Andrew Rettman
THIS WEEK: EU parents’ rights, US trade war, and a Western Balkans summitA new EU law on ‘recognition of parenthood’ will top the agenda of home affairs’ ministers in Brussels. MEPs will also get an update on the Ebola and Hantavirus outbreaks.
Why is Finland deporting Russian dissidents applying for asylum?This is what Nikita and Olga expect when they land in Moscow after being denied asylum by Finland: “Both of us will be arrested immediately … and face prison sentences measured in the decades”.
New anti-settler sanctions may seem weak to Israeli-critical EU capitals, but send a message directly to Netanyahu’s cabinet.
Ritual condemnation of death threats against EU diplomats in Kyiv masks concern Russia could bomb a European embassy and get away with it.
As EU-Israel tensions escalate, will Trump wade in?Even the most far-right Israelis care about keeping their EU access and sense of legitimacy more than they might admit.
West Bank Israeli settler exports are ending up in Europe’s shops – even in member states which want the EU to ban them in order to curb Israeli aggression, such as Belgium and Spain.
The US is still muscling in on Greenland, posing questions on whether undefended Iceland could be next, or if Russia has designs on the demilitarised Svalbard and the Åland Islands.
Israeli flag still popular in Europe, song contest indicatesI bet some EU diplomats, just like Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, also tuned in on Saturday to see Eurovision and which way the cultural wind was blowing.
Eurovision is the most-watched cultural event in the world. It involves artists from 35 countries, its online clips are set to be viewed two billion times, while Saturday’s grand final is expected to attract over 160 million viewers. Yet what was once a camp and glittery celebration has become the new frontline in Europe’s culture wars.
“We have moved on from the political deadlock … Violence and extremism carry consequences,” said EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas.
Putin and Fico look like losers at ‘Victory’ paradeJust six leaders from UN-recognised states joined Russian president Vladimir Putin — from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Laos, Malaysia, Slovakia, and Uzbekistan — highlighting his isolation.
EU aims to fund “volunteer first-responder teams” in West Bank to deter settler violence, as EU foreign ministers prepare to blacklist more settler extremists.
“Enough with these caricatures, minister”, Belgium told Israel in a row on X, as Israel accused one of its fiercest EU critics of persecuting Jews.
“If the European Union accepts us, we will be happy and enthusiastic about it,” said Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan at a first-ever EU-Armenia summit.
“The international order will be rebuilt … out of Europe,” said Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, in a sequel to his Davos speech.
US troop cuts in Europe risk inspiring Russian aggression“Imagine a scenario in which an emboldened Putin fired a nuclear weapon on European territory … What would Trump and the US do then? No one knows. Not even Trump”, an ex-Nato official said.
“We remain ready to target such actions by listing individuals and entities in third countries [Israel] if necessary,” the EU had warned on Thursday.
Germany, Greece, Romania, the Czechs, and Finland also licensed millions of euros of Israel arms exports in 2024, according to the latest EU data.
RIP Signal: Russians kill trust in many EU diplomats’ beloved messaging appIt costs $10,000 to $20,000 to get someone’s Signal chat content on the data black-market, depending on the target’s seniority, a European intelligence source said.
“Like it or not, suffer it, my beauty”, joked Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, using a necrophiliac rape lyric, which prefigured war crimes, as Russian culture also seduced Western macho men.