A sudden blackout of Hungary’s main state TV channel, mass sackings of loyalist editors and an emergency legal overhaul reveal how fast Viktor Orbán’s propaganda and power network is being dismantled.
A group of leading university professors have urged the Irish EU presidency to sit out of negotiations on EU tax and digital laws, pointing to “insurmountable conflicts of interest”.
Behind empty Strasbourg benches, a fight over whether polluting oil giants or national treasuries should pay for Europe’s €70bn-a-year adaptation is stalling any serious protection plan.
Exempt from transparency rules, the EU Commission’s new so-called “Reality Checks” consultations are often attended only by lobbyists yet have shaped major deregulation proposals. Now the EU Ombudsman wants answers.
The far-right are increasingly taking the lead in EU migration policies as the mainstream centrist parties continue to be lured by their ideas.
Brussels just dodged a Brexit‑fuelled airport meltdown with its biometrics U‑turnThe EU Commission says that the EES will reduce the average time spent at passport control from 90 seconds to 20 seconds per person. Airlines have warned of five-hour queues at airports.
The EU Parliament voted almost two-to-one to scrutinise the hard-right Europe of Sovereign Nations group for its use of discriminatory language, possibly leading to a loss of EU funds. In a bad day for the far-right, Marine Le Pen lost her appeal in Paris.
In Prague, the same government that tried to quietly loosen conflict-of-interest rules for its own prime minister is now being pushed by internal dissent and EU scrutiny to rethink the deal before it blows up.
THIS WEEK: MEPs weigh triggering probe into far-right ESN party, as plenary debates Gaza reconstructionThe European Parliament is in Strasbourg this week, ahead of the summer break. MEPs will be debating and voting on policies, including on air-passenger rights.
Heart disease, cancer, menopause and endometriosis: millions of European women are paying the price of late diagnoses, underfunded research and medicines never properly tested on their bodies.
With hundreds of pro-Fidesz journalists laid off and state propaganda cash drying up, Hungarians could soon see a radically different media landscape—if independent outlets survive the coming financial squeeze.
In a political week that saw a Budapest Pride march without bans, a speaker cutting off her own prime minister mid-rant and Fidesz influencers mocked over air-con memes, the real drama is whether a single botched raid on a cash truck could finally topple Viktor Orbán’s myth of untouchability.
Last year, Frontex contracted out €163m on return operations to eTravel SA, a Poland-based company. The agency’s budget and powers are now set to expand in September, including on deportations.
Bulgaria, once quietly funnelling Soviet-calibre shells that kept Ukraine from collapse, is now invoking war fatigue and religious loyalty to justify slamming the brakes on further aid and sanctions.
The European People’s party wants authorities to map Islamist organisations networks, cut funding to civil society, and trigger more intelligence-gathering on the religion.
MEPs want to make it easier for aerial spraying of pesticides, typically by drones, to be authorised by member states, and 15-year licences for approved pesticides, rising to 25 years for renewals.
Ukrainian drones reshape the war and expose Russian vulnerabilities but Europe’s disjointed weapons factories and looming US pull-back could leave its own cities unprotected in a future confrontation.
Geopolitical uncertainty has left many EU citizens wanting more of their union, new eurobarometer figures reveal.
Behind Croatia’s polished EU image, there is a ruling party quietly tightening its grip on judges and war history alike, blurring the line between mainstream conservatism and the radical right.
THIS WEEK: China trade clash, Ebola health push, and Ireland’s turn at the EU helm Trade talks with China and a forum on global health policy in Brussels will be followed by a trip to Dublin and Cork for the launch of the Irish EU presidency.