Category Archives: Ursula von der Leyen

EU summit with western Balkan leaders to reaffirm membership prospects

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Macron, Merz and von der Leyen among those due to gather in Montenegro for talks on integration of six countries

European leaders will seek to show six western Balkan countries that they have a real chance of joining the EU one day, despite splits over how to handle enlargement of the 27-member bloc.

Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz, Giorgia Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen are among more than 30 leaders expected to gather in the Montenegrin coastal resort of Tivat on Friday for summit talks. The focus will be on integrating the six Balkan countries – among them Montenegro and Albania – more deeply into the EU single market, paving the way for them to join the bloc.

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Trump gives EU until 4 July to ratify trade deal or face ‘much higher’ tariffs

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Trump sets Fourth of July deadline as he vents impatience at speed of EU’s implementation

Donald Trump has said the EU must ratify its trade deal with the US by 4 July or face “much higher” tariffs, after European officials fell short of agreement on the pact.

Trump said he spoke to the EU chief, Ursula von der Leyen, about the issue and, he posted on his Truth Social platform, “agreed to give her until our Country’s 250th Birthday or, unfortunately, their Tariffs would immediately jump to much higher levels”.

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EU formally approves €90bn Ukraine loan and 20th sanctions package against Russia

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Ursula von der Leyen hails ‘good news’ after Hungary’s lifting of vetoes allows leaders to sign off on agreements

EU leaders have welcomed the end of diplomatic deadlock over a long-awaited €90bn (£78bn) loan for Ukraine, after the bloc completed the agreement along with a 20th sanctions package against Russia.

After weeks of delay, the EU signed off on the loan on Thursday, in time for a summit in Cyprus that began in the evening and will include talks over a dinner with the Ukrainian leader, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

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‘Hungary has chosen Europe’: EU leaders jubilant after Péter Magyar’s victory over Orbán

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Congratulations pour in from across EU, with leaders from Spain, Poland, France, Britain, Denmark, Romania, Sweden and beyond hailing a new chapter

EU leaders heaped praise on Péter Magyar after his decisive election victory in Hungary against the long-serving prime minister Viktor Orbán, who many saw as a direct threat to Europe’s peace and prosperity.

The outpouring reflected a deep frustration with Orbán across the EU’s 27 member states and its institutions.

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Von der Leyen calls for EU foreign policy to be ‘more realistic and interest-driven’

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European Commission head says rules-based system can no longer be relied upon to protect the continent’s interests

Europe can “no longer be a custodian for the old-world order” and needs “a more realistic and interest-driven foreign policy”, the head of the European Commission has said.

Speaking to an audience of EU ambassadors on Monday, Ursula von der Leyen said the union “will always defend and uphold the rules-based system” but could no longer rely on it to defend European interests and shelter the continent from threats.

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Von der Leyen warns against ‘carving up’ of Ukraine amid crunch US-led talks

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Commission president says undermining of sovereign European nation would ‘open the doors for more wars’

The European Commission president has warned against “the unilateral carving up of a sovereign European nation” as Europe scrambles to assert influence over the US’s attempt to end the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to European lawmakers in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen said Russia showed “no signs of true willingness to end the conflict” and continued to operate in a mindset unchanged since the days of Yalta – the much-criticised and misunderstood 1945 summit to settle the postwar order.

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Von der Leyen warns against ‘carving up’ of Ukraine amid crunch US-led talks

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Commission president says undermining of sovereign European nation would ‘open the doors for more wars’

The European Commission president has warned against “the unilateral carving up of a sovereign European nation” as Europe scrambles to assert influence over the US’s attempt to end the war in Ukraine.

Speaking to European lawmakers in Strasbourg on Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen said Russia showed “no signs of true willingness to end the conflict” and continued to operate in a mindset unchanged since the days of Yalta – the much-criticised and misunderstood 1945 summit to settle the postwar order.

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European parliament calls for social media ban on under-16s

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MEPs pass resolution to help parents tackle growing dangers of addictive internet platforms

Children under 16 should be banned from using social media unless their parents decide otherwise, the European parliament says.

MEPs passed a resolution on age restrictions on Wednesday by a large majority. Although not legally binding, it raises pressure for European legislation amid growing alarm about the mental health risks to children of unfettered internet access.

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European parliament calls for social media ban on under-16s

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MEPs pass resolution to help parents tackle growing dangers of addictive internet platforms

Children under 16 should be banned from using social media unless their parents decide otherwise, the European parliament says.

MEPs passed a resolution on age restrictions on Wednesday by a large majority. Although not legally binding, it raises pressure for European legislation amid growing alarm about the mental health risks to children of unfettered internet access.

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Europe calls for role in Ukraine talks amid reported US-Russian peace deal

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Foreign ministers express misgivings about draft US-Russian peace plan favourable to Putin

Europeans must be involved in any attempt to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia, the continent’s top diplomats said after reports of a US-Russia plan favourable to Kremlin interests emerged.

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, welcomed any “meaningful efforts” to end the war, but said Ukrainian and European input was needed for any plan to work.

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EU plans hub to tackle disinformation threat from Russia and others

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Move follows ‘escalating hybrid attacks’ by Russia and other foreign powers spreading fake articles across social media

The EU executive plans to create a Centre for Democratic Resilience to counter disinformation from Russia and other authoritarian regimes, according to a leaked paper.

The European Commission intends for the centre to bring together expertise across the EU and from countries seeking to join the bloc to fight foreign information manipulation and interference. The idea forms the centrepiece of the “democracy shield” pitched by the commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, when she sought a second term before the 2024 European elections.

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France proposes ceiling on value of UK components in €150bn EU defence fund

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Negotiations soon to begin on UK’s entry to Safe scheme, which it hopes will secure bigger role for its defence firms

France has proposed limiting the use of British-produced military components in the EU’s €150bn defence fund, in a move that could complicate negotiations over the UK’s entry into the scheme.

Four diplomatic sources told the Guardian that French officials had proposed a 50% ceiling on the value of UK components in projects financed through the EU’s €150bn Security Action for Europe (Safe) fund.

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Europe’s cruel summer: Ursula von der Leyen faces an EU under pressure

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European Commission president addresses a parliament reeling from Trump trade deal and escalations in Ukraine and Gaza

When Ursula von der Leyen arrived in the vast semi-circle debating chamber in the European parliament in Strasbourg, she greeted MEP leaders of some of Europe’s political groups warmly. Wearing a trim khaki-green jacket, the European Commission president smiled, shook hands and exchanged air kisses with some of the politicians, who had front-row seats for her annual state of the union address.

The hour-long speech on Wednesday had a stark message: Europe must fight for its place in an “unforgiving” world, facing major powers that are either “ambivalent or openly hostile” towards it.

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Israeli military kills at least 41 people as it continues to order evacuation of Gaza City

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Many of 1 million residents say they will not leave as they do not believe al-Mawasi humanitarian zone is safe

The Israeli military has killed at least 41 people in Gaza, including 12 aid seekers, over the last 24 hours as it continued to order the population of Gaza City to evacuate before its planned offensive.

The evacuation orders were accompanied by intensified Israeli bombing of the city, the Israeli military interspersing orders with announcements of high-rise towers they had bombed.

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Ursula von der Leyen calls for suspension of EU trade with Israel

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Commission president cites illegal West Bank settlement plans, Gaza and attempts to ‘undermine two-state solution’

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for a suspension of trade with Israel, as she spoke of Europe’s “painful” inability to respond to the war on Gaza and ensuing humanitarian disaster.

In her most extended condemnation yet of the Israeli government, von der Leyen criticised plans for illegal settlements that would split the occupied West Bank in half, as well as incitement of violence by extremist Israeli ministers, as a “clear attempt to undermine the two-state solution”.

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Von der Leyen under growing pressure to take tougher line with Israel

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EU Commission president urged to ‘show leadership’ and preserve bloc’s credibility amid catastrophe in Gaza

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is under growing pressure from MEPs to “show leadership” and preserve the EU’s political credibility by taking a tougher approach to Israel’s government over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.

Von der Leyen is expected to refer to the EU’s role on the world stage in her annual “state of the union” speech to the European parliament on Wednesday, where she will set out her agenda for the year ahead.

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Majority in EU’s biggest states believes bloc ‘sold out’ in US tariff deal, poll finds

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Average of 77% of respondents across five countries thought agreement would benefit US economy above all

A majority of people across the EU’s five biggest member states believe the European Commission sold citizens out when negotiating a “humiliating” tariff deal with Donald Trump that “benefits the US” far more than Europe, a survey has shown.

The poll, by Cluster17 for the European affairs debate platform Le Grand Continent, found 77% of respondents – ranging from 89% in France to 50% in Poland – thought the deal would benefit above all the US economy, with only 2% believing it would benefit Europe’s.

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Italy considers hiding state flight paths after jamming of von der Leyen plane

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EU member states debate how to make leaders’ flights more secure as Russia blamed for GPS loss

Italy is considering keeping state flights secret after the satellite signal of the aircraft carrying the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, was allegedly jammed by Russia, Italian defence ministry sources said.

Von der Leyen, a fierce critic of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and Moscow’s war in Ukraine, was flying to Bulgaria on Sunday when her charter plane lost satellite navigation aids, delaying its arrival in Plovdiv, and reportedly forcing it to circle an airport for an hour.

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Zelenskyy’s European ‘bodyguards’: which leaders joined Trump talks in Washington?

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Presidents, PMs and heads of Nato and European Commission accompany Ukraine’s leader at White House

European leaders gathered in Washington on Monday for Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s meeting with Donald Trump in the Oval Office, in a show of support for the Ukrainian president. Their presence came amid expectations that Trump would try to bully Zelenskyy into accepting a pro-Russia “peace plan” that would include Kyiv handing territory to Moscow. The Europeans have been described as Zelenskyy’s “bodyguards”, with memories fresh of the mauling he received in February during his last Oval Office visit. So, who are they?

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European leaders including Starmer to join Zelenskyy in Washington for meeting with Trump

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Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and others will aim to push back against ceding of Ukraine territory in ‘peace plan’

European leaders including Britain’s Keir Starmer will join Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at a White House meeting on Monday with Donald Trump, in an extraordinary joint effort to push back on a US-backed plan that would allow Russia to take further Ukrainian territory.

As well as the UK prime minister, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, Italy’s PM, Giorgia Meloni, and the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, will all accompany Zelenskyy in the Oval Office.

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