Governments, elections, EU geopolitics
President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping opened their two-day state summit in Beijing on Thursday 14 May 2026 with an opening session of two hours and fifteen minutes. It is the first state visit by a sitting US president to China since Mr Trump’s previous visit in 2017 — and Brussels is watching…
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas on Tuesday 12 May 2026 used the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence) in Brussels to press the case for increased EU funding to the Lebanese Armed Forces, framing the disarmament of Hezbollah and the restoration of state control across Lebanon as a direct corollary of European security in the wake of…
The European Union on Monday 11 May 2026 reached unanimous political agreement to impose new sanctions on the leadership of Hamas and on the Israeli settler movement in the occupied West Bank, ending a deadlock that had paralysed the file for over a year. “From deadlock to delivery” The agreement was struck at the Foreign…
EU defence ministers gathered at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels on Tuesday 12 May 2026 for the Foreign Affairs Council (Defence), chaired by High Representative Kaja Kallas. Ukrainian Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov joined the meeting via videolink, alongside NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska, for an informal exchange on Russia’s war of aggression and…
US President Donald Trump publicly rejected Iran’s response to Washington’s latest peace proposal in two consecutive social-media posts on Sunday 10 May 2026, calling it “TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE!” on Truth Social before returning to the issue on Monday 11 May to dismiss it as “garbage” and declare the ceasefire “on life support”. What Iran demanded Tehran’s…
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer delivered what Westminster watchers described as a make-or-break speech at the Coin Street Community Centre in London on Monday 11 May 2026, fighting for his political survival after his Labour Party’s catastrophic performance in the local elections of 7 May. The damage: 1,100 seats, Wales lost, Reform surges The…
EU foreign ministers gathered at the Justus Lipsius building in Brussels on Monday 11 May 2026 for a Foreign Affairs Council chaired by High Representative Kaja Kallas, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha joining the meeting for an informal exchange of views on the war and on a fresh wave of measures targeting Russia. Sybiha…
On 6 May 2026 the European Commission adopted the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, with Vice-President Roxana Mînzatu pledging to eradicate poverty in 25 years. The package targets 93 million Europeans at risk of poverty, including 20 million children, with at least €100 billion earmarked in the next EU budget.
On 9 May 2026, Vladimir Putin shifted his public stance, declaring readiness to meet Volodymyr Zelensky in a third country provided a long-term peace agreement is finalised first, during a Kremlin press conference following Victory Day commemorations.
EU foreign ministers adopt new sanctions targeting officials involved in deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia. Von der Leyen has repeatedly cited ‘thousands of Ukrainian children’ allegedly transferred during the conflict, though Russian sources dispute the scale.