Theme: European Union

The European Commission hosted talks in Brussels on Wednesday with representatives of the United States, Ukraine, France, Germany, Britain and the World Bank on rebuilding Ukraine. The technical delegations’ meeting ended without results on a possible settlement of the conflict, according to a diplomatic source in Brussels who spoke to TASS. US envoy Steve Witkoff announced Washington-mediated talks between Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11, 2026, with an agenda covering the end of the war, security arrangements and humanitarian measures. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on November 3 that presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky would lead Russia’s delegation. On Thursday, First Lady Melania Trump hosts Ukrainian and Russian representatives at the White House, after the ceasefire she brokered in Oleshky, in occupied Kherson province.

In the enlargement report published on November 4, 2026, the European Commission downgraded its assessment of Ukraine’s anti-corruption reforms from “some progress” to “limited progress.” The document records that anti-corruption bodies increased the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions in high-level corruption cases, while some priority legislative reforms remain outstanding. The final version of Brussels’ communication removed a reference, present in the draft, to reforms slowing down, according to RFE/RL’s reporting.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz cost Europe 127 billion euros in higher fossil fuel prices, Ursula von der Leyen said at an event in Brussels. In the same speech, she argued that imported fossil fuels had cost Europe 127 billion euros more “without bringing one extra molecule of energy”. About a fifth of the oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) transported by sea worldwide passed through Hormuz before the US-Israeli attack on Iran in late February, which led Tehran to effectively shut the strategic waterway.

In the annual enlargement report presented on November 4, Ukraine remains in the leading group of ten candidates alongside Montenegro, Albania and Moldova, and the European Commission (EC) avoided giving a timeline. Under pressure from member states, which did not want to tie their hands with an accession calendar, the European executive scaled back its ambitions and presented only “indicative” roadmaps for the four countries closest to the European Union (EU). Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos had announced in September that new dates would accompany the report, and resistance from capitals meant that did not happen. Ireland, which leads the negotiations on behalf of the EU, aims to close all chapters with Montenegro by December 15.

A meeting of technical delegations from the European Commission, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Ukraine and the World Bank in Brussels ended without practical results on a possible settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, according to a diplomatic source who spoke to TASS. In its final statement, the European Commission said participants had discussed “Ukraine’s postwar reconstruction and development.” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the meeting was expected to extend into Thursday and that previous talks had focused only on what Ukraine should give away. The Brussels talks come ahead of a new round of US-brokered peace negotiations next week.

The European Commission said in its annual enlargement report that Ukraine remains committed to EU membership despite the challenges caused by Russia’s war of aggression and that Kyiv has opened four of the six negotiation clusters.

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland called in a joint statement on the European Commission to terminate investment protection treaties with Russia that remain in force in 17 member states. According to Estonia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the treaties are being used to influence European Union (EU) policy in Russia’s favor and their continued application threatens the bloc’s overall economic security. The ministry said the treaties contain provisions that encourage investment in Russia and allow individuals under sanctions to bring claims before international courts against member states and against the EU as a whole. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna said the EU’s task was to ensure “that Russia’s international isolation is maintained without concessions.”

Euro zone inflation rose to 4.0% in October from 3.8% in September, the highest in three years, according to Eurostat, the European Union (EU) statistics agency, in a Reuters report republished by MarketScreener. Inflation has been climbing quickly above the European Central Bank’s (ECB) 2% target this year because the US war in Iran pushed energy costs higher, feeding through to retail prices for a bloc that imports the vast majority of its energy. The ECB now expects inflation to hold above 4% for much of the first half of 2027 before falling quickly toward the “low twos,” when high year-earlier figures get knocked from the data. The reading, set to rise further in the coming months, firmed up market bets for another ECB rate hike in December.

Hackers raised the temperatures of supermarket refrigeration systems in Germany, Romania and the United Kingdom, bringing to at least 11 the number of European countries affected — following Monday’s disruptions in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden — and the European Union (EU) said these are not isolated incidents, pledging a collective response without naming culprits, while the motive remains unknown and no one has claimed responsibility.

SpaceX stopped selling flights on its Falcon 9 rocket beyond 2028, as Starship enters commercial service, leaving European institutions without a guaranteed launch option. European demand is set to rise sharply by 2030, including for the sovereign IRIS² telecommunications constellation, and Christophe Bruneau, ArianeGroup’s executive chairman, acknowledged that if the launches all come in 2029, Europe will not have enough capacity. The European Space Agency’s director general, Josef Aschbacher, proposed investing about €10 billion over 10 years in a European system able to send astronauts to space and bring them back.

At least seven passenger flights and an Israel-bound cruise ship were targeted by bomb threats on Tuesday, according to officials. All planes landed safely and searches found no explosives. The airlines affected were Ryanair, Wizz Air, Scandinavian Airlines and Polish carrier LOT, with four Ryanair flights among the targets. Two Italian Eurofighter jets escorted a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Fiumicino Airport in Rome. London police said they had been informed of threats against four aircraft due to depart from or arrive at Heathrow and of a further alert in Manchester. The European Commission said it is monitoring the alerts and that it is too early to establish links between the incidents.

Unions and housing-rights associations from seven European countries, meeting in Paris, called for coordinated demonstrations against the cost of living for November 20, 21 and 22. Organizations from France, Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Portugal, Greece and Belgium are taking part, and they hope to bring “millions” of people into the streets. Their demands include guaranteeing public services such as education, healthcare and public housing, defending the “right to work” without “excluding migrants,” “taxing the rich” and an “end to rearmament policies” and to the expansion of “fossil fuels.” In Spain, the death of 87-year-old pensioner Maricarmen Abascal after an eviction in September triggered a wave of protests and led Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call early legislative elections for November 29; the country’s main unions have called a general strike for November 11. In the European Union, housing prices rose more than 60% between 2010 and 2025 and rents by about 29%.

Europe is entering the winter heating season with its lowest natural gas storage levels in more than a decade, and tight conditions in the global market may extend well into 2027, according to a report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). In European Union countries, storage sites are entering the 2026-27 season at their lowest levels since 2013. The effective halt of liquefied natural gas (LNG) flows through the Strait of Hormuz reduced loadings from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. The IEA projects a 3% fall, or almost 20 billion cubic meters, in global LNG supply in 2026. QatarEnergy extended force majeure on LNG deliveries to most customers to the end of December 2026, according to OilPrice.

The European Commission said representatives from Ukraine, the United States (US), France, Germany, Britain, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the World Bank will meet in Brussels on Wednesday, on the eve of the resumption of US-mediated talks, according to spokesperson Paula Pinho. US special envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington will also mediate working-level talks between Ukraine and Russia in Abu Dhabi on November 10 and 11. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that a Russian delegation will travel to the United Arab Emirates and that presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky will lead the team. Peskov ruled out the European Union joining the Abu Dhabi talks because the agreed format is trilateral, between Russia and Ukraine with US mediation.

A spate of cyber-attacks hit supermarket chains across at least 10 European countries on Monday, prompting European Union (EU) officials to warn of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain. Supermarkets reported problems in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Sweden, and the rise in freezer temperatures, reportedly as high as 50°C, forced retailers to discard food. The EU’s food and agriculture commissioner, Christophe Hansen, said the bloc was taking the incidents very seriously and warned of further disruption in the future. In Belgium, dozens of stores reported refrigeration failures and federal prosecutors opened an investigation.

Italy’s government held emergency talks with intelligence chiefs on Tuesday after cyberattacks on supermarket freezer systems in at least nine European countries, according to AFP, in a report published by RFI. Supermarkets in Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden reported refrigeration problems that forced some retailers to discard food after temperatures rose. In Italy, cabinet undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano called the meeting with intelligence officials and the National Cybersecurity Agency, which also issued technical advice for retailers. European Commissioner for Food and Agriculture Christophe Hansen said the bloc takes the incidents “very seriously” and described them as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain and undermine consumers’ confidence in it. Carlos Cancinos, a spokesperson for the Coop chain in Sweden, said there had been no further attacks overnight and that the affected shops had resumed “normal functioning”. The refrigeration equipment affected was connected to “old 4G networks”, he said.

A suspected cyberattack hit grocery stores in at least nine European countries on Monday, and the European Union (EU) warned of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the bloc's food supply chain. European Agriculture and Food Commissioner Christophe Hansen said the incidents are “a deliberate attempt to disrupt our food supply chain and undermine consumers' confidence.” The Paris prosecutor's office counted around 700 victims in October's attack on French supermarkets, and around 40 Delhaize supermarkets in Belgium and Luxembourg were affected, along with a smaller number of shops in Sweden, Ireland, the Netherlands, Estonia and Finland.

The European Union (EU) and the UK have completed their deal to remove Brexit checks on imports and exports of food and animal products ranging from sausages and cheese to leather goods and flowers. The sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal is not expected to be implemented until the first quarter of 2028, after a six-month delay to the second EU-UK summit, now due on 20 November. British trade with Europe has dropped by a third since 2019. The deal should remove the need for £200 export health certificates per shipment.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that EU gas stocks enter winter 2026–2027 at their lowest since 2013, that low stocks in Europe combined with limited capacity in Asia and South America could sharpen competition for liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes and pressure spot prices, and that restocking in summer 2027 could keep tensions high until the middle of next year — according to the IEA, the near-paralysis of LNG flows through the Strait of Hormuz cut cargoes from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates by more than 60 billion cubic meters between March and October 2026, with a projected 3% fall in global LNG supply in 2026, about 20 billion cubic meters, and a drop of about 1.5% in world gas demand, about 65 billion cubic meters — German stocks, the largest in Europe, stood at 61.03% on November 1, against an EU average of 74.62%, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data, and TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said Europe will face no gas shortage this winter but will pay more, and that the continent loosened storage requirements a year too early.

Grocery stores in at least nine European countries suffered refrigeration failures on Monday in a suspected cyberattack, and the EU warned of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the bloc’s food supply chain, according to AFP. Security researchers said the cause was internet-connected refrigerators made by Danish company Danfoss, which was no longer providing security updates.

Germany enters winter with its gas storage at 61%, well below the European Union’s 80% target. The country has the bloc’s largest storage capacity, more than a fifth of the total. The TTF contracts for December 2026, January 2027 and February 2027 are trading above 100 euros per megawatt-hour, according to OilPrice.

The European Union (EU) described as a deliberate attempt to disrupt the bloc’s food chain the cyberattack that hit refrigeration settings on supermarket freezers in at least eight countries, including Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. Israel’s National Cyber Directorate warned retail chains, food companies and logistics centers because of the wave of attacks, and a retailer reported freezers reaching 50 degrees Celsius.

The EU strongly condemned the Houthis' escalation in Yemen and their attacks on Saudi Arabia, particularly those targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. The Houthis targeted Dammam Airport in two phases with two drones over the past 48 hours, according to military spokesman Yahya Saree. There was no confirmation from Saudi Arabia of damage or casualties at the airport at the time of publication.

Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever will offer his government’s resignation to King Philippe on Monday, after overnight budget negotiations failed, local media report. The government must save 10 billion euros to stay within European Union (EU) spending limits: the deficit reached 5% last year, while European rules allow a maximum of 3%.

The US backs a rapid resumption of Russian natural gas exports to Europe via pipelines crossing Ukraine, as part of talks aimed at securing an energy ceasefire before winter, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Arab News. The idea, raised by envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff during trips to Moscow and Kyiv in September, would involve selling Russian gas via a US intermediary to circumvent European sanctions, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

The political crisis between the centrist government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the opposition, which has smoldered since his return to power in 2023, moved up a notch on Friday, October 30, 2026, with the police intervention at the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw, according to Le Monde. Anti-riot police were deployed in large numbers to block access to the tribunal, and the justice minister launched a procedure to lift the immunity of its president. On Saturday, the European Commission urged the head of state to confirm the appointment of the new judges.

Russian diesel fuel is sometimes sold on the European market under different brands, despite Europe’s ban on purchases of Russian oil and petrochemicals, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said, according to TASS. He also said gas reserves in European underground storage facilities are today at their lowest level on record, with winter ahead.

The European Commission said it is for the Polish authorities to ensure that the Constitutional Tribunal can function in accordance with the Polish constitution and with the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The Commission said the appointment of eight new members of the Constitutional Tribunal lies within the constitutional power of the Sejm, Poland’s parliament, and cited interim measures from the European Court of Human Rights dated May 5, 2026. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said restoring calm could not mean accepting lawlessness or violence, and vowed to restore conditions for independent justice and the rule of law.

The European Union began charging a handling fee of 2 euros per type of item in parcels sent directly to consumers from outside the bloc as of Sunday, November 1, according to France 24. The fee applies regardless of the parcel’s value. It comes on top of the 3-euro duty imposed in July on small packages worth less than 150 euros, a temporary measure in place until July 1, 2028. According to France 24, online marketplaces such as Amazon, AliExpress and Temu, as well as sellers and other intermediaries, must pay the new fee. Some 93 percent of the cheap packages that arrived in Europe came from China.

European natural gas prices eased to €97 per megawatt-hour on Thursday after reaching €100 in the previous session, the highest level since December 2022, Trading Economics reported. Futures for the coming winter months on the Dutch Title Transfer Facility (TTF), Europe’s gas benchmark, trade at about €95 per megawatt-hour, nearly three times last winter’s average of about €36, Euronews reported.

The US approved the sale of 500 Patriot missiles to Ukraine, a critically needed munition for defense against escalating Russian aerial attacks, after Kyiv said deliveries had been delayed. The purchase, estimated at about $2.1 billion, will be covered with funds from Canada, Germany and Norway and with a loan from the European Union, CNN reported.

The traditional family photo that opens the G20 foreign ministers' meeting was canceled in the United States after Australia, the UK and several countries refused to appear beside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, The Guardian reported. Secretary of State Marco Rubio pulled the plug after European delegations, the UK and Australia made it known they would boycott or walk out of the ceremonial snapshot. European diplomats refused to stand for an official photo with Lavrov, leading the American hosts to cancel the planned picture, the BBC reported.

Polish police entered the premises of the Constitutional Tribunal on Friday after demonstrators gathered in Warsaw to protest the suspension of its head judge, Bogdan Swieczkowski. Police said there were incidents outside the court, with objects thrown at officers, and that three people were detained. Justice Minister Waldemar Zurek requested that the immunity of Swieczkowski and his deputy be lifted for preventing judges elected by the parliamentary majority from taking up their duties. Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that restoring the rule of law is the government’s duty.

The European Commission approved a proposal to provide Ukraine with 45 billion euros in funding for 2027, of which up to 13.3 billion euros would go to budget support and 31.7 billion euros to weapons purchases, according to TASS. The commission also said on Friday it had set up a framework for European countries to approve the remaining 45 billion euros in loans to Ukraine, to be disbursed by the end of 2027, according to Reuters.

The European Union (EU) and Canada have agreed to deepen their strategic partnership and announced a series of initiatives on trade, technology and security, TRT World reported. The outlet said US President Donald Trump's policies are straining Washington's relations with traditional allies. Canada will join the EU's $103 billion (€90 billion) support loan for Ukraine, initially contributing $558 million (€500 million), while the two sides expand cooperation across several strategic sectors.

The American hosts canceled the official family photo at the Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers’ meeting in the United States (US) after European diplomats refused to stand next to Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the BBC reported. According to the Times of India, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio canceled the traditional group photo after several European officials threatened to boycott or walk out over Russia’s participation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping received German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Beijing on Friday and, according to Xinhua, China is ready to work with Germany to open a new chapter in the China-Germany all-round strategic partnership. Xi said history and reality have repeatedly shown that for China and the European Union (EU), cooperation outweighs competition and consensus outweighs differences.

The European Commission has received about €8 billion in revenue generated from the reinvestment of frozen Russian sovereign assets held at Belgium-based Euroclear since 2024, according to TASS, citing the depository's report. The latest tranche, of €1.4 billion, was transferred to the Commission in August.

Europe’s benchmark natural gas price topped the 100-euro mark for the first time since 2022 on Friday, at 101.82 euros (US$ 114) per MWh, according to OilPrice. European Union (EU) storage sites were 74.89% full as of October 29, well below the five-year average of about 86% for this time of year, according to Gas Infrastructure Europe data cited by OilPrice.

European storage sites were 74.89% full on October 28, 14.79 percentage points below the five-year average for the date, according to TASS; the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER) records that European Union (EU) storage stood at 75% on October 21 (https://acer.europa.eu/news/eu-gas-storage-75-filled).

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen argued Thursday in Montreal for making Canada the bloc’s first “associate member” and building a broader alliance open to other countries, warning against economic coercion in Trump’s trade war, according to the Associated Press (AP). Trump suggested the arrangement could be a “hostile act” and threatened tariffs on Europe — von der Leyen said Canada cannot become a full member because of geography, but both sides want to bring the relationship to the highest level possible.

An Italian CH-47 Chinook helicopter of the European Union Force (EUFOR) crashed during “routine training” in the Brcko region on Thursday, about 180 km north of Sarajevo, killing four people and leaving 11 injured in stable condition, according to Al Jazeera — everyone on board was Italian, two soldiers and two Red Cross volunteers, according to the Italian defense ministry. EUFOR said it is conducting a full and thorough investigation of the incident and said there was no damage to civilians or civilian infrastructure.

Christine Lagarde’s early departure from the presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB) gives current European Union (EU) leaders time to pick a successor well before a French presidential election that polls show far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is favorite to win, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Euronext. The former central bank governors of the Netherlands and Spain, Klaas Knot and Pablo Hernández de Cos, are seen as frontrunners to replace her, according to Reuters. The ECB said Thursday that Lagarde will resign February 7, nine months ahead of the end of her eight-year term, according to AP.

Twelve European Union (EU) countries pledged on Thursday to jointly release 42.6 million barrels of oil by the end of January, in line with a G7 deal struck this month to ease concerns over global energy supply, according to AFP, in a text republished by Gulf News. European Commissioner for Energy and Housing Dan Jorgensen said member states pledged to accelerate the release, nearly half of it diesel, according to Xinhua.

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said on Thursday she had decided to step down eight months before her term was due to expire so that she can speak more freely on issues beyond monetary policy, Reuters reported. The ECB said in a statement that Lagarde had resigned and will step down on February 7, 2027.

Fifteen people were aboard the Italian CH-47 helicopter of Eufor, the European Union peace force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which crashed Thursday in Brcko, in the country's northeast, during a routine operation, according to Le Monde. Three died at the crash site; twelve injured were taken to Brcko's hospital, and a fourth person died of injuries after being admitted. Eufor said no civilians were hurt and the accident caused no material damage.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday that the European Union and Canada continue to explore Canada becoming the bloc’s first “associate member,” a term so divisive among member countries that it does not appear in the joint declaration, according to Reuters, in a text published by the South China Morning Post. In a speech at a Canada-EU summit in Montreal, von der Leyen said the two sides aim to deepen cooperation on artificial intelligence, climate, energy and security. Deeper ties to Europe are part of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s strategy to reduce reliance on the US amid strained relations under Trump, according to the newspaper. The term, which Germany and several other EU countries oppose, has no legal meaning.

The crash of a European Union force helicopter in Bosnia killed all four crew members, according to the hospital that treated the victims, in a report by Le Monde.

An Italian CH-47 Chinook helicopter serving with the European Union peacekeeping force in Bosnia (EUFOR) crashed on Thursday in the country’s north, with “a number” of personnel killed or injured, according to the Associated Press. Local officials told Bosnian media that three people died and 12 were injured in the crash near the town of Brcko, and EUFOR confirmed casualties and opened an investigation. Chinese state agency Xinhua reported the same toll of three killed and 12 injured.

Christine Lagarde will step down from the presidency of the European Central Bank (ECB) on February 7, 2027, a date she communicated to the institution's Governing Council and to European Council President António Costa. Lagarde said she had decided to step down eight months before her term was due to expire so that she could speak more freely on issues beyond monetary policy, according to Reuters.

The European Central Bank (ECB) kept interest rates unchanged, and the news that President Christine Lagarde will step down early added to concern over energy costs and France, according to AFP.

The European Union (EU) spent an average of $30.7 billion a month on petroleum oil imports between April and July, up from $19.7 billion in the same period of 2025, according to OilPrice. Since volumes rose by just 1.2%, Euronews Business estimates the bloc paid $11 billion more on oil imports in April–July than a year earlier.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is hosting European Union leaders in Montreal on Thursday and Friday, a two-day summit that will be closely watched for details on how Canada and the European bloc deepen their ties, according to the BBC. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen proposed last month “opening the door” to Canada for what she called “associate membership,” a status that does not currently exist, and Germany and other nations lobbied to remove mention of the term from a draft statement, opting instead for softer language referencing an “ever closer association,” the BBC reported.

European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde informed the Governing Council and European Council President António Costa that she will step down on February 7, 2027, according to a statement released by the bank on Thursday. Her successor will be appointed by the European Council following the nomination process set out in Article 283 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. The departure comes before her term ends, DW reported.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said Thursday it will take all necessary measures to safeguard its interests if the European Union insists on imposing discriminatory restrictions on Chinese products. According to the ministry, artificial barriers to normal trade may violate World Trade Organization rules and would not help improve the competitiveness of EU industries.

European officials allege Russian planes violated Polish, Lithuanian and Estonian airspace, testing reaction times, while suspected Russian drones were downed over Poland, Finland and the Baltic states, according to Al Jazeera. Representatives of five European Union (EU) intelligence agencies told the Financial Times, that Russia was seeking to “kill” European defense bosses and target their supply chains.

Canada and the EU will craft a “new chapter” in their alliance at a Montreal summit that opens Thursday, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Canada and the EU have dropped the associate membership plan in a bid to deepen ties, according to France 24.

The Dutch TTF contract, Europe's benchmark gas price, broke above €100 per megawatt-hour on Wednesday afternoon, a level last seen in December 2022, at the height of the energy crisis that followed Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The front-month contract traded at €100.37/MWh at 16:00 CET, up over 4% on the day, against around €32 before the Iran war began in late February. The benchmark briefly traded at €100/MWh at around 13:35 GMT, up around 4% from the previous session, according to data from the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).

Top European finance and banking officials will travel to Beijing in the coming months to press for a revaluation of the yuan, according to the South China Morning Post. In the week of November 23, Director-General Maarten Verwey meets Chinese counterparts in Beijing for a macroeconomic dialogue. A European Central Bank spokesperson said the dialogue covers all relevant economic policies in a holistic manner, including global imbalances.

Canada hosts the EU in Montreal this week for a summit expected to announce new agreements on trade, security and technology, according to the CBC. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen surprised many last month when she announced the EU would begin the process of making Canada its first “associate member,” a status that does not exist within the bloc. EU officials say the 27 countries want the closest possible association with Canada, even as details and the exact title remain under internal debate.

The European Union (EU) is discussing strengthening its own capabilities and reducing dependence on the US after the Starlink slowdown in Ukraine, a topic at the Oct. 15–16 summit, according to the Russian agency TASS, citing sources — and according to those sources, cited by Bloomberg via TASS, such changes would take years and the realistic way out would be to strengthen Europe's role within structures such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

British officials have begun discussions with the EU about a long-term relationship that could include a return to free movement, the business secretary said, according to the Guardian. The focus of the negotiations is the EU summit in November, to seal an agreement easing some trading restrictions and a youth mobility deal, the newspaper reported. The Independent says the UK is already holding talks about a possible return to freedom of movement.

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer warned that a $3.4 billion European Investment Bank loan to Airbus could jeopardize a tariff truce between Washington and Brussels, according to France 24. Greer said his office had received no details about the financing, announced in June, and urged the European Union to resolve the matter quickly.

European wholesale gas prices hit 97 euros per megawatt-hour on Monday as temperatures across Europe fell and traders priced in stronger demand for heating. The jump comes as fears grow of further supply disruptions in the Middle East. According to RT, European natural gas prices have surged to their highest level in four years amid the war in Iran.

The European Union will start charging a 2 euro handling fee from Sunday on packages from outside the bloc, in a bid to curb the influx from China, according to the South China Morning Post. Some 93 per cent of the cheap packages that arrived in Europe came from China, usually through platforms such as AliExpress and Temu, the newspaper reported. Nearly six billion small packages entered the EU last year, according to official data cited by AFP, in a text republished by RFI.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday, October 25, that Moscow would support the appointment of an EU diplomatic envoy to take part in negotiations, provided the designated representative shows a genuine commitment to a peaceful settlement. Speaking to Russian state news agency TASS, Peskov said Moscow remains open to European diplomatic engagement but accused Brussels of failing to adopt a constructive approach to resolving the conflict in Ukraine, according to the Kyiv Post.

Romania's naval authority said the Comoros-flagged Khoryv, with a crew of 13 Ukrainian and Azerbaijani sailors, sent a distress signal 13 nautical miles off Romania's port of Constanta, just beyond Romanian territorial waters. Nine sailors were rescued, three were missing and one body was recovered. President Nicusor Dan told reporters the ship had been hit by a drone and described the episode as part of “Russia's escalation process” in its war in Ukraine. Ursula von der Leyen said in an online post she was “deeply alarmed by yet another Russian escalation in the Black Sea”. A civilian vessel carrying Ukrainian and Azerbaijani crew was struck off the coast of Romania, she said, and “these reckless attacks target innocent lives and openly defy international law”.

The European Parliament awarded the International Criminal Court (ICC) the Sakharov Prize, the European Union's (EU) top human rights honour, two weeks after US President Donald Trump vowed to dismantle the court through new sanctions. “The European Union is built on respect for multilateralism and international institutions, and this prize recognises the important work of the court in upholding international law and justice,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. The ICC thanked the parliament for the honour “at a time when the Court and its officials face unprecedented challenges”, and its president, Tomoko Akane, said the prize carries particular significance by reaffirming the importance of independent judicial institutions. It is the second international recognition for the tribunal this month: former ICC judge Navi Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The EU is considering lifting sanctions on Yusha Group, a Chinese fabric-maker accused of aiding Russia, according to the South China Morning Post. The group was blacklisted by the European Union in February 2025, three years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Vietnam’s Communist Party chief and president, To Lam, arrived in Brussels on Wednesday for an official visit to the European Union (EU) and Belgium, another sign that relations continue to expand, according to DW. Trade in goods between Vietnam and the EU reached €76 billion in 2025.

Europe’s benchmark natural gas price rose on Thursday to nearly €90 per megawatt-hour, the equivalent of $29.50 per million British thermal units, as escalation in the Middle East raised concerns about European winter supply, according to OilPrice. EU storage sites were only 74% full on October 21, well below the five-year average of about 86% for this time of year, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.

China said on Thursday that its activities in the Arctic are aimed at promoting the region's peaceful, stable and sustainable development and are in accordance with international law, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said, according to The Cradle. Mao Ning also said that using Cold War mentality to create factions and incite geopolitical confrontation does not help the region's development. The remarks answered European Commission Vice President Kaja Kallas, who said the Arctic has become a front line of global power competition, and followed Brussels' presentation of a plan to expand Arctic surveillance and grow the European Union's icebreaker fleet.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) was awarded the European Union’s top human rights prize, the Sakharov Prize, on Thursday, while facing United States sanctions, according to Le Monde. The court thanked the European Parliament for the award at a time when “the Court and its officials face unprecedented challenges”, the newspaper reported.

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) raided the European Parliament premises of the far-right Patriots for Europe grouping on Wednesday as part of a funding probe, Reuters reported. The office confirmed searches at European Parliament premises in France and Belgium as part of an ongoing investigation into the use of European funds, according to Le Monde.

The European Union (EU) called on SpaceX to urgently restore Kyiv's full access to Starlink, Le Monde reported. Ukraine said SpaceX imposed speed limits of 100mph (160km/h) on Tuesday night, and any weapons travelling faster than that lost connectivity, according to the BBC. US senators called for an investigation into restrictions that reportedly degraded Ukraine's ability to conduct defensive operations against Russian drone and missile attacks on civilian infrastructure.

Kaja Kallas accused US negotiators of trying for about a year and a half to push Ukraine into surrender on Putin's terms. “American negotiators have been trying to push Ukraine into surrender for already almost two years, one and a half years now,” she told the European Parliament on Tuesday, according to Euronews. Kallas said Ukraine has not surrendered on Putin's terms because Europe has kept supporting the country. She called for Europe's involvement in peace talks, tougher pressure on Moscow and a just, lasting settlement, according to the Kyiv Post.

The European Union (EU) presented on Tuesday a new Arctic strategy with monitoring and protection of undersea cables, a direct link between the bloc and Greenland and the expansion of an icebreaker fleet dwarfed by Russia’s, according to the Associated Press, in a text republished by the Los Angeles Times. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that when sovereignty, territorial integrity and the rules that have underpinned stability in the region can no longer be taken for granted, “we have to act and change our strategic posture”. Officials estimate Europe has around 10 icebreakers, most of them in Finland, against around 40 for Russia.

Hungary blocked the next step in the European Union (EU) membership process for Ukraine and Moldova, according to the Kyiv Independent, in a text republished by Byteseu, even though their previous demands had been met. The TASS news agency reported the block.

Chinese carmakers are gearing up European production to sidestep tariffs and an import quota, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) — the EU will cap imports of Chinese hybrids at 350,000 a year from as early as 1 December, less than half the 800,000 expected in 2026, with vehicles assembled inside the EU exempt, according to Automotive World.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in an interview with The Times that the EU intends to counter Russia and China in the Arctic and seek unrestricted access to the Northern Sea Route, according to TASS. Kallas also confirmed that the European Commission will present its new Arctic strategy on Tuesday; the strategy was last updated in 2021.

EU countries do not know where to find an additional 70 billion euros ($78.4 billion) to aid Ukraine in 2027, after Volodymyr Zelensky requested the amount at the bloc’s most recent summit, according to La Repubblica, cited by Sputnik. The EU has already agreed to a 90-billion-euro loan for 2026-2027, with 60 billion euros earmarked for military spending and 30 billion for budget support.

The United States (US) Ambassador to the European Union (EU), Andrew Puzder, warned that European firms could face “devastating” commercial retaliation in the US market if the bloc reserves satellite-to-smartphone spectrum bands for EU operators, a warning echoed by SpaceX over the risk to connectivity in Ukraine, where Starlink sustains civilian and military infrastructure, according to TRT World.

Metinvest chief executive Yuriy Ryzhenkov told the BBC the recently imposed tariffs on steel imports into the EU were “unfair” and had been put in place “without any consideration for the situation Ukraine is in”. The EU capped the amount of steel that can enter tax free at 18.3 million tonnes per year — a 47% reduction from 2024 levels.

US diplomats visited a Christian Palestinian village in the West Bank on Sunday, following attacks by Israeli settlers on European diplomats and an American photojournalist in recent days. The European Union said Sunday that it “strongly condemns” an attack by a group of Israeli settlers on visiting European diplomats in the occupied West Bank, and urged full accountability and effective measures to prevent continued acts of violence and violent harassment against Palestinians, including during the ongoing olive harvest season, as well as against journalists.

Israeli settlers attacked European diplomats, a French mayor and the archbishop of Cambrai in Taybeh, in the occupied West Bank, on Saturday, injuring three people and damaging a car, according to the Tehran Times. Belgium’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Maxime Prévot, condemned the violence against Palestinians, foreign diplomats and journalists and said his country would continue to push for European Union sanctions on settlers.

The European Union “strongly condemned” violent settler attacks in the West Bank, including attacks against European diplomats, the bloc’s foreign policy spokesperson said on Sunday, according to the Jerusalem Post. The statement came a day after Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot said Israeli settlers had attacked Palestinian civilians, European diplomats and a French mayor in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli prime minister’s office urged caution before drawing conclusions from reports of attacks on European diplomats by masked Israelis in “Judea and Samaria” — the name the Israeli government uses for the occupied West Bank — and said any violence against diplomats is unacceptable, according to the Jerusalem Post.

The Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union announced on Thursday (October 15) that their summit scheduled for October 24 in Riyadh had been pushed to a later date, according to The Hindu; a statement by the council cited recent Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia for the decision.

The European Council has warned that companies that become involved in the construction of the E1 settlement in the occupied West Bank could face legal, economic and reputational consequences, according to Middle East Eye. The warning came days before the October 19 deadline for bids in one of the construction tenders. The plan connects West Bank settlements with occupied East Jerusalem and would effectively cut the West Bank in half, making a Palestinian state unviable, according to the outlet. The alert came after Britain’s sanctions on Israeli settlements — including sanctions on bodies that finance settlement construction — came into effect earlier this week.

Many delegations, including members of the European Union (EU), walked out when Russia’s finance minister, Anton Siluanov, started to speak at the steering committee meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), which heard two sources in the room. A second official present said nearly a dozen delegates left, among them those from Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The two-day European Union (EU) summit concluded in Brussels on Friday without a breakthrough on the bloc’s long-term budget, as rising security commitments and soaring energy costs exposed a growing gap between Europe’s ambitions and its ability to deliver, according to CGTN. Leaders ended more than five hours of debate on October 15 without narrowing their differences, according to the Brussels Signal.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said the war on Iran has already cost Europeans more than 100 billion euros, according to the Middle East Eye. Sánchez said the Spanish Congress ratified a social shield of more than 12 billion euros to protect citizens and the affected sectors, according to the same outlet. The statement was made after he arrived in Brussels for the European Union (EU) summit, according to 1news.az.

The EU plans to launch an Arctic surveillance program in 2027 to improve regional ties and counter growing US and Russian ambitions, according to the bloc’s new Arctic strategy cited by Bloomberg and reported by TASS. The document is set for release next week, and the program is expected to use the Copernicus and Galileo satellite systems to detect Arctic threats across land and sea.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the European Union (EU) will develop a new tool to swiftly block access to the bloc’s market in the event of a trade war, according to TRT World. “We will develop a new instrument for decisive action by limiting access to the single market where this is in the union’s interests fast and immediately,” she told reporters after EU leaders met in Brussels. Von der Leyen said the EU’s trade deficit with China reached 1 billion euros per day in 2025 and warned that the imbalance was expected to worsen in 2026.

US President Donald Trump denied limiting Ukraine’s access to Starshield, Starlink’s sister internet network, after it restricted drone speed, according to the BBC. The EU’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said Europe cannot replace Starlink in the short term. The EU wants to fully include Ukraine in GOVSATCOM, the bloc’s programme for pooling satellite communications capacity; Europe’s own network, IRIS2, has launches planned for 2029 and full operations targeted for 2030, according to TRT World.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, asked EU leaders for at least €70 billion more and said the war will cost €155 billion next year, asking for at least €70 billion “for defence, for weapons, and for our resilience”. French President Emmanuel Macron is temporizing after Kyiv’s request, according to Le Monde.

European leaders expressed support for Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels on Friday, at a moment of great tension between Kyiv and US President Donald Trump, according to G1. European Council President António Costa said it was not the time to withdraw support for Ukraine or to ease sanctions on Russia. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said “Starlink is really needed for Ukraine” and admitted Europe cannot replace the system in the short term.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels that the EU will not lift any sanctions unless Russia stops the war and backed more sanctions, after saying Moscow did not respect the energy ceasefire “for a single minute”, according to the BBC. EU leaders discussed Ukraine at the Brussels summit, according to The Guardian.

According to Sputnik, the EU increased imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 60% in September from August, citing a report by the Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) obtained by the outlet, worth €615 million. Almost three-quarters of the physical volume, or 72%, went to French ports; the remaining shipments went to the Netherlands and Portugal.

EU leaders failed to reach agreement on the 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework worth €1.76 trillion ($1.97 trillion), according to TASS, which attributed the deadlock to disagreements between net contributors and beneficiaries. Discussions continue at an extraordinary meeting on November 26. Macron warned that striking the budget deal is urgent before the French pre-campaign, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The European Union (EU) and Gulf states agreed to postpone their summit that was due to be held in Saudi Arabia on October 24, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, in a text published by The Jerusalem Post. Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev said on arrival at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels that the meeting in Riyadh would be postponed, maybe for security reasons. On Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted three missiles and two drones fired by Houthis toward Riyadh and Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said Slovakia will not take part in a new financing package for Ukraine, speaking in Brussels on Wednesday, according to RT. “By all means, give money to Ukraine, but the Slovak Republic will not participate in this mechanism,” he said. “These are not loans; they are gifts. Ukraine will never pay back any of this money.” Fico also said the existing €90 billion EU loan package had already proved insufficient.

The Kremlin said it has seen only in the press The Washington Post’s report about the United States and Europe moving toward a joint peace proposal on Ukraine and said it has received no information about it, according to TASS. The Kremlin said there is no connection between the diesel agreement with the United States and Russia’s position on Ukraine, and described it as a mutually beneficial example of Russian-US cooperation. It also said European Union sanctions and other unilateral actions could hamper the implementation of the fuel deal between Russia and the United States.

The United States and Europe are working on a four-point proposal to settle the Ukraine conflict, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius wrote, citing sources, according to TASS. Ukraine's reconstruction would be the first pillar, and negotiators asked Kiev for detailed cost estimates. A third pillar would be economic integration of Russia, Ukraine and Europe through an energy deal that could include a pipeline carrying Russian oil and gas to Europe, with Ukraine and Russia splitting the profits.

Hungary's government submitted to Parliament late on September 14 a bill that would remove anti-LGBTQ+ rules prohibiting the “promotion of homosexuality” to under-18s implemented by Viktor Orban's former nationalist government, according to Reuters, in a text published by The Straits Times. Orban's government, which was ousted after 16 years in an election in April, promoted a Christian-conservative agenda and in 2021 banned the “display and promotion of homosexuality” and gender change in media content accessible by under-18s. Hungary's new Justice Minister Marta Gorog said in May that Hungary would need to revise legislation restricting access to LGBTQ+ content after the EU's top court ruled in April that the restrictions breached EU law.

Russia said it had sold more than $320 billion worth of hydrocarbons to European countries since 2022, despite sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine, according to France24. Russian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of energy Alexander Novak put the volume of energy resource deliveries to European Union (EU) countries from 2022 to today at $320.7 billion. According to Novak, European countries bought $21.3 billion worth of Russian hydrocarbons in the first nine months of 2026 alone.

Sixty countries supported a declaration on Monday (12) committing to work to preserve freedom of navigation and opposing the introduction of tolls in straits used for international navigation, according to G1. The document was signed by EU members, Australia, Japan and the UK, among others. Since the start of the war between the United States and Iran, the charging of fees for navigation through the Strait of Hormuz has been speculated about.

The EU approved the 22nd package of anti-Russian sanctions and blacklisted about 1,600 companies and individuals linked to the defense sector, according to the bloc’s diplomacy chief, Kaja Kallas, in a post on X. The designations list expanded from 3,100 to 4,700 entries, with sanctions on 826 companies and 743 individuals, according to the Council resolution published in the Official Journal of the EU. EU foreign ministers formally adopted the bloc’s largest-ever expansion of its Russia sanctions blacklist, targeting nearly 1,600 people and companies linked to the country’s military-industrial complex, according to The Moscow Times.

The EU will limit the number of hybrid vehicles imported from China to 350,000 a year, the European Commission has confirmed. Brussels used World Trade Organization (WTO) rules to impose the 350,000 vehicle-a-year quota quickly, which will halve Chinese market share to 3%. The safeguard measure is expected to take effect as soon as December, according to Bloomberg.

EU foreign ministers adopted on Monday a decision establishing a new support mission in Lebanon aimed at advising the country’s military and internal security forces, according to Reuters, in a text republished by The Jerusalem Post. According to the Council of the EU, the mission will have an initial mandate of three years. The mission will advise and assist the Lebanese armed forces and internal security forces to strengthen territorial control, border security and also internal security, Kaja Kallas said, in remarks cited by Anadolu and carried by the Middle East Monitor. Kallas said the mission would not serve as a replacement for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and that there cannot be a security vacuum when UNIFIL leaves Lebanon.

China and the European Union (EU) held intensive consultations on trade in hybrid and electric vehicles, addressing trade and economic differences in a balanced way, guided by mutual respect and consultations on an equal footing, according to China’s Commerce Ministry cited by Sputnik. The two sides are continuing dialogue through the trade and investment consultation mechanism and reached agreements aimed at maintaining stable and balanced relations, according to the same source.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a drone hit a power plant in Kyiv on Sunday, leading to power outages in the capital, and then reported a strike on a power plant in Kharkiv, saying Ukrainian skies had been infested with Russian “shaheds” all day, according to The Guardian in its Europe live. The account came after United States (US) President Donald Trump’s Sunday morning announcement of an “ENERGY CEASEFIRE” between Russia and Ukraine, effective immediately, according to the same live. European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the bloc would welcome a truce “when it holds” and that it had not yet seen Russia stick to it, according to the same live.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised that the European Union (EU) will provide additional funding this week for Ukraine to purchase drones and missiles, following a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to The New Voice of Ukraine, which reports that Ukraine received an additional €1.24 billion on October 7 under the Ukraine Support Loan program, dedicated to Ukrainian-made drones and missiles. Von der Leyen said that Ukraine will be front and center at this week’s European Council, with discussion of next year’s funding needs, according to TASS.

Two German opposition parties, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the BSW (Bündnis Soziale Gerechtigkeit und Wirtschaftliche Vernunft), called for restoring economic ties with Russia, following the example of US President Donald Trump’s diesel deal with Moscow, challenging Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s sanctions policy, according to RT. The joint resolution is scheduled for a vote in the Saxony-Anhalt parliament in Magdeburg on October 14. The AfD and the BSW hold a combined majority following September’s regional elections, although the state legislature has no authority to lift federal or EU sanctions against Russia.

European Commissioner for Defence Andrius Kubilius called for no longer expecting any US help in settling the Ukrainian crisis, according to TASS. He argued that the European Union (EU) and Ukraine should draw up and implement an independent peace strategy.

The European Parliament approved resolution P10_TA(2026)0342, calling for the Muslim Brotherhood's inclusion in the EU list of terrorist organizations on Thursday, with 381 votes in favor, 167 against and 15 abstentions. The text also calls on the Council to include entities and individuals linked to the Muslim Brotherhood on the EU list of terrorist organizations.

Under the diesel deal between the United States and Russia, Russia would release an initial 300,000 tonnes of diesel to the American and global marketplace, followed by an additional 500,000 tonnes in November, according to the BBC, citing President Donald Trump. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said suspending sanctions provides Moscow with more revenue to wage war and that Europe will not ease pressure.

US, Ukrainian and European officials met in Miami on Friday in a renewed diplomatic push to end Russia's war in Ukraine, as Washington seeks a way out of the dangerous stalemate. US envoy Steve Witkoff said the talks tackled potential avenues to de-escalate and conclude the war before winter, toward a durable peace; according to him, the meeting included the E3, the European Commission, Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and covered energy resilience, grain, security guarantees and reconstruction. The meeting follows the announcement that Russia would immediately supply more than 300,000 tons of diesel, with another 500,000 tons in November, and that the US Treasury would issue a temporary license to allow Russian diesel to flow to global markets.

China and the EU reached an “understanding” on hybrid vehicles on Friday, October 9, according to Le Monde, as their commerce chiefs concluded talks with an agreement to strengthen dialogue, dispelling fears of a full-blown trade war. Trade chiefs Maros Sefcovic and Wang Wentao agreed that both sides would adhere to “procedures concerning company price undertakings” for hybrid cars, according to China’s Commerce Ministry, citing a joint statement.

The Trump administration announced on Friday, October 9, 2026, severe financial sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), an effort to cripple the global body that prosecutes war crimes, including genocide, and other serious criminal acts, according to The New York Times. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would ban transactions with what he called a “rogue court”. The court responded that the sanctions are “an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order,” one that strikes at the principle that no one stands above the law. The EU called the sanctions “deeply regrettable” and said it was ready to take any necessary measures to enable the court to carry out its work. The US justifies the move by the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged crimes in Gaza, according to AFP, in a text published by France 24.

The United States (US) and the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) issued alerts after the Houthi attacks on Riyadh airport. The US Embassy in Jordan issued a travel advisory to Americans in the Middle East, pointing to the Houthi attack on Riyadh airport, and EASA recommended that airlines not operate within additional portions of Saudi airspace.

The European Union (EU) will support 46 new strategic projects to accelerate supplies of critical raw materials by 2030, including lithium, gallium and rare earths for the auto, defence and renewable energy industries, with a funding cost of €21bn, according to The Guardian. The stated goal is to reduce dependence on China, which controls much of these essential raw materials, and six of the new projects are in France, across 16 countries, with eight for mining, 11 for refining and 19 for recycling, according to Le Monde.

The European Union supports extending the mandate of UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday, according to AFP, in a text published by Türkiye Today. Kallas said she expected EU foreign ministers to formally establish the new mission on Monday, October 12. The EU's new military mission in Lebanon is expected to have a permanent component of around 100 personnel, according to Rapporteur.

In Beijing, EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said on Thursday that the bloc’s trade deficit with China was “unsustainable,” as he opened two days of talks to avert a trade war. Sefcovic wrote on X that the goal of day one was to begin rebalancing the bloc’s unsustainable trade deficit. According to European figures, last year China exported to the EU around €1 billion a day more in goods and services than went the other way.

European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic has arrived in Beijing for talks on the European Union’s (EU) growing trade deficit with China. He will meet Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao on Thursday and Friday after months of discussions over a deficit of more than €1bn a day and Chinese restrictions on rare earths, according to Al Jazeera. Sefcovic travels to Beijing on October 8 for what he called “a super crucial meeting” with Wang Wentao, seeking results to present to EU leaders on October 15 and 16, according to Politico.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Washington understood and acknowledged Moscow’s position on a possible trilateral meeting on Ukraine, after Kiev’s attempts to disrupt the State Duma elections, according to TASS. On another front, European Union ambassadors agreed to resume the technical stage of EU accession talks for Ukraine and Moldova, stalled by Hungary since the summer, with the possible opening of two clusters, according to TASS, citing the Rapporteur report.

As of October 5, Europe’s underground gas storage facilities were 72.83% full, 15.13 percentage points below the five-year average for that date and compared with 82.9% a year earlier, according to TASS. EU storage facilities contain around 79.8 billion cubic metres of gas, 11.7 billion less than a year ago and the lowest level since 2013.

The European Parliament approved a tougher stance on China, describing it as a decisive enabler of Russia and calling for continuous naval presence and joint exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait, according to the South China Morning Post. The report urges swift action to counter Beijing’s industrial policy, which it describes as an existential threat to the European Union. The vote saw 454 lawmakers in favour, 86 against and 110 abstentions.

EU trade negotiators are heading to China for two days of crunch talks starting Thursday, aimed at a breakthrough deal tackling China’s record £1bn-a-day trade surplus and at sealing a pilot deal on cars, according to The Guardian. Last month, the EU asked China to voluntarily restrict hybrid exports, warning that safeguards — which could include quotas — could be enacted, according to the newspaper. On Monday, Germany’s chancellor, Friedrich Merz, agreed to a “historic U-turn” on its policy on China by siding with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to The Guardian.

Hungary is expected to lift its veto on the technical phase of Ukraine's EU accession talks, with letters on internal market and competition chapters, according to the Financial Times, in a text cited by TASS. Full political support would hinge on Ukraine's parliament passing a bill on minority educational rights on October 12, according to the Financial Times, in a text cited by TASS.

Britain is considering imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicle imports, amid concerns that Beijing is flooding the market with state-subsidised cars, according to Reuters. British ministers are ready to match the European Union's 45 per cent levy on Chinese electric cars, the Times reported. A British government spokesperson told Reuters no tariffs have been imposed on Chinese EVs.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Paris on Saturday against continued aid to Ukraine, in a national protest by the Les Patriotes party of Florian Philippot, according to RT. The protesters called on President Emmanuel Macron to halt the aid and pushed for France's withdrawal from the European Union and all supranational institutions, including the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

China's Commerce Ministry launched an anti-dumping investigation on Saturday into imports of p-nitrotoluene from the EU, according to The Hindu. The investigation follows a request from China's domestic industry, which says low-priced European p-nitrotoluene is flooding the Chinese market. The move comes less than a week before the bloc's trade chief is due in Beijing for talks, the paper reported.

The United States asked the European Union to release 120 million barrels of diesel from national strategic reserves over 180 days, according to Al Jazeera. EU countries agreed that further diesel stock releases should include a US commitment to avoid a unilateral diesel export ban.

The European Union rejected the US threat to ban any diesel exports unless the bloc releases more of its fuel stocks, France 24 reported. “We fully reject any ban on diesel. A ban would not be beneficial to anyone. It would undermine our trust in the United States as a reliable partner,” European Commission spokeswoman Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said. The 27-nation bloc was ready to work with the International Energy Agency (IEA) on the possible release of fuel reserves to contain prices, she added. Average US diesel prices have surged more than 70 percent to $6.39 a gallon since the start of the Iran war, according to motorists’ association AAA.

Greece has urged the EU to allow member states to temporarily suspend asylum applications during periods of mass migration, according to Al Jazeera. The proposal was submitted to EU interior ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday during the Justice and Home Affairs Council, also according to the broadcaster. Ministers also approved a new return regulation on Thursday allowing member states to establish return hubs outside the EU, also according to Al Jazeera.

European Union interior ministers met in Luxembourg on Thursday to discuss ways to strengthen border controls and curb undocumented migration into the 27-member bloc, according to Deutsche Welle.

The European Union turned down Kyiv’s request for an additional 27 billion euros, including by speeding up payments as part of the 90-billion-euro loan, according to TASS, citing Bloomberg and European sources. The EU demanded continued reforms tied to the phased release of the first 45-billion-euro tranche, due later this year, with no early payment.

The average price of diesel in Europe hit an all-time high of 2.24 euros ($2.53) per litre, according to European Commission data cited by Mehr News. Since the US-Israeli war on Iran, gasoline and diesel prices have rocketed due to decreases in supply and pauses in refining.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the United Kingdom could eventually rejoin the European Union, as his government considers options for reshaping relations with the bloc a decade after the Brexit referendum, according to RT. In an interview with the BBC on Wednesday, he said Brexit had done “more harm than good” and that the current arrangement was holding back economic growth.

The European Union (EU) imposed sanctions on 10 Russian judges, prosecutors and officials for preventing the Yabloko party from taking part in the State Duma elections, according to the Council of the EU, in a statement reported by TASS. The sanctions include a ban on entry into the EU. According to the Council, Yabloko was the only political party that openly opposed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.

The EU began drawing up staged accession plans for Albania, Moldova, Ukraine and Montenegro, according to TASS, citing Politico. The new plans could for the first time provide clear guarantees and deadlines for completing accession talks, still according to TASS, citing Politico.

The Strait of Hormuz now has only a handful of ships sailing each day, either at their own risk or escorted by the US Navy, a tiny fraction of the traffic that passed through the waterway before the first strikes on Iran earlier in 2026, according to El País. Qatar, the world’s second-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has been forced to cancel the bulk of its sales to the European Union (EU) and Asia citing “force majeure” over the closure of Hormuz. Continental reserves of LNG, key for industry and heating, are at their lowest in more than a decade and about 20 percentage points below where they usually stand at this time of year.

The European Union (EU) announced on Saturday a 710 million euro package for people hit by crises, natural disasters or conflict, most of it for Africa, according to Le Monde. Of the total, 380 million euros go to sub-Saharan Africa for protecting vulnerable migrants, supporting voluntary return and reintegration, strengthening migration governance and responding to forced displacement. Another 252 million euros come from the emergency aid reserve for conflict, forced displacement, epidemics and natural catastrophes, including people in sub-Saharan Africa, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Ukraine to prepare for the coming winter.

The United States is weighing a ban on diesel exports, and the European Union has already reacted. According to The Guardian, Donald Trump is considering a 90-day export ban to provide a temporary respite from high pump prices for American households before the midterm elections, after US diesel reached a record average of $6.52 a gallon. The EU warned Trump against the plan to block exports to the global market, saying the move would negatively affect Europe and the United States. According to The Wall Street Journal, EU officials say they are in talks with the Trump administration to head off export controls.

Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told TASS that Europe’s reaction to corruption scandals in Ukraine clearly shows that Europeans themselves are involved in them. According to him, even the heads of European states are involved in these corruption schemes. The accusation was not confirmed by another source.

The European Union (EU) is facing an energy price crisis tied to a supply crisis, the bloc’s energy commissioner, Dan Jorgensen, wrote in a letter to energy ministers, according to Reuters, via Al Arabiya. In the letter, Jorgensen urged countries to consider measures to curb energy demand. The European Commission presented the AccelerateEU package, with short-term and structural measures to reduce reliance on volatile fossil markets, answering a request from the March 19, 2026 European Council.

Yemen’s Houthis sent a letter to the European Union (EU) foreign policy arm saying they have no intention of targeting European vessels in the Red Sea, Middle East Eye reports, citing the Financial Times. The letter followed the group’s capture of the port city of Mocha and the Yemeni side of the Bab al-Mandeb strait; the Houthis say their blockade applies only to Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, according to Middle East Eye.

The European Commission, the executive arm of the European Union (EU), said on Friday, September 25, 2026, that it is ready to defend in court the €120 million ($137 million) fine on the platform X, according to France24. The U.S. Department of Justice filed an application on Thursday to support X’s bid to have the case annulled at the EU’s General Court, according to AP News. The fine, the first issued under the Digital Services Act (DSA), followed a two-year investigation and was prompted by allegedly deceptive practices in paid blue checks, according to France24.

Moldova’s former president Igor Dodon, leader of the largest opposition party, the Party of Socialists, said the country overpaid roughly US$ 330 million for gas over the past two and a half years after cutting ties with Gazprom and buying from the European Union (EU) at prices 40% higher, according to Dodon, cited by TASS. He says the formula agreed with Gazprom in 2021 would have delivered an average price 15% below the European average and roughly US$ 745 million in accumulated savings between 2022 and 2026, TASS reports.

European Union (EU) member states approved the terms to release €6.6 billion from the European Peace Facility, the fund the bloc uses to finance military aid to countries outside it, in support of Ukraine, according to Kaja Kallas, the bloc’s top diplomat, as cited by the Russian state news agency TASS. Of the total, €900 million go to the EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine, €1 billion finances new joint procurements and €4.7 billion are set aside to compensate participating countries, according to TASS. The money refunds governments for military aid already delivered, Reuters reports, in a text carried by Cyprus Mail.

Poland stopped registering asylum applications on the border with Belarus in March 2025 and has kept the measure in place for 18 months, the Associated Press reports. Warsaw wants the European Union (EU) to authorize temporary suspensions of asylum applications in cases of “instrumentalized” migration, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on September 16 a proposal for a European framework to respond to “planned and weaponized” migration, the Associated Press adds.

European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen told the Financial Times that the European Union could face its worst winter since 2022, with record energy prices and possible supply problems coming from the United States, according to TASS, which reproduces the interview. Diesel in Europe is near record highs and U.S. President Donald Trump said he intends to back a ban on the country’s diesel exports, also according to TASS. The diesel price hit an all-time high of €2.23 per liter, according to European Commission data cited by the AFP news agency, in the TASS reproduction.

The European Union (EU) is weighing measures to curb the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions under their national flags, according to reporting by Euractiv. The options under discussion include targeted sanctions, visa restrictions and possible funding curbs; Russian state broadcaster RT reports that the proposals sit in a non-paper by the EU diplomatic service and the European Commission and that no formal proposal by the bloc exists yet.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Spain intends to comply with the European Union’s ban on importing Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) from 1 January 2027 despite long-term contracts held by Spanish companies, according to TASS, the Russian state news agency, which carried his remarks at an Atlantic Council event in Washington. “LNG supply contracts are concluded years in advance. These are very long-term contracts. This is not something that can be decided at the last minute,” Albares said. He added that Spain has one of Europe’s largest LNG storage and processing capacities and that this “opens up opportunities for the rest of Europe,” which Madrid can supply with LNG from “reliable partners, such as the United States.” The European ban on Russian LNG imports takes effect on 1 January 2027 for long-term contracts, and the ban on pipeline gas on 30 September 2027; the European Union Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER), in a 2026 report, records that Russian LNG imports rose 17% year-on-year between 18 March and the end of May 2026, despite the ban on short-term contracts in force since 25 April.

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she discussed with Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in New York the diplomatic prospects for ending the war between the United States and Iran and for fully reopening the Strait of Hormuz. “There were no tolls or fees for passage before the war, and there should be none after the war,” she wrote on X, according to LaPresse and ANI. “Navigation must be free and unimpeded, both in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.” Kallas also said she raised with Araghchi domestic repression inside Iran, including the sharp rise in executions and death sentences.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, met US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York and conveyed Iran’s conditions for reopening the Strait of Hormuz, according to Iranian state television IRIB, cited by Middle East Eye: the immediate lifting of the naval blockade, the return of frozen Iranian assets and an end to the war on all resistance fronts. The meeting confirms the direct contact that US president Donald Trump described earlier as a roughly three-hour meeting that was “very good” and “very productive”. The same day, the European Union (EU) high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Kaja Kallas, also met Araghchi to discuss free maritime passage in the strait and in Bab al-Mandab: “There were no tolls or fees for passage before the war, and there should be none after the war,” she wrote on X, according to Middle East Eye. Kallas said she also raised “domestic repression inside Iran, including the sharp rise in executions and death sentences”.

The European Union (EU) sealed on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, the deal renewing sanctions on nearly 3,000 people and companies accused of supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine for three years and removing billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list, after Latvia relented and opted for a constructive abstention, according to Euronews and The Guardian. Ireland’s presidency of the Council of the EU confirmed the “difficult compromise” hours before the midnight deadline: the rollover moves from six months to 36 months, until 22 September 2029. According to diplomats cited by Euronews, France tied Usmanov’s delisting to the release of two French nationals held in Azerbaijan, and Slovakia vetoed keeping Fridman on the list; The Guardian reports that Luxembourg had asked for the same treatment for Fridman, who is seeking $16 billion from the grand duchy over the freezing of his assets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the decision unacceptable and publicly thanked Latvia for its resistance.

Russia raised frozen pollock fillet exports to the European Union (EU) by 16% in volume and 44% in value between January and July 2026, according to calculations by the analytical centre of the Russian Fish Union, published by TASS, which cites Eurostat data. Sales totaled 113,000 tonnes worth US$ 513 million in the period, and Russia's share of the European market for the product rose from 44% to 51% by weight, keeping the country as the largest supplier. Frozen cod exports stood at 6,300 tonnes (US$ 58 million) and frozen cod fillets at 6,400 tonnes (US$ 78 million). The figures come from the industry body itself, and the EU maintains bans on higher-value Russian fish products.

Latvia blocked the compromise that would have renewed European Union (EU) sanctions on almost 3,000 people and companies linked to Russia’s war in Ukraine, and ambassadors of the 27 will meet again on the morning of Tuesday, September 22, 2026, in a last attempt before the listings expire at midnight, according to Euractiv and The Guardian. The deadlock began with France’s demand to delist Russian-Uzbek businessman Alisher Usmanov, on grounds Paris describes as “national security” and which diplomats link to the release of two French nationals held in Azerbaijan; the removal of businessman Mikhail Fridman was then sought by Luxembourg, the target of a $16 billion arbitration he has filed, according to The Guardian, while Slovakia vetoed keeping him on the list. In exchange for the delistings, Paris and Bratislava accepted widening the renewal period from six months to three years, a concession that did not convince Riga. Without unanimity by midnight, some 3,000 asset freezes and travel bans lapse at once. The sectoral sanctions on the Russian economy, renewed for a year in June, are not affected by this standoff.

Latvia is the last-minute block on the package that would renew European Union (EU) sanctions on nearly 3,000 people and companies accused of sustaining Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to The Guardian. Latvian prime minister Andris Kulbergs wrote on Monday, 22 September 2026, that “extending sanctions for 36 months would be the right step”, but that he cannot accept the price being the removal of billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list. Without a deal, the sanctions lapse at the end of this Tuesday, 22 September 2026; a short one-week extension, already used once, looks like the likely outcome. France and Slovakia are pushing the delistings, and Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, called the plan “unacceptable”. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said all western sanctions are illegal and should be revoked.

Ambassadors from the European Union’s 27 member states again failed to reach a deal on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, to renew sanctions on nearly 3,000 people and entities tied to Russia’s war in Ukraine, which are due to expire at midnight on Tuesday. Latvia rejected the compromise that would remove billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list in exchange for a 36-month renewal of the remaining listings, according to Reuters and The Guardian. France backs Usmanov’s removal, diplomats say, to unlock the release of French nationals held in Azerbaijan. Without unanimity by midnight, roughly 3,000 listings — asset freezes and travel bans — fall at once.

Seven countries and the European Union (EU) launched the inaugural summit of “Partners for Multilateralism” (P4M) in New York on Monday, September 21, a group presenting itself as a defender of a UN-based international order and one removed from superpower politics. The joint declaration “A joint commitment to multilateralism, international law, peace and prosperity” lists Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, the EU, India and Kenya as initial co-sponsors, according to the office of Canada’s prime minister, and was co-hosted by European Council President António Costa, prime ministers William Ruto of Kenya, Anthony Albanese of Australia, Mia Mottley of Barbados and Mark Carney of Canada, and foreign ministers Mauro Vieira of Brazil and Subrahmanyam Jaishankar of India, according to UN WebTV. The text says economic interdependence “is increasingly used as a source of leverage”, cites the triple planetary crisis and the rapid development of artificial intelligence among the challenges requiring cooperation, and backs reform of multilateral institutions, including through the UN80 process. In his opening remarks, Jaishankar said the “four F crisis” — fuel, food, fertiliser and finance — “cannot be left to itself”, according to Times Now. In a joint editorial in the Financial Times, Costa, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, Ruto and Carney wrote that P4M will not be another exclusive bloc or an international bureaucracy, and cited 2025’s record number of state-based armed conflicts since 1946, in 35 countries, according to The Hindu.

European Union ambassadors failed on Monday, September 21, to finalise the deal that would remove businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the bloc’s sanctions list, and talks resume on Tuesday, September 22, at 06:00 GMT. One diplomat told AFP that Latvia had lodged a last-gasp objection. According to diplomats cited by AFP and Euronews, the package negotiated by Ireland’s Council presidency would have delisted both men and renewed sanctions on about 3,000 other Russia-linked individuals and entities for 36 months, far longer than the usual six or 12 months. Renewal requires unanimity among the 27 member states, and the regime expires at the end of Tuesday. France had pushed to remove Usmanov, who holds Russian and Uzbek citizenship, citing “national security”; Reuters, citing three European diplomats, linked the French request to Azerbaijan’s detention of at least two French nationals, an account Baku rejects. Luxembourg demanded the same treatment for Fridman, who is seeking US$ 16 billion in arbitration against the grand duchy. Lithuania and the other Baltic states opposed the move, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote that delisting “is unacceptable and would send the wrong signal to Moscow”.

German chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged on Monday to overhaul his Christian Democratic Union (CDU) after Sunday’s historic state election defeat, acknowledging his own share of responsibility. ‘Federal politics played a major role, and so did I,’ he said, according to Le Monde, which describes the chancellor fighting for his political survival. At a press conference in Berlin he called the result ‘dramatic and unprecedented’ because ‘an entire state parliamentary caucus has been eliminated from the state legislature’, and said the party ‘no longer has satisfactory answers to too many questions’, according to POLITICO. Merz said he would hold ‘intensive deliberations’ with the party leadership on its platform, structure and public image and claimed the full backing of the leadership; state premiers met in Berlin on Sunday night without the chancellor, according to German media reports cited by POLITICO.

European Union (EU) ambassadors agreed on Monday to lift sanctions on businessmen Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman as long as no EU government objects within the next few hours, diplomats told Reuters. In exchange, sanctions on some 3,000 other Russia-linked individuals and entities would be renewed for 36 months — far longer than the usual 6 or 12 months — Euronews reported. France pushed for Usmanov, who holds Russian and Uzbek citizenship, to be removed, and Luxembourg conditioned its support on the same treatment for Fridman, who is seeking $16 billion from the grand duchy in arbitration. Both men were sanctioned in 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine. Lithuania and the Baltic states opposed the move: “It would send a lot of signals, and all of them are bad signals,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys told Reuters. Ukrainian Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi called the decision “immoral and self-destructive.” The EU’s Russia sanctions regime expires at midnight on Tuesday (22).

Volkswagen cut its 2026 operating margin forecast from 4–5.5 percent to 1 percent at most, citing a weak Chinese market, higher provisions for retirements and the situation at Porsche, where it booked a €6 billion goodwill impairment, according to the company’s own statement and Reuters. Special effects total about €10 billion for the year, including the planned sale of the Osnabrück plant. Volkswagen brand chief Thomas Schaefer told workers in Wolfsburg on Monday that the company will “significantly step up” its performance programme, on the day IG Metall took protests to several German cities.

Protests in about 100 French cities over the weekend demanded the rejection of a bill that presumes police and gendarmes acted lawfully when using their weapons, dubbed a ‘licence to kill’ by critics. The bill passed the National Assembly on 7 July and awaits a Senate vote; a petition against it gathered 730,000 signatures and was dismissed by the law committee. In Rennes, police arrested eight people and three officers were injured after projectiles were thrown, according to authorities cited by French media (BFM TV, Le Parisien and L’Indépendant). Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez asked prefects for ‘particular vigilance’ over the risk of clashes at some of the planned marches. RT reported clashes in Paris and published video from the demonstration; French media reports put thousands on the streets of Paris and Marseille, where Amnesty International’s Cédric Picard said the group fears more police violence if the bill becomes law.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC), acting for the European Union, fined Google €403 million on Monday for misusing users’ location data and ordered the company to bring its processing in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) within six months. The regulator found that Google infringed the GDPR between May 2018 and February 2020 in its Web & App Activity, Location History and Location Accuracy functions, on lawfulness, fairness, transparency and retention. It is the fourth-largest fine imposed by the Irish authority and its first major penalty against Google; the inquiry opened in February 2020 after complaints from consumer organisations in eight European countries, brought together by the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC). Google said the case centres on historical policies that have since been updated. The same day marked the deadline the European Commission gave Google to comply with its €890 million decision under the Digital Markets Act (DMA).

Anti-immigration protesters attacked a car at the port of Ceuta on Sunday, throwing eggs and stones and smashing its windows, believing it carried pro-migrant activists, according to the Portuguese newspaper Público and RTP, citing Reuters. Police detained at least one person. The damaged car belonged to Ceuta Assembly deputy Julia Ferreras, according to the local party Ceuta Ya, cited by Público. Protesters were waiting for the arrival of the Pamplona-based group Negu Gorriak (Right to a Roof), which planned to distribute humanitarian aid to migrants; according to RTP, lawyer Rafael Borrego and human rights lawyer Sofía Cánovas were also in the vehicle. More than 72,000 people crossed from Morocco into the enclave in late July; most were returned, but about 2,500 remain in the city.

French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney met on Sunday in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, a French archipelago about 25 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland, and announced closer cooperation on energy, defence, critical minerals and cross-border security. Macron said France and Canada are “two great independent nations who want to stay that way” and said he wants agreements to secure more Canadian liquefied natural gas (LNG) for Europe’s Atlantic coast, which today goes mainly to Asia. It was the first visit by a Canadian prime minister to the territory and the first by a French president since 2014. The meeting came weeks after Donald Trump posted an image of the archipelago covered by the American flag, according to Reuters, and amid Ottawa’s rapprochement with the European Union.

The Netherlands is preparing for United States sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) that could be announced as early as Monday, according to The Associated Press (AP), which spoke to diplomatic and government officials on condition of anonymity; The Wall Street Journal reported that Washington is preparing sweeping economic restrictions on the institution. The measures would escalate the Trump administration’s campaign against the court, which has already hit more than a dozen officials, including half of its sitting judges, and which Secretary of State Marco Rubio described as a campaign to “dismantle the threat” posed by the tribunal. The Hague is looking at ways to keep paying staff and protecting witnesses, and has asked for a six-month grace period before the sanctions take effect. The measures are retaliation for the court’s investigations of US and Israeli officials, whose countries are not members of the court, and Venezuela and Chad have announced in recent months that they will leave the body.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Monday he intends to hold his coalition of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) together after his party’s defeats in Sunday’s state elections, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP), The Guardian and The Hindu. The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) came first in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, where the CDU crashed out of the state parliament with its worst result since the party’s founding in 1945; in Berlin, the hard-left Die Linke pushed the CDU into second place. Merz called the result a “heavy blow” and a “profound turning point”, ruled out resigning and said the reasons for the setback “go far beyond my own person”. The SPD also said it would stay in the coalition while signalling it would push for changes to the government’s planned reforms.

The European Commission proposed on Monday a common rating scheme for data centres, to make their energy and water consumption transparent and to integrate them into Europe’s electricity system. The label, set out in a delegated regulation, will cover data centres with a capacity above 500 kW and also their contribution to the grid, such as the reuse of waste heat and consumption flexibility; according to the Commission, reusing around half of all waste heat from European data centres is equivalent to the heating demand of 4 million households. Brussels wants to triple the European Union’s data centre capacity within five to seven years to sustain artificial intelligence development and cut reliance on US Big Tech, and the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that these facilities consumed around 68 TWh of European electricity in 2024, a volume expected to virtually double to 114 TWh by 2030, more than 3% of the bloc’s electricity demand. The delegated regulation now faces a two-month scrutiny period by the European Parliament and the Council before entering into force; the first sustainability labels are expected in 2027, and the consultation on minimum energy performance standards closes on 14 December 2026. Reuters notes that the scheme imposes no consumption limits and does not require operators to disclose total power use.

European Union ambassadors failed to reach a deal on Monday to renew sanctions against Russia, which expire at midnight on Tuesday (22), according to AFP and Euractiv. France has joined Slovakia in demanding the removal of billionaire Alisher Usmanov from the list, citing “national security,” while Luxembourg makes the removal of Mikhail Fridman a condition; a diplomat told AFP that the compromise on the table removes both names and extends the rest for up to 36 months. Renewal requires unanimity among the 27, and on 14 September the bloc had already extended the listings by only seven days — a move EUobserver calls unprecedented since 2022. The list covers around 3,000 people and entities. The Financial Times reported that the French request is tied to a possible deal to release French nationals held in Azerbaijan; no government has confirmed the link.

Ireland’s Data Protection Commission (DPC) fined Google €403 million over failures in its processing of location data, following an inquiry opened in 2020 after complaints from European consumer organisations, according to Reuters; the regulator ordered compliance within six months, and the fine is the DPC’s fourth largest since the GDPR came into force, according to TheJournal.ie.

German auto workers staged nationwide protests on Monday called by the IG Metall union, three days after Volkswagen cut its 2026 operating margin forecast to at most 1%, according to Reuters; the union is pressing the government to lower energy costs and shield domestic production from Chinese imports.

The AfD said on Monday that “the chancellor’s twilight has begun”, after winning state elections in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, claiming the role of Germany’s “new people’s party”, according to AFP and G1; The Guardian reports growing dissatisfaction inside the CDU with Friedrich Merz, who says he is staying on.

The AfD won the state election in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania with 38.2% of the vote, ahead of the SPD on 35.5%, while the CDU was shut out of the state parliament with 4.9%, according to NDR and AP — the party’s worst result in any state in its history. The same night in Berlin, the Left won with 25.7% and the CDU-SPD coalition lost its majority, Reuters reports; Alice Weidel said the AfD has “already replaced” the CDU as the “party of the people”, according to AFP.

France and Canada strengthened ties in response to Trump’s provocations, according to Le Monde, and a Canadian minister told the BBC that the UK should “team up” with Canada in a new European alliance.

France: the government reports 11% of filling stations missing at least one product category (petrol or diesel), with diesel at EUR 2.402/l on 19 September, above April record, a sixth straight week of increases.

Germany approves a EUR 2.5bn package: a 17-cent-per-litre tax cut on petrol and diesel from 1 October, with the price cap only expected in January 2027, days before state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called his party’s state election result a ‘disaster’ but said he is staying in office, according to the BBC. The far right (AfD) topped another state vote, the Times of India reports, and in Berlin the left won pledging to nationalise housing, according to Reuters.

Commission delays decision on LNG price cap