Category Archives: Europe

Ex-Tory MP reportedly joins Ukraine foreign legion in non-combat role

Posted on by

Former party deputy chair Jack Lopresti said to be carrying out support work to help the country’s fight against Russia

A former Conservative MP ousted in the 2024 election has reportedly joined the International Legion in Ukraine in a non-combat role to help the fight against Russia.

Jack Lopresti, who represented the Filton and Bradley Stoke constituency in South Gloucestershire from 2010 to 2024, is carrying out support work for the unit, including foreign relations and diplomacy duties, weapons procurement and work with veterans and charities, the Independent reported.

Continue reading...

EU will stand up for itself in face of Trump tariffs threat, Macron says

Posted on by

French president and other leaders call for cooperation with Washington but vow a robust response if needed

The EU will stand up for itself if its interests are targeted, Emmanuel Macron has said, as the bloc’s leaders urged talks – but a firm response if needed – in response to Donald Trump’s weekend threat to impose punishing tariffs.

“If our commercial interests are attacked, Europe, as a true power, will have to make itself respected and therefore react,” the French president said as he arrived for an informal defence meeting with other leaders in Brussels on Monday.

Continue reading...

Greenland plans to ban foreign political funding over Trump-led election fears

Posted on by

Bill to rule out interference from abroad expected to pass this week as country prepares for polls before 6 April

Greenland plans to ban foreign political donations over fears about potential interference in its forthcoming elections after attracting Donald Trump’s interest.

The government of the autonomous territory, which is a former Danish colony and remains part of the kingdom of Denmark, announced details of a bill on Monday intended to “safeguard the political integrity of Greenland”.

Continue reading...

Keir Starmer says he wants ‘ambitious security partnership’ with EU

Posted on by

PM says UK does not have to choose between Europe and US, before meeting EU leaders in Brussels

Keir Starmer has said he wants an “ambitious security partnership” with the EU, while insisting the UK does not have to choose between Europe and the US.

The prime minister was speaking before meeting EU leaders in Brussels to discuss security and defence, the first time a British leader has attended a European Council meeting since Britain left the EU five years ago.

Continue reading...

Merz doubles down on gambit with German far right in combative speech

Posted on by

Prospective chancellor takes startlingly aggressive line against those protesting against gamble with AfD

The German conservative opposition leader, Friedrich Merz, whose party is widely tipped to win this month’s general election, defended his hardline migration proposals after a wave of protests accused him of breaching the time-honoured “firewall” between the far right and centrists.

In an uncompromising speech to a party congress of his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) in Berlin, Merz said he was confident they would win the 23 February vote “with a very good result”, well ahead of the anti-immigration, anti-Islam Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), which has been consistently placing second in the polls.

Continue reading...

Starmer calls on European leaders to put more economic pressure on Russia

Posted on by

PM wants to ‘see all allies stepping up’, saying Donald Trump’s threat of sanctions has rattled Vladimir Putin

Keir Starmer has called on European leaders to put more economic pressure on Russia, saying Donald Trump’s threat of sanctions has left Vladimir Putin “rattled”.

Before a meeting in Brussels on Monday, the prime minister said it was necessary to “see all allies stepping up – particularly in Europe” when it comes to inflicting economic harm on Russia, and argued it would help bring about peace by ending the Ukraine war sooner.

Continue reading...

Greece sends rescue teams to Santorini amid fears of big earthquake

Posted on by

Schools shut as precautionary measure and people told to avoid shoreline after hundreds of seismic tremors

Greek authorities have dispatched special forces, rescue teams, tents and drones to the island of Santorini after hundreds of seismic tremors were recorded in the area.

Amid fears of a bigger earthquake that could cause a tsunami, people were advised to avoid the shoreline and derelict buildings, to empty swimming pools and to refrain from gathering in large numbers in enclosed spaces. The civil protection ministry said schools would be shut as a precautionary measure on Monday.

Continue reading...

Two Georgia opposition leaders arrested at anti-government protest

Posted on by

Nika Melia and Gigi Ugulava detained as thousands try to block highway into Tbilisi amid unrest against ruling party

Georgian police arrested two opposition leaders during a street protest against the ruling party on Sunday, a move quickly denounced by the EU, which condemned Tbilisi’s “brutal crackdown”.

The Black Sea nation has been rocked by daily mass protests since the Georgian Dream party claimed victory in October parliamentary elections rejected by the opposition as falsified.

Continue reading...

Luis Rubiales to go on trial in Spain over Jenni Hermoso kiss at World Cup

Posted on by

Spanish football federation’s former president is accused of sexual assault and coercion over incident in 2023

Spain’s former football chief Luis Rubiales will go on trial in Madrid on Monday over the unsolicited kiss he planted on the World Cup winner Jenni Hermoso, a gesture that stunned millions of TV viewers and unleashed a backlash against sexism in sport.

Rubiales, 47, is accused of sexual assault as well as coercion after allegations that he tried to force Hermoso, 34, into publicly declaring that the kiss, which occurred as she celebrated her team’s victory in the 2023 World Cup in Australia, was consensual.

Continue reading...

Pressure grows on EU to freeze minerals deal with Rwanda over DRC fighting

Posted on by

Belgium leads calls for suspension of agreement after Rwanda-backed rebels captured city of Goma

The EU is under mounting pressure to suspend a controversial minerals deal with Rwanda that has been blamed for fuelling the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Calls to freeze the agreement have grown after fighters from the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group captured the city of Goma in the eastern DRC, escalating a decades-old conflict and raising fears of a regional war.

Continue reading...

UK seeks smoother trade with EU but customs union is ‘red line’, Cooper says

Posted on by

Home secretary rules out return to full union with bloc as Keir Starmer prepares for talks in Brussels this week

Keir Starmer will seek to improve customs arrangements with Europe without returning to a full union with the bloc, the home secretary has said.

As the prime minister heads to Brussels as part of his attempted reset with the EU, Yvette Cooper said it was still a red line that the UK would not be part of a customs union or single market.

Continue reading...

Starmer should end UK’s ‘cycle of hesitation’ with EU, says Neil Kinnock

Posted on by

Former Labour leader says government should show greater willingness to work with bloc

Labour needs to end its “cycle of hesitation” over Europe and press ahead with an ambitious new relationship with the European Union, the party’s former leader Neil Kinnock has said.

Keir Starmer will head to a Brussels dinner with EU leaders this week as he attempts to negotiate a security and defence pact with the bloc. It is the first summit of its type to be attended by a British prime minister since Brexit.

Continue reading...

Ukraine and Russia blame each other as missile kills at least four in Kursk school

Posted on by

Ukraine armed forces say 84 people were rescued or had medical help after strike in Russian territory that Kyiv holds

Ukraine and Russia have traded blame for a deadly missile strike that killed at least four people in the dormitory of a boarding school situated in a part of Russia’s Kursk region held by Ukrainian forces.

Some of the war’s fiercest battles in recent months have been taking place in the Kursk region that borders Ukraine, where Kyiv forces have held swathes of the land since staging a major cross-border incursion last August.

Continue reading...

Major anti-corruption protests in Serbia add to pressure on President Vučić

Posted on by

Tens of thousands rally against government and in memory of railway station roof collapse that killed 15

Serbia’s powerful populist leader Aleksandar Vučić was facing his biggest challenge yet as student-led demonstrations intensified at the weekend in what was being called the Balkan country’s greatest ever protest movement.

Three months to the day after a concrete canopy collapsed at the entrance of Novi Sad’s railway station, tens of thousands of protesters converged on the northern city, blockading its three bridges in commemoration of the 15 people killed in the accident. The tragedy has been blamed squarely on government ineptitude and graft.

Continue reading...

‘Vicious cycle’: how far-right parties across Europe are cannibalising the centre right

Posted on by

Hardline agendas, especially on immigration, are copied by mainstream conservatives in vain effort to win back votes - but it’s not working

Far-right parties could become the largest force on the right in Europe within a decade, experts have said, as mainstream conservative parties look to copy their hardline agendas, especially on immigration, in a vain effort to win back votes.

Germany’s conservatives last week sparked fury when their leader, Friedrich Merz, the country’s likely next chancellor, broke a longstanding pledge by relying on far-right votes to adopt a non-binding motion urging a drastic immigration crackdown. The leader of Alternative für Deutschland, Alice Weidel, hailed “a historic day for Germany” as the Bundestag, for the first time in its history, passed a vote with the backing of her party, which is second in the polls weeks before this month’s elections.

Continue reading...

Body of second woman found in search for missing sisters in Aberdeen

Posted on by

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32 and originally from Hungary, were last seen on CCTV near harbour on 7 January

The body of a second woman has been found in the search for two sisters who went missing in Aberdeen last month.

Eliza and Henrietta Huszti, both 32 and originally from Hungary, were last seen on CCTV near the Dee at Aberdeen harbour early in the morning on 7 January, walking towards a path along the river.

Continue reading...

Italian investigative journalist targeted on WhatsApp by Israeli spyware

Posted on by

Francesco Cancellato, whose reporting exposes fascists within PM Meloni’s far-right party, condemns ‘violation’

An Italian investigative journalist who is known for exposing young fascists within prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s far-right party was targeted with spyware made by Israel-based Paragon Solutions, according to a WhatsApp notification received by the journalist.

Francesco Cancellato, the editor-in-chief of the Italian investigative news outlet Fanpage, was the first person to come forward publicly after WhatsApp announced on Friday that 90 journalists and other members of civil society had been targeted by the spyware.

Continue reading...

Belgium to form government after seven months of negotiations

Posted on by

The coalition government will be led by the conservative New Flemish Alliance party’s Bart De Wever

Five Belgian parties struck a coalition deal on Friday to form a new government headed by the Flemish conservative Bart De Wever, after more than seven months of tortuous negotiations.

The agreement paves the way for De Wever to become the first nationalist from the Dutch-speaking Flanders region to be Belgian premier – although in recent years he has backed off on calls for it to become an independent country.

Continue reading...

German parliament rejects immigration bill backed by far right

Posted on by

Plan to tighten migration policy was brought by the opposition leader Friedrich Merz with the help of AfD

The German parliament has rejected a bill to tighten immigration controls brought by the frontrunner to be the next chancellor, Friedrich Merz, with the backing of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland.

It came after a similar but non-binding motion was passed by parliament on Wednesday with the votes of the AfD, prompting a wave of protest from those who said it was a breach in Germany’s longstanding “firewall” between the far right and the mainstream.

Continue reading...

Beethoven and Marie Curie compete with birds to appear on new euro notes

Posted on by

European Central Bank picks two themes for redesign submissions: ‘iconic personalities’ or rivers and birds

He was a master of notes, and now the German composer Ludwig van Beethoven could be one of the faces of the redesigned euro, the first time the EU currency’s banknotes have been revamped.

In a process that started in 2021 and has already involved a public inquiry and two multidisciplinary advisory groups, the European Central Bank (ECB) has selected two themes for the redesign.

Continue reading...