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European leaders convened in Paris on Monday in a bid to craft a unified response to the upheaval wrought by Trump, who has sidelined them in talks with Russia about negotiating an end to the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, Trump’s defense chief Pete Hegseth last week issued a stark warning that the presence of American troops in Europe would not “last forever,” threatening to upend a 75-year security arrangement. Rinkēvičs, Latvia’s former foreign minister until he was elected president in 2023, has long sounded the alarm about Russian aggression, well before Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in the winter of…

The party had “already made preparations for several scenarios,” he said. Regardless of the next government’s composition, Merz ruled out a second term in office for Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who is the lead candidate for the Greens and has worked to link economy and climate policy. “Not only the economic policy of Robert Habeck will not be continued, the structure of this ministry with economy and climate under one roof will also be discontinued,” Merz said. “This construction is a misconstruction from the outset.” Merz’s vow to put the economy before climate is a significant challenge for a potential…

The plaintiffs, Democracy Reporting International (DRI) and the Society for Civil Rights (GFF), alleged that X hindered them from tracking potential election interference by not granting them access to key engagement data such as likes, shares and visibility metrics. “X challenges whether the German court is competent to hear the case, given that X’s HQ is in Ireland. The company has not provided data access and our window to conduct the study before the elections is closing,” DRI’s Executive Director Michael Meyer-Resende said in a reaction. The court said a hearing is likely to follow X’s objection but that no…

“If we, Europeans, fail to spend big on defence now, we will be forced to spend 10 times more if we don’t prevent a wider war,” Tusk said on X. Arriving in Paris, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen struck a similar tone, writing on X that “we need an urgency mindset” and a “surge in defense” and “we need both of them now.” Differing views The informal meeting is gathering leaders from France, Poland, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., the Netherlands and Denmark, as well as senior EU officials. European NATO countries are now poring over a questionnaire…

According to two people familiar with the matter, Francis has been suffering from intense pain and has privately expressed fears that he won’t make it this time. On Sunday, doctors at Gemelli distressed the pope by barring him from delivering his regular morning Angelus sermon, which he has rarely missed, even when hospitalized, said one of the people and a third person. He is now acting entirely on “doctors’ orders,” said one of them.  The pope initially resisted going to hospital but was told in no uncertain terms that he was at risk of dying if he stayed in his…

Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen said “many, many” things needed to be clarified before troops can be sent to Ukraine. More money The leaders did find some common ground on the need for increased defense spending — which has been steadily increasing for a decade. Starmer acknowledged that “Europeans will have to step up, both in terms of spending and the capabilities that we provide to Ukraine,” while Tusk said U.S.-EU relations on defense were entering “a new stage,” as Europeans realize the need for more spending on defense and greater self-reliance. “Europe has understood the U.S. message that it has to do more…

Ukraine doesn’t have to accept whatever peace plan Russia and the United States present, Scholz added. Listen AI generated Text-to-speech Share

An informal summit in Paris among European leaders concluded without any concrete announcement, as the idea of deploying peacekeeping troops to Ukraine remains highly divisive. European leaders vowed on Monday to continue their joint support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion but failed to provide any new security guarantees that could make a difference amid Donald Trump’s push to launch negotiations with Russia.Trump’s declared intention to strike a deal to settle the three-year war in the coming weeks has shaken Europe to the core and stoked fears it could lead to painful concessions for Kyiv and leave the…

But far-right and right-wing MEPs opposed it, using a procedural maneuver to slow things down: The Patriots for Europe, European Conservatives and Reformists and EPP argued that before the Parliament can officially engage with the body, the house’s own rules of procedure need to be amended. The Socialists and Democrats, Renew and the Greens pushed to send a list of nominees for the body’s expert group to Parliament President Roberta Metsola and the vice-president in charge of the ethics body. | Janos Kummer/Getty Images The Greens’ Daniel Freund, the lead negotiator on the creation of the ethics body last term,…

Son revirement se reflète dans la nouvelle voie tracée par la Commission, qui, depuis les élections européennes de l’année dernière, s’est détournée de l’élaboration de politiques vertes pour se concentrer sur la politique industrielle probusiness, dont font partie les mesures de réduction de la bureaucratie telles que le paquet omnibus. Ce changement est perçu par beaucoup comme une capitulation devant les forces de droite, qui se développent dans toute l’Europe, et perturbe les alliés libéraux de Macron. “Ne cédons pas au populisme qui consisterait à penser, comme l’extrême droite d’ailleurs, que dès que c’est une norme, vous le shootez”, défend…