Governments, elections, EU geopolitics
Lithuania’s finance minister has warned that removing Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov from EU sanctions would make the bloc look weak, even as procedural constraints may force the move regardless of political opposition.
Disagreements among EU governments are complicating efforts to finalise a fresh round of sanctions against Russia, while a Mediterranean country pushes for bloc funding to establish migrant return centres.
Germany’s chancellor confronts renewed domestic pressure following a poor CDU showing in regional elections, while Kyiv escalates its aerial campaign against the Russian capital.
Emmanuel Macron visited the French archipelago of Saint Pierre and Miquelon to highlight growing France-Canada ties, praising Prime Minister Mark Carney’s developing relationship with the European Union amid shifting transatlantic dynamics.
Exit polls project the CDU to fall to just 5.5% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, a potential historic low for the party, as the Left leads with 24.5% in what amounts to a damaging night for Friedrich Merz ahead of federal elections.
Facing punitive US trade measures and unsettling territorial rhetoric from Washington, the European Union and Canada are accelerating a strategic partnership that extends well beyond commerce.
Former French justice minister Rachida Dati faces a Paris court over allegations she received €900,000 from a Renault-Nissan subsidiary in exchange for political influence, in a trial that also sees former CEO Carlos Ghosn tried in absentia.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visits Strasbourg as a novel EU-Canada partnership proposal draws an immediate warning from Washington over potential trade consequences.
Spain’s Supreme Court has ruled that the country’s new amnesty law does not apply to charges against exiled Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, keeping an arrest warrant active and deepening tensions between Madrid and pro-independence parties.
Reform UK is preparing a legal challenge over a £72 million cryptocurrency donation facing regulatory scrutiny, as Labour fears the dispute could hand Nigel Farage a damaging anti-establishment rallying cry.