Category: Europe

Coverage of geopolitics, international relations, and current affairs from across Europe, including EU policies, NATO strategies, elections, and Europe’s influence on global politics.

  • Hungary heads for pivotal election as Orban faces strongest challenger in 16 years

    Hungary will hold a parliamentary election on 12 April 2026, with Prime Minister Viktor Orban facing his most serious challenge since taking power in 2010. President Tamas Sulyok confirmed the date, as Orban seeks re-election amid economic strain and shifting voter sentiment. Key developments: • Orban leads the nationalist Fidesz party and promotes Hungary as…

  • ‘We choose Denmark’ over the US, says Greenland PM ahead of Washington talks

    Greenland’s Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen has said the territory would choose Denmark over the United States if forced to decide “here and now”, rejecting renewed pressure from US President Donald Trump to bring the island under American control. Speaking alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Copenhagen, Nielsen said Greenland does not want to be…

  • Cypriot president denies corruption allegations as chief of staff resigns

    Cyprus’s president, Nikos Christodoulides, has rejected allegations linking his office to a “cash-for-access” scheme, after a viral video triggered the resignation of his chief of staff, Charalambos Charalambous, and prompted the first lady, Philippa Karsera, to step down from a senior charity role. The 8.5-minute video, posted on X by a user calling herself Emily…

  • Ukraine compares Russia’s trajectory to late Soviet decline at UN Security Council

    The UN Security Council held its 10,087th meeting on 12 January 2026, during which Russia, Ukraine and their partners exchanged sharply opposing accounts of the war and its implications for European and global security. Russia’s representative accused some Council members of acting as “mouthpieces for the party of war” and ignoring the causes of the…

  • Berlin power outage investigated as sabotage amid infrastructure security fears

    A major power outage in southwest Berlin is being investigated as a deliberate act of sabotage, raising concerns about the security of Germany’s critical infrastructure. Around 100,000 people in roughly 45,000 households lost electricity and heating during freezing January temperatures. Hospitals switched to emergency generators and public transport was disrupted. Authorities later confirmed the blackout…

  • Thousands of Irish farmers protest against EU–Mercosur trade deal

    Thousands of Irish farmers have staged protests against the European Union’s trade agreement with the South American bloc Mercosur, a day after EU member states approved the deal despite opposition from Ireland and France. Tractors gathered in Athlone, central Ireland, with demonstrators displaying banners reading “Stop EU-Mercosur” and accusing the EU of betraying rural communities.…

  • UK allocates £200m to prepare for potential troop deployment to Ukraine

    The UK has allocated £200 million ($270 million) from its defence budget to prepare for the possible deployment of British troops to Ukraine as part of a future multinational stabilisation force. The funding follows a declaration agreed this week by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at…

  • French foreign minister warns European political order ‘is in danger’

    France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot warned that Europe’s political order is “in danger”, citing pressure from both external rivals and internal democratic fatigue. Speaking at his annual address to French ambassadors, Barrot criticised claims in a recent US National Security Strategy that Europe faces “civilizational erasure”, calling such language unfounded and destabilising. He said Europe…

  • EU member states provisionally back Mercosur trade deal despite protests and resistance

    EU member states have provisionally endorsed the EU–Mercosur trade agreement, the bloc’s largest-ever trade deal, despite sustained opposition from farmers and several governments. The agreement — 25 years in negotiation — would remove most tariffs across a market of around 700 million people, covering Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. Key developments: • France, Poland, Hungary,…

  • Russia confirms second use of Oreshnik hypersonic missile in strike on Ukraine

    Russia says it has fired its Oreshnik hypersonic missile at targets in western Ukraine, in what Russia’s Defence Ministry described as retaliation for an alleged Ukrainian drone attempt against one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences — a claim Ukraine denies. Ukraine’s air force confirmed the launch originated from Russia’s Kapustin Yar test range, while Lviv…