Author: staff

The measure brings Belgium in line with the Netherlands, which already restricts e-cigarettes to tobacco flavor only. A Dutch study by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) suggests the policy has had an impact: Nearly two-fifths of users cut back, while more than one in five quit entirely. Belgium’s move follows a November 2025 recommendation from its Superior Health Council to sharply reduce allowed flavors, with youth protection taking priority over adult preferences. The ban builds on an earlier crackdown. Belgium was the first EU country to outlaw disposable vapes at the end of 2024 and…

In a last-minute addition to the agenda for Thursday’s meeting of digital ministers in Nicosia, Spain and France said the EU must include satellite spectrums in its wider effort to set up a preference for homegrown technology, effectively excluding foreign-owned firms from critical sectors, according to a text seen by POLITICO. “It is time to decide whether we want our skies to be stronger or dependent,” Spain’s Digital Transformation Minister Óscar López told his counterparts on Thursday. “It is time to make European satellite industry great again.” “From the ground to the sky, infrastructures like telecommunications are a critical asset…

After announcing he would boycott the Biennale’s opening, Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli this week sent ministry inspectors to investigate if Russia’s participation is “compatible with the existing sanctions regime.” The decision drew praise from EU Culture Commissioner Glenn Micallef, who cheered the minister’s “principled position.” Earlier this month EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas announced the European Commission would cut funding to the Biennale as a result of its decision to admit Russian artists to its 2026 edition. Following the jury’s resignation, the Biennale on Friday announced it will revamp its awards procedures and allow visitors to decide who…

“There’s a moving cost, and then depending on where you’re moving them to, there could be construction costs that are substantial,” said Todd Harrison, a defense budget analyst at American Enterprise Institute. “We’re not going to have facilities to house them in Poland, so that would be a very long-term construction cost” to move them. It would also be expensive to move those troops, their families and equipment back to the U.S., given there likely isn’t available housing for them. U.S. forces based in Germany are critical to Washington’s global military posture and nuclear deterrence. American air bases can route…

The international jury of the Venice Biennale resigned on Thursday, just days before the world’s oldest and most important contemporary art fair opens. No reason was given, but the move came as Italy’s government opposed Russia’s participation. The Biennale said in a statement that the jury, made up of the president, Solange Farkas, and Zoe Butt, Elvira Dyangani Ose, Marta Kuzma, Giovanna Zapperi, had resigned. It didn’t provide an explanation for the highly unusual move. It followed a visit to the Biennale by Cultural Ministry officials who arrived on Wednesday to gather information about the reopening of the Russian Pavilion.…

But by suggesting that the Trump administration had been “humiliated” by the Iranians, the chancellor may have gone too far — risking a rupture with a president known for his vindictive streak. While the stakes are potentially extremely high for Germany, political leaders remained relatively sanguine, noting that the U.S. needs its military presence in Germany for its own operations. Despite Trump’s attacks on Merz, many argue, military cooperation on the ground remains close and deeply integrated, and a rapid American drawdown is unrealistic. “This is not the first time we’ve been confronted with such threats,” said Christoph Schmid, a…

LONDON — Nigel Farage described the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party as a “mixed bag,” as the British politician eyes gains in crunch U.K. elections next Thursday. Germany’s AfD has an “utterly respectable and decent” cultural stance — but its ties with dictators like Russian President Vladimir Putin are “very, very difficult,” the right-wing Reform UK leader told Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner for his podcast series MD Meets. Axel Springer is the owner of POLITICO. Centrist German politicians have accused the AfD of using its rising influence to act as a mouthpiece for Putin inside Germany — a claim AfD leaders…

The UK government raised the country’s official threat level from terrorism from substantial to severe on Thursday, after two Jewish men were stabbed in north London the day before in what police are calling an act of terrorism. Severe is the second-highest rung on a five-point scale and means intelligence agencies consider an attack highly likely in the next six months. Officials in Westminster said that the country is facing an antisemitism emergency and pledged to increase security for Jewish communities after a string of attacks that have sparked fear and anger among Jews. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that…

In theory, “there are no significant legal or political obstacles” for him to try pull troops out of Germany again, said Jennifer Kavanagh, director of military analysis at the Defense Priorities think tank, given the “very limited leverage” U.S. Congress has over military matters. The only concrete limit is a 2025 law that prevents the president from leaving fewer than 76,000 troops in Europe. With up to 85,000 soldiers on the continent, that gives him a legal maximum of 9,000 soldiers. But even doing that would take “four years at the minimum” and could cost “hundreds of billions” of dollars…

Spain’s migration policy is “almost like a state policy”, focused on integration, coexistence and recognising the positive contribution of migrants, the country’s migration minister Elma Saiz told Euronews. While much of Europe is hardening its stance on migration, Spain, under Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s leadership, is taking a very different approach. “Spain was once a country of migrants. Today it is a country of opportunities,” Saiz said during an interview for Euronews’ interview programme 12 Minutes With, stressing migration is a key factor in the country’s economic and social development. At the centre of its current migration policy is a…