Morning, Brussels. Angela Skujins here holding down the fort for your Wednesday newsletter.
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Everyone in the Belgian capital is gearing up for a closely watched EU-South Korea Summit, which aims to boast more than just the East Asian country’s soft power of skin care, K-pop and cinematic feats. ‘Parasite’ by Bong Joon Ho, anyone?
Cultural diplomacy aside, European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will represent the EU at the summit, aimed at boosting closer ties between the capitals. The meeting comes as ChinesePresident Xi Jinping finishes a two-day visit to North Korea, where he was warmly hosted by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Back in the Belgian capital, EU heavyweights will be joined at this meeting of middle powers by Republic of Korea President Lee Jae Myung. This is a South Korean leader who has reiterated the importance of creating self-reliant security, stating that the times of peaceful coexistence are over.
He leads a country split from its neighbour to the north with a 250-kilometre border and Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) punctuated by barbed wire, machine gun turrets and roving soldiers. (This journalist was lucky enough to visit the DMZ on her honeymoon — romantic, I know — and can confirm its military prowess).
South Korea is a country technically still at war, which is why it makes sense it is a military industry powerhouse. From 2020–2024 it ranked among the top 10 global arms exporters, and plans to raise defence spending to 8.2% of its GDP in 2026; on top of this, it is the second-largest arms supplier to members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Many see this summit as an opportunity for Europeans to get a slice of this military pie, as late last year the EU and South Korea signed a security and defence partnership. Poland is already a massive purchaser of South Korean weapons and battle-tested capabilities, buying 46% of the country’s overall defence exports in 2024. Recent purchases include K2 Black Panther tanks, FA-50 jets and artillery and rocket launchers.
The talks will focus on four major pillars, with prosperity and the economy, and security and defence, expected to dominate discussions. As the US continues its retreat from Europe, exposing a €500 billion defence gap, many will be watching on the sidelines to see how South Korea can help fill that hole.
Seoul to soul. Aside from Seoul tapping into wider European defence markets, the country’s president is clearly taking stock amid trade spats and shifting defence alliances. The Korean president touted his first trip to Europe on social media platform X, stating that the journey would occur during a time of “overlapping global crises” while also sounding hopeful the summit would lead to “cooperation”.
But President Lee is also not clueless to the power of pop, making reference to one of the country’s most successful cultural exports outside of the defence realm — the chart-topping boy band BTS.
“With BTS set to hold its first standalone concert in Belgium early next month, I believe it will further deepen the bonds between the younger generations of our two countries,” his online statement continues. The official welcome is at 2pm with a press conference scheduled for 4:40pm.
Bringing the Kremlin to its knees. As we previewed yesterday, the European Commission presented its proposal for a 21st package of sanctions against Russia, Jorge Liboreiro reports.
The executive decided to delay its review of the price cap until January 2027 to avoid granting Moscow economic relief. Oil prices have soared in reaction to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, so the revision would have put the bloc in an awkward place.
Another key element of the proposal is a ban on Russian soldiers who have taken part in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine from entering the Schengen Area, an initiative that Estonia pitched earlier this year and gradually gained support.
Moreover, Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, is among the many names included in the package, Jorge and Luca Bertuzzi report. This was only made possible by the change of government in Hungary.
One thing that is not included is alumina, despite recent revelations that exposed the business links between Aughinish Alumina, a plant in western Ireland, and Russia. During a visit to Dublin, the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas urged the Irish government to clarify whether its alumina sales help build the ballistics and drones that strike Ukraine.
“No European products should end up in drones and missiles that kill Ukrainian civilians,” she said. “It’s important to get the facts straight.” Read the full story.
In other news: Kushner’s Albania crush. The European Commission has issued a thinly veiled warning to Albania over a controversial €1.4 billion real-estate project linked to US President Donald Trump’s family.
As my colleague Mared Gwyn writes in to report, demonstrators have been taking to Albanian streets for the past two weeks in protests against plans to build a luxury tourism resort on an ecologically protected area home to species including the pink flamingo. The investment firm behind the project is headed by Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.
Responding to a question by Euronews on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the EU executive urged Albanian authorities to “act without delay” in order to avoid jeopardising the country’s bid to join the EU, which will require it to align with the bloc’s environmental rules.
Exclusive: Inside the EU’s struggle to police China’s tariff circumvention
As the EU seeks to shield its market from a surge of low-cost Chinese imports, alarm is growing in Europe at a new phenomenon: Chinese companies advertising ways to circumvent the bloc’s tariff barriers.
France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Lithuania have jointly alerted the European Commission on “increasingly blurred and complex actions” to avoid EU custom duties.
In an informal proposal drafted last month that refrains from naming any Chinese company, the nations urged improvements to the EU’s anti-circumvention tool, which “would allow the EU to guarantee the legal effect and the effectiveness of its existing trade defence measures.”
Dogged reporting by Euronews’ Peggy Corlin has found online Chinese companies openly offering ways to sidestep EU trade defence measures, including the anti-dumping duties Brussels imposes on imports sold in the EU at prices below their normal value in China.
Read more of this exclusive investigationhere.
More from our newsrooms
EU targets Russia’s Patriarch Kirill in new sanctions proposal
The European Union will try again to sanction Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, after Hungary vetoed the decision in 2022. Read more on this story from Luca Bertuzzi and Jorge.
Airbus-led group proposes fighter jet alternative after French-German project fails
The FCAS programme had been viewed as a flagship European defence project, aimed at strengthening military cooperation as Europe faces a more assertive Russia. Doloresz Katanich has more on the tale of fight or flight.
France bars Israel’s Smotrich as others push back against Israeli settlement expansion
France has banned Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich from entering the country, as pressure grows over Israeli settlement policy and violence in the occupied West Bank. Simon Ormiston has the details.
We’re joined live by General Dominique Trinquand, former head of the French Military Mission to the UN and NATO.
We’re also keeping an eye on
- Leaders of the European Parliament political groups will give press conferences about the EU’s new migration rules at 9:15am from the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium.
- European Commissioner for Budget, Anti-Fraud and Public Administration Piotr Serafin will give a presentation at 1:30pm about the draft budget for 2027 at the European Parliament.
- NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will speak with the European Parliament’s Conference of Presidents at 6:30pm at the European Parliament.That’s it for today. Jorge Liboreiro and Mared Gwyn contributed to this newsletter.
