Author: staff

Fortunately for the 18-person crew, the jets below belonged to allies, not adversaries, and were also patrolling the skies for threats to the NATO summit being held in The Hague on Tuesday and Wednesday. “This almost never happens,” said Lt. Col. Cédric who, like others quoted in this piece, was not authorized by the French Armed Forces to give his surname. Cédric spoke to POLITICO on an 11-hour flight during which the French military showed how NATO secures the skies, whether for a major gathering of 32 world leaders or, increasingly, on the alliance’s eastern flank, closer to Ukraine, where…

History may repeat itself, but not always with the same impact.In 2012, when then-US defence secretary Leon Panetta announced the withdrawal of two combat brigades – roughly 8,000 troops – from Europe in order to reduce military spending, western European governments shrugged it off.When US president Donald Trump mused this year about withdrawing US forces from Europe, it sent barely concealed shockwaves through European chancelleries.The difference: Panetta at the time said America’s security commitments to Europe and to NATO were “unwavering”.By contrast, Trump has threatened not to protect NATO members that spend too little on defence. And his own vice…

Published on 25/06/2025 – 8:08 GMT+2Investors kept an eye on the Middle East on Wednesday as a fragile ceasefire between Iran and Israel appeared to hold after initial shakiness.Both sides claimed victory; Iran’s president said Israel had suffered a “historic punishment”, while Israel’s prime minister argued the offensive had removed “the Iranian nuclear threat”.A new US intelligence report nonetheless found that Tehran’s nuclear programme had only been set back by a few months by US strikes. Washington denied the findings of the leaked report.Early in Europe, Brent crude had risen around 1.15% to $67.91 a barrel, while WTI was 1.21%…

SORGE VOR SCHLECHTEM DEAL: Friedrich Merz hoffte gestern in seiner Regierungserklärung noch, „dass wir bis Anfang Juli mit den USA zu einer Lösung kommen“. Auf dem Nato-Girpfel in Den Haag will Merz mit Donald Trump das Gespräch suchen, hört Gordon Repinski vor Ort. In Brüssel und Berlin wächst die Sorge, von der schlussendlichen Einigung enttäuscht zu werden. Washington und Brüssel haben in den letzten Wochen mehrfach Papiere mit Vorschlägen ausgetauscht, berichtet Hans von der Burchard unter Berufung auf drei diplomatische Quellen aus unterschiedlichen Hauptstädten. Die Trump-Regierung will darin Zölle nur für Quoten senken — also für ein Kontingent von europäischen…

Am zweiten Tag des NATO-Gipfels in Den Haag geht es um die zentralen Streitpunkte: Die Finanzierung der europäischen Sicherheit, das auch von Kanzler Friedrich Merz vorangetriebene 5-Prozent-Ziel, eine gemeinsame Haltung gegenüber den USA und wie die Ukraine bei diesem Gipfel teils zurückstehen muss. Gordon Repinski und Rixa Fürsen analysieren aus Den Haag die Debatten vor Ort und die Machtverhältnisse.Im 200-Sekunden-Interview verteidigt Österreichs Kanzler Christian Stocker die Neutralität seines Landes. Er erklärt, warum sie aus seiner Sicht auch in einem sicherheitspolitisch veränderten Europa nicht zur Disposition steht – und wie Österreich trotzdem Teil der europäischen Verteidigungspolitik ist. Außerdem: Der Abschlussbericht zur…

While CISAF is the latest of these frameworks, it may not be the last. The Commission can expand its state aid policy objectives virtually indefinitely as long as they serve the Union’s interest, said Adina Claici, an economist at Berkeley research Group and a former official at the competition directorate’s chief economist team.  But the Commission’s latest framework is, as always, a careful balancing act between the desperate need for a Union-wide industrial policy and the rules that form the very basis of its single market.  While the framework aims to simplify and accelerate the approval of support for clean…

Meanwhile, one of the biggest obstacles to Israel’s efforts to thwart the regime’s nuclear ambitions — its air defenses — was lifted too. Israel’s airstrikes on Iran in October 2024 and the current conflict have given it air dominance over Tehran.Altogether, this is what led to the Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran, which have badly damaged the country’s nuclear facilities, ballistic missile program and air defenses. They’ve also shown the Iranian people that the regime’s costly projects could be challenged, potentially laying the groundwork for other forces in Iran to overthrow the ayatollahs. | Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA The Iranian nuclear…

Published on 25/06/2025 – 3:38 GMT+2102 French citizens arrived in Cyprus on Tuesday aboard a French military aircraft after evacuation from Israel. The French Ambassador to Cyprus, Clélia Chevrier Kolačko said the plane flew from Tel Aviv to Larnaca.“I really need to thank them very much (Cypriot authorities), we are offering them shelter here in Larnaca. And tomorrow they will go back to Paris,” said Kolačko.France’s Foreign Ministry arranged the flight out and more are expected to arrive to Cyprus on Wednesday, according to the ambassador.Jeremie Khiat said he arrived in Israel 15 days ago for a vacation with friends…

Festlicher Empfang in Den Haag – doch hinter den Kulissen herrscht Nervosität: Beim NATO-Gipfel wird um nichts Geringeres gerungen als um ein gemeinsames Verteidigungsversprechen von 5 Prozent BIP. Friedrich Merz will liefern, Donald Trump könnte alles zum Kippen bringen, Spanien stört – und Wolodymyr Selenskyj gerät zur Randfigur. Im Gespräch: Benedikt Franke, CEO und Stellvertretender Vorsitzender der Münchner Sicherheitskonferenz über die neue Rolle Deutschlands, den Zwiespalt zwischen strategischer Eigenständigkeit und Trump-Beschwichtigung – und warum „kreative Verteidigungsausgaben“ nicht ausreichen, um echte Resilienz zu erreichen. Das Berlin Playbook als Podcast gibt es morgens um 5 Uhr. Gordon Repinski und das POLITICO-Team bringen…

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told the NATO Public Forum that it wasn’t “fair” for leaders whose country is further from Russia to seek exemptions. “It’s a question of being united, of defending Europe, not Poland or the Czech Republic. I disagree with the idea of an opt-out for a country,” she said, without specifically naming Spain Poland, which this year aims to spend 4.7 percent of GDP on defense, the highest in NATO, also isn’t thrilled with Spain trying to get out of the alliance’s spending boost. “We believe that any deviation from this principle by any member country…