Author: staff
Updated: 27/12/2025 – 12:00 GMT+1 Catch up with the most important stories from around Europe and beyond this December 27th, 2025 – latest news, breaking news, World, Business, Entertainment, Politics, Culture, Travel. … More
That debate was triggered after the EPP broke with its traditional centrist partners and relied on far-right backing to push through rollbacks of EU green rules, including cuts to corporate sustainability and deforestation legislation, a moment far-right lawmakers openly described as a breakthrough. Far-right groups have since made clear they intend to cash in. Leaders from the Patriots and ECR groups said they are pressing for tougher migration policies, deregulation for industry and the reversal of the EU’s planned 2035 ban on combustion-engine cars, signaling that future votes would come at a political price. Centrist lawmakers, meanwhile, say they feel…
Rutte’s remarks were a direct response to recent comments by Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party, who questioned whether Europe can continue to rely on Washington amid political uncertainty in the U.S. In an interview with Funke Media Group, Weber argued that Europe must be prepared to act more autonomously. “We cannot seriously expect Trump to secure a peace solution on his own with American GIs,” Weber said, calling for European soldiers to operate under a European flag as part of future security arrangements in Ukraine. The exchange comes amid a broader debate in Europe over strategic…
Now that we’ve finished rounding up our favourite albums of 2025, it’s already time to look ahead and think about the coming year… This year has been a very solid one in terms of new releases, with bold and intoxicating experimentation courtesy of FKA twigs, DJ Haram, Jane Remover and, of course, Rosalía – so let’s hoping the 12 months to come deliver more to get excited about. We’ve handpicked 10 albums scheduled to be released in the first quarter of 2026 – the ones we’re most eager to get into our ears. And we’ll be keeping our fingers crossed…
A neo-noir and folk-horror TV series dubbed Kazakh Scary Tales found its place among eager fans at festivals after being considered too scary and gory for streaming audiences. The show by Kazakh director Adilkhan Yerzhanov premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal this summer and saw a local release in November. The story follows Birzhan, a police officer reassigned to a remote village, where he has to solve mysterious deaths, while dealing with corrupt officials. He partners up with a local witch, who helps him figure out the ancient evil, find ways to fight it, and maybe learn…
People clinging to tree tops to stay alive, thousands of homes crumbling, and roads rapidly transforming into rivers of mud. These haunting images are not a dystopian prediction of what is to come: they are the reality of extreme weather that has gripped the world in a deadly chokehold. In Europe, flash floods, deadly heatwaves, droughts and record-breaking wildfires became the defining feature of 2025 – a legacy it is still scrambling to recover from. But experts warn these events will likely become the “new normal” unless drastic action is taken to reduce heat-trapping emissions being released into the atmosphere.…
And the second was the war in Ukraine, which dragged into its fourth, bloody year and — together with Trump’s return to the White House — forced Europe’s leaders to make hard choices about the EU’s security, agency and destiny. The collision of the two, a paradigm-shattering American president, and the grim reality on Ukraine’s battlefield dominated the year’s news. And POLITICO was there for every consequential speech, summit, and Oval Office spat. Without further ado, here are our 20 most-read stories of 2025. 20. Europe thinks the unthinkable: Retaliating against Russia As the Kremlin launched a wave of hybrid attacks against EU member countries, from menacing fighter jet incursions to mysterious drone sightings, POLITICO asked: What would it take for Europe to finally hit back? Read the story
“In prison, there is nothing to see, and nothing to do.” So said Nicolas Sarkozy, one-time president of France. You’d imagine, based on that sentence, that he wouldn’t have enough material to write a book about his time in prison but you’d be very wrong. “Nicolas Sarkozy, The Journal of a Prisoner” is 216 pages long. As Sarkozy spent 20 days behind bars, that means each day gets a whopping 11 pages of, well, nothingness. Sarko, 70, was imprisoned after being found guilty of allowing a “close collaborator” and “unofficial intermediaries” to try to obtain funding from Moammar Gadhafi’s regime in Libya…
Wer regiert die Welt – und was treibt sie an? In unserem regelmäßigen Machthaber-Spezial geht es um die mächtigsten und umstrittensten Politikerinnen und Politiker unserer Zeit. Wir zeigen, wie sie denken, entscheiden – und was das für uns bedeutet. Eine Politikerin oder Politiker, alle zwei Wochen, ein Blick hinter die Kulissen der Macht. Die nächste Folge hört ihr am Montag, 29.12.2025 mit einem Porträt des polnischen Ministerpräsidenten Donald Tusk. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es jeden Morgen ab 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team liefern Politik zum Hören – kompakt, international, hintergründig. Für alle Hauptstadt-Profis: Der Berlin Playbook-Newsletter…
But if the country fails to form a government again, Kosovo risks losing access to the bloc’s €6 billion Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, as it needs to deliver reforms to unlock the funding. “Kosovo already faces an uphill battle because of five non-recognizer [EU] states, and the country cannot afford another year lost to the politicians’ inability to do what they were elected for — provide solutions, not create problems,” said Besar Gërgi, an expert in European integration at the Group for Legal and Political Studies, a Kosovo think tank. Cyprus, Slovakia, Spain, Greece and Romania do not…