Author: staff

Macron said that he discussed that idea with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a call on Thursday morning and with Guterres, who on Thursday joined the European Council for lunch. Macron then informed other EU leaders. Guterres told leaders it was important for the Global South that any initiative on clearing the Strait of Hormuz go through the United Nations, according to one EU diplomat. Earlier in the day, a second diplomat told POLITICO that such an initiative could consist of a resolution that might win support from Gulf and European countries, creating a basis for a broader coalition…

Fury over Viktor Orbán’s decision to veto the European Union’s €90 billion loan for Ukraine burst into the open on Thursday as leaders castigated, one by one, in the harshest terms yet the “unacceptable” behaviour of the Hungarian prime minister. The condemnation was led by António Costa, the usually mild-mannered president of the European Council, whose authority is being directly challenged by Orbán’s disruption. “The leaders took the floor to condemn the attitude from Viktor Orbán, to remember that a deal is a deal and all the leaders need to honour that word,” Costa said at the end of the…

It is a win for China hawks, who have fought to impose tougher measures against Huawei — with strong backing from Washington. The EU has spent years trying to persuade national governments to voluntarily kick out Huawei and ZTE over concerns that their presence in European telecom networks could enable large-scale spying and surveillance by the Chinese government. It is now working on broader rules that seek to reduce the bloc’s reliance on foreign “high-risk” suppliers and limit foreign government control over its digital networks. The case was brought by Estonian telecom operator Elisa, which is seeking compensation for the…

At the same time, Kallas reiterated the importance of the EU’s defending its interests in the region but said there was little appetite for expanding the remit of its Aspides naval mission, currently operating in the Red Sea. U.S. President Donald Trump has called on allies — including European nations such as France, Germany and the United Kingdom — to help escort civilian vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. Oil and gas prices have spiked in recent days after Tehran closed the strategic waterway to shipping, stranding oil and gas tankers serving fossil fuel-exporting nations like Saudi Arabia and Qatar.…

“These steep cuts will impact the most marginalized and left behind communities,” said Romilly Greenhill, CEO of Bond, the U.K. network for NGOs, adding: “The U.K. is turning its back on the communities that need support the most.” Last-minute negotiations did see some areas protected from more severe cuts, with the BBC World Service seeing a funding boost, the British Council set to receive an uplift amid its financial struggles, and the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (ICAI) — the aid spending watchdog that had been at risk of being axed — continuing to operate with a 40 percent budget…

Video aired on Iranian state television on Thursday 19 March captured Red Crescent teams rescuing an injured man from collapsed buildings in South Khorasan province after a reported US-Israeli strike. According to SNN.ir, bulldozers cleared debris across residential areas while emergency workers combed through the rubble. A provincial spokesman confirmed that the bodies of a young girl and several women were found beneath the structures. The images followed Wednesday’s Israeli airstrike killing intelligence minister Esmail Khatib, part of a high-profile assassination wave including national security chief Ali Larijani and Basij commander Gholamreza Soleimani. Iranian authorities report over 1,300 deaths since…

Trump said on his Truth Social site that the U.S. had not authorized the attack by Israel on the South Pars site, and that Israel had “violently lashed out,” raising questions about how much influence the U.S. has over its ally. “My hope is that the United States will be able to understand that this has gone too far,” Guterres said. The conflict was primarily benefitting Russia, Guterres added, with Moscow welcoming the distraction from its own war on Ukraine. “Russia is the biggest beneficiary of the Iran crisis,” Guterres said. “Russia is the country that is gaining more with what’s happening…

On the prospect of EU membership, Søreide said it was unlikely to materialize “immediately.” Indeed, Norway’s current government has not shown interest in launching a national debate about membership, and the next parliamentary elections aren’t until 2029. But Søreide said that attitudes toward membership were shifting. “I do sense … there is a more open approach to the issue in Norway,” she said. “Now when you hear debates among everything from the business sector to large private sector organizations to people on the street, there is a difference in tone.” The conservative party leader also criticized Norway’s Labour Party minority…

PARIS — Former French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe is on track to win reelection as mayor of Le Havre, according to polling shared exclusively with POLITICO. The survey from Cluster 17 showed Philippe, who is running for French president next year, netting 47 percent of the vote in the runoff on Sunday. His main challenger from the Communist Party, Jean-Paul Lecoq, scored 39 percent in the poll. The far-right National Rally’s Franck Keller came in third with 14 percent. Should those numbers hold in the vote, it will be a major sigh of relief for Philippe. A poll released before…

Il faut dire qu’il est engagé dans une triangulaire inédite depuis 1995 dans la préfecture de Seine-Maritime après la qualification de Franck Keller (15,3%), candidat de l’Union des droites pour la République (UDR), soutenu par le Rassemblement national. Parachuté au Havre, ce conseiller municipal de Neuilly-sur-Seine est crédité de 14% des intentions de vote pour le second tour. 2027 en ligne de mire “Ce serait une surprise qu’Edouard Philippe perde l’élection”, commente Jean-Yves Dormagen, président de Cluster 17. “L’enjeu symbolique” étant de savoir si Philippe parvient à être “majoritaire ou pas dans sa propre ville”, ajoute-t-il. La plus grande prudence…