Author: Press Room
Published on 04/09/2026 – 8:02 GMT+2•Updated 8:24 On today’s show: Shona Murray reports from Dublin, Ireland, on Russia’s escalating threats targeting European states with the intention of striking fear into citizens over their government’s support of Ukraine. She interviews Benjamin Haddad, French European Affairs Minister. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT We also interview Sergii Marchenko, Ukrainian Finance Minister, onrevived calls to use frozen Russian assets as Ukraine heads into another hard winter; and Antonio López-Istúriz, member of the European Parliament (Spain, EPP), who reacts to the deepening Ceuta crisis in Spain. Laura Fleischmann reports from Germany, where the far-right AfD party is leading…
Russia will shutter German cultural centres across the country, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday after Berlin blamed Moscow for an attempted attack at Leipzig/Halle Airport and announced the closure of both the Russian Consulate in Bonn and the Russian House cultural centre in the German capital. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Lavrov said that cultural centres belonging to Germany’s Goethe-Institut would be closed in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, adding that any other response would show a lack of “self-respect” on Russia’s part. Speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Lavrov said that Germany “could not have failed to understand”…
Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Kęstutis Budrys was speaking on the sidelines of a European Ministers meeting in Ireland. EU ministers were joined by Ukrainian, British, Icelandic, Norwegian and Canadian counterparts where a deteriorating European security situation was top of the agenda. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Germany’s decision to formally hold Russia responsible for a drone attack at Leipzig airport on August 4th was also at the forefront of the discussion. EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters that “Moscow has not changed its war aims.” She also said the increasing number of more violent hybrid-war attacks by Russia against NATO and…
Published on 03/09/2026 – 11:41 GMT+2 The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled on Thursday that Russia’s autocratic regime is not, on its own, enough to justify freezing the assets of a company indirectly linked to someone under EU sanctions, as any such measure must be backed by objective and solid evidence. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Brussels has currently blacklisted around 3,000 entities and individuals considered to be part of the Russian industrial-military complex that is participating in the invasion of Ukraine, pending extension on 15 September. The judgment sets clear limits on how far national authorities can go…
Published on 03/09/2026 – 15:20 GMT+2 Britain’s Foreign Office summoned Russia’s most senior diplomat in the country on Thursday to condemn what it called an “egregious and reckless attack” involving a drone at Leipzig airport last month. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “Today we summoned the Russian charge d’affaires to condemn the attack in the strongest terms,” a spokesperson said in a statement, describing the incident, which involved an explosive-laden drone, as “the latest in a clear pattern of attempts by the Russian state to undermine our collective security.” The Leipzig/Halle Airport incident, on the night of 4-5 August, saw police use a…
Europe fears a devastating crisis with ripple effects could erupt as Russia’s war in Ukraine imposes a new blockade on the Black Sea, choking off a vital trade route. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The sense of alarm came to the fore on Wednesday during a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Ireland, marked by calls for an immediate ceasefire in the region. “In the Black Sea, Russian strikes on grain ships could cause another worldwide food security shock,” the EU’s High Representative Kaja Kallas said. Belgium’s Maxime Prévot urged a “coordinated solution” to avert what he described as a threefold disaster: a…
Phasing out two temporary Hungarian migration laws could provide a route to ending the European Union’s €1m-a-day fine against Budapest, according to people familiar with talks between the Hungarian government and the European Commission. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The move would not require Prime Minister Péter Magyar to soften Hungary’s migration policy, Euronews understands – an idea he has repeatedly stressed as a non-starter even as he pushes Brussels to lift the penalty. Hungary has lost €910m since the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in 2024 that Viktor Orbán’s government had persistently failed to apply EU standards in its treatment of…
Published on 03/09/2026 – 16:50 GMT+2•Updated 19:14 UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron held their first official talks on Thursday at Downing Street. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Macron hailed the “very special relationship” between France and the United Kingdom, a day after the opening of the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition at the British Museum in London. “Defence, energy, support for Ukraine and European security: our partnership is more important than ever,” Macron wrote on X after the meeting. “Together with UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, we are continuing this work towards a stronger, more sovereign and more secure Europe.”…
Published on 03/09/2026 – 16:54 GMT+2•Updated 19:51 The European Commission suspended imports of meat from Brazil on Thursday over concerns about antibiotic use, after Brasília failed to convince the EU executive that its products comply with European standards. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The move comes as Brazilian meat imports lie at the heart of opposition to the free trade agreement signed in January 2026 by the Commission with Mercosur countries — Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. EU farmers accuse Latin American producers of failing to comply with the bloc’s phytosanitary and food safety standards, arguing that this gives Latin American products an…
Previous deterrence measures implemented by Brussels against Russia have so far failed to prevent it from carrying out attacks against European countries, intensifying the threat the country poses to the bloc, Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minister Kęstutis Budrys told Euronews. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT His comments come days after Germany attributed the presence of a drone rigged with explosives near a Ukrainian Antonov cargo aircraft at Leipzig/Halle Airport, which plays a key role in the transport of military goods, to Russia. The Kremlin has rejected these accusations. While Budrys applauded Berlin’s response to the incident, which involved handing Germany’s intelligence services greater powers…