Author: staff

Germany will step up to the new security demands in Europe, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has said, as his country marked 70 years of NATO membership against the backdrop of the Trump administration signalling that US defence priorities lie elsewhere.”Today, with Putin’s war against Ukraine raging on in full force and with the United States putting fierce pressure on its European allies, Germany, I think, is in a crucial position,” Steinmeier said.”Germany is being called on and we heard the call. We got the message and indeed, Mark, you can count on us,” he said, standing alongside NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte…

Monday’s monster outage saw the entire Iberian Peninsula lose power. In Lisbon, the metro was shut down, ATMs and traffic lights stopped working, and phone and internet traffic was disrupted. The cause of the blackout was a “very strong oscillation in the electrical network,” Spain’s transmission system operator Red Eléctrica said Monday afternoon, and would take several hours to rectify. Portugal’s next election will take place on May 18. The snap vote was called after the center-right minority government, led by Montenegro, lost a vote of confidence last month. Meanwhile, the European Union’s Justice Commissioner Michael McGrath said on social…

Washington’s decision to circumvent ongoing international talks and unilaterally open up international waters to US-backed mining companies has stoked fears of an environmentally ruinous 21st-century gold rush, and the EU is among many voices now questioning the legality of the move.Trump’s executive order came just weeks after the UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) closed its 30th session in Jamaica without finalising a rule book on the safe and sustainable exploitation of mineral resources, thereby prolonging a global moratorium on seabed mining.The European Commission told Euronews on Monday that it “deeply regrets” the US president’s executive order that “circumvents” the negotiations…

However, the Bank of Spain said that, as of 3:30 p.m. local time, the national and cross-border payments system was working normally, and that any residual problems were down to a lack of back-up power available to bank branches, merchants or consumers. At retailers, it noted, the point-of-sale terminals used to process payments may have run out of battery. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has actively tried to reduce the use of cash in Spain in recent years in an effort to reduce tax evasion. In 2021, Spain lowered the amount of physical cash that businesses could receive in a single…

A blackout brought much of Spain and Portugal to a standstill Monday, halting trains and causing major disruption at airports. Spanish power distributor Red Eléctrica said that restoring power to large parts of the country and neighbouring Portugal could take 6-10 hours.Capital cities Madrid and Lisbon, as well as Seville, Barcelona and Valencia, have been left without the internet and electricity, plunging transport networks into chaos.Eduardo Prieto, head of operations at Red Eléctrica, told journalists it was unprecedented, calling the event “exceptional and extraordinary”.Here’s what travellers need to know about train services and flight operations in Spain and Portugal. Flights…

A spokesperson for the Finnish perm rep confirmed that the sauna is closed for renovations, but they did not have an exact timeline for when it will reopen. Diplomats who make regular use of the facilities told POLITICO they expect it will be closed for around a year. “The Finnish Diplomatic Sauna Society is very much alive and well this year,” the spokesperson told POLITICO. “We’ll be making use of alternative saunas, including the one at the ambassador’s residence,” they said. For those without diplomatic privileges, the public sauna in the Finnish Seamen’s Mission in nearby Rue Jacques de Lalaing…

A ban on fossil fuel adverts in The Hague has been upheld by a Dutch court, in an “historic ruling” that campaigners hope will embolden other cities to take action.In a decision last September, The Hague became the first city in the world to write into law a ban on ads that promote fossil fuels, including petrol cars, air travel and cruise ships. It has been effective since 1 January, but ANVR – the Dutch trade association for travel agencies – and travel company TUI filed lawsuits against the ban, seeking to overturn it.  The district court of The Hague ruled in…

BRUSSELS — Britain and the European Union are set to sign a formal declaration committing to “free and open trade” in defiance of Donald Trump’s tariff agenda. A leaked draft seen by POLITICO promises a “new strategic partnership” between London and Brussels based on “maintaining global economic stability and our mutual commitment to free and open trade.” It comes as Keir Starmer’s U.K. government is locked in negotiations with the Trump administration to try to get a carve-out from the U.S. president’s new tariffs. The draft U.K.-EU agreement, dated April 25, is one of several being drawn up ahead of…

The European Commission might consider providing “alternative solutions” in case technical standards for use by companies seeking to demonstrate compliance with the EU’s AI Act are not ready on time, a spokesperson for the Commission told Euronews.Euronews reported earlier this month that CEN-CENELEC, the main bodies drafting standards under the Act for the Commission, are behind schedule.  The standards were scheduled to be ready by August 2025 but will now be ready in 2026, said CEN-CENELEC, which consists of 34 national standardisation bodies of European countries. “If needed, to address delays and/or possible gaps, the Commission might consider temporary alternative solutions to…

In light of United States President Donald Trump placing into question the fundamental nature of the transatlantic alliance, Wadephul has been clear-eyed in his assessment of the challenge. In an interview with German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine, he described the recent confrontation by Trump and Vice President JD Vance against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House as “shocking — both emotionally and intellectually.” Wadephul warned that, despite the unpredictability of American politics under Trump, he had not expected “such a reversal of responsibility for the war in Ukraine.” Although he believes that “America stands by NATO,” Wadephul cautioned that…