12-06-2024
Emmanuel Macron lashed out at political extremes and the conservative leadership’s decision to ally with the far-right, dubbing them “anti-Republican,” in a two-hour long press conference on Wednesday (12 June) that marked the president’s first steps in the snap elections campaign.
Three days after the European elections and Emmanuel Macron's dissolution of the National Assembly, the French political landscape is a field of ruins.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's battle with migrant rescue charities is increasingly ending up in court, with judges often siding with NGOs but not yet calling the law into question.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hinted at a cabinet reshuffle on Tuesday, saying "corrective measures" were required after his centre-right party performed less well than expected in the European Parliament election.
Austria's far-right Freedom Party (FPÖ) on Tuesday (11 June) called for the government to name an EU "remigration" commissioner after winning the EU elections in the Alpine nation.
The far-right SOS Romania party, founded just three years ago, most closely aligns with the far-right EU group Identity and Democracy (ID), according to Diana Şoșoacă, the leader of the party that will send two of Romania's eight far-right MEPs to the new European Parliament.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, known for his long-term opposition to sending aid to Ukraine, blocked the adoption of a common position on the provision of military aid to Kyiv at the Bucharest Nine forum in Riga on Tuesday.
The Czech Freedom and Direct Democracy (ID) party will convene a committee within the next two weeks to analyse its disappointing performance in the recent European elections, party leader Tomio Okamura announced on Tuesday.
Sirens blared across Poland during the funeral of a soldier who died last week after being stabbed by a migrant at the border with Belarus - serving as another example of hybrid activities taking place all across NATO, according to Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
As the summer recess of the Slovak parliament approaches, the ruling coalition announced on Tuesday that it will postpone until September the controversial laws on foreign agents and environmental impact assessment, as well as the dispute over the new speaker of parliament, which the coalition parties are contesting.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said Portugal’s official position on the Palestinian question is changing, reminding protesting students that Portugal had recently adopted an official position in favour of Palestine's entry into the UN as a full member.
Spain's controversial amnesty law, pardoning Catalan separatists responsible for illegal actions between 2011 and 2023, officially came into force on Tuesday, but the expected return of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont to Spain remains uncertain, as on the same day a Spanish judge announced that an arrest warrant for the separatist leader remains in force.
The outcome of the European election results in Italy could be a signal of moderation for the ruling right-wing alliance led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the political analyst Lorenzo Pregliasco.
The EU's increased defence spending priorities must not come at the expense of development aid, as this could risk isolating the continent geopolitically, the Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen warned in an interview.
The potential team-up of the French conservative Les Républicains (LR) with the far-right party of Marine le Pen is also making waves in Germany, with the conservative CDU/CSU threatening to kick them out from their common EU-party, the EPP.
“To be honest, I don’t expect anything else than the nomination of Ursula von der Leyen,” European Budget Commissioner Johannes Hahn said on Tuesday (11 June), adding that he was he was “very optimistic” that the European Parliament will confirm her appointment in July.
On Tuesday (June 11), Éric Ciotti, president of the French Republicans (LR), announced that he would be joining forces with the National Rally (RN) for the legislative elections, while most of the Gaullist party's executives are calling for his resignation.
Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the recent assault on her in Copenhagen was proof that the boundaries in society are changing fast, spurred on by social media, and described the disappointing results for her coalition in the European election as a “wake-up call”.
The dissolution of the French National Assembly has given EU lawmakers from the far-right Rassemblement national a dilemma over whether they should run in the national parliamentary election later this month and enter the French assembly rather than the European one.
Young voters in Western Europe turned out surprisingly in favour of a 'United States of Europe' in the European elections, paving the way for passing the torch in the EU's dusty federalist circles.
After President Emmanuel Macron shocked France by calling snap elections on Sunday, national left-wing parties called in a joint appeal on Monday (10 June) for “the formation of a new popular front” to change the country's political course.
French President Emmanuel Macron ruled out resigning, no matter what the result will be of the snap elections he called, to combat the rise of the far-right National Rally (RN), in an interview published on Tuesday (11 June)
As Cypriot members of the European Parliament (MEPs) formally dressed in suits, commentated on the results of the European Parliament on national TV, one newly-elected parliamentarian, celebrated with a ‘dab’.
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has shed light on the importance of strengthening Europe’s defense capabilities and technologies. It has also underscored the principle of collective defense and the value of strong partnerships with like-minded allies.
