed at quitting oil, gas and coal for good, the EU climate chief said that science-driven, measurable steps should be identified to support the transition from fossil fuels. “Science matters in climate change. And transitioning away from fossil fuels is a very tangible way to follow science,” he said. The First International Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels,…

Romanian politician and European Commission Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu has said she is “absolutely counting on the pro-European stance of every member state”, despite signs of a possible eurosceptic shift in parts of eastern Europe. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In Bulgaria, Moscow-friendly President Rumen Radev is in the process of forming a government following an electoral win earlier this month. Meanwhile in Romania, Mînzatu’s Social Democratic Party (PSD) is working with the far-right AUR party in a bid to topple the centrist government. “I am absolutely counting on the pro-European stance of every member state,” Mînzatu told Euronews’ flagship morning programme Europe Today.…

Published on 29/04/2026 – 7:40 GMT+2•Updated 9:21 Hungary’s prime minister-elect Péter Magyar is set to meet European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels on Wednesday as he seeks to unlock billions of euros in suspended EU funding quickly. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Magyar will hold what sources describe as “informal talks” with the Commission chief and is not expected to speak to the media in Brussels. People familiar with his thinking say he is keen to move quickly on files linked to the EU’s frozen payments for Hungary. Magyar will also meet EU Council President António Costa after a tumultuous…

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has caused energy prices to surge across Europe. Brussels states that the solution is to accelerate the permanent transition away from fossil fuels. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put the cost bluntly on April 13: €22 billion in additional fossil fuel import bills in just 44 days since the US-Iran conflict began, with no extra energy to show for it. She recommends expanding renewables and nuclear, which already provide over 70% of Europe’s electricity. However, the Commission identifies key challenges: limited storage, outdated grids, and wasted clean power. Brussels…