Author: staff

“During war, the president is not just a politician, but the supreme commander of the army and civilians under martial law. The classic suit would be perceived as a detachment from the reality of the front,” Gasanova said. “And his clothes help him to keep the world’s attention on the war in Ukraine.” A suit is a symbol of normality, of stable diplomacy and ordinary negotiations, while Ukraine’s situation is extraordinary. “The president shows that the war is still going on, that the country is still in a struggle,” Gasanova said. Yet she admitted that by refusing to go along…

Europe holds a much larger amount of around €200 billion in immobilized Russian assets, most of which are held by Belgian’s Euroclear. There have been mounting calls to seize the funds to support Ukraine. Earlier this month, a group of cross-party British MPs called on the government to use the frozen assets to help Kyiv in its fight against Russia. While in Kyiv on March 15, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told reporters that he had discussed asset seizure with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but that it was “a complicated question.” In Europe, similar conversations are taking place, with the French parliament…

A Downing Street spokesperson said this week’s gathering “had further reinforced to him the importance of ensuring the coalition had the necessary plans in place for any eventuality.” The British PM shared details of new sub-planning groups covering land, sea, air, regeneration and reconstruction, which would meet again across three days next week. He reiterated to partners his belief that Russia’s Vladimir Putin is seeking to obstruct and delay ceasefire proposals.  The U.K., alongside France, has been at the forefront of efforts to secure peacekeeping guarantees in the event of any truce in Ukraine, even as the U.S. refuses to…

Since the euro’s inception, policymakers have dreamed of eroding the dominance of the U.S. dollar in global finance and trade, which gives the U.S. government and businesses lower financing costs, a vital advantage in a global competition for capital. But so far, the single currency has fallen short of expectations.  The dollar accounts for about 90 percent of global transactions and it remains the benchmark against which other currencies are measured against, said  Joan Feldbaum-Vidra, senior managing director of sovereigns at credit rating agency KBRA.  According to the ECB’s 2024 report on the role of the euro, about 60 percent…

The European Parliament and European Commission already blacklisted Huawei lobbyists last week, shutting off their access to EU premises, and commissioner cabinets and officials working at the EU executive’s directorates general were instructed “to immediately suspend contacts and meetings” with Huawei “until further notice.” It’s a sign of how Huawei — which is among the top spenders of lobbying money in Brussels according to the EU’s transparency register — is suffering major blows after Belgian police raided its main lobbying office in Brussels as part of a larger investigation into corruption, criminal organization and money laundering at the European Parliament.  DigitalEurope is one…

Eurozone consumer confidence weakened as looming trade tariffs raised concerns over growth and inflation. Meanwhile, Germany approved a massive fiscal package, but economists urged caution over immediate excitement. Eurozone consumer sentiment deteriorated more than anticipated in March, underlining concerns over economic momentum as the region faces the threat of US trade tariffs.Consumer confidence in the euro area fell to -14.5 points in March from -13.6 in February, missing forecasts of a more moderate decline to -13, according to flash estimates from the European Commission released on Friday.The data, collected between 1 and 20 March, reflects growing unease among consumers about…

Gascón’s new book is an updated edition of her previous work published in Mexico, reflecting on her recent experiences and the fallout from being ‘cancelled’ over past tweets deemed racist and Islamophobic. Thanks to her performance in the controversial but Cannes winning Emilia Pérez, Karla Sofía Gascón reached the pinnacle of her success. She won several awards, earned widespread recognition and became the first out transgender performer to be nominated for an Oscar. Euronews Culture even selected Gascón as one of our People of the Year. We wrote: “Her fearless turn makes her 2024’s most unforgettable silver screen star, and having…

The U.S., of course, has its own history with British colonialism, as next year will mark the 250th anniversary of the founding 13 states’ Declaration of Independence from Great Britain. According to The Sun, King Charles will propose Washington’s partial membership in the Commonwealth during President Trump’s upcoming visit to the palace, in an effort to ease tensions between the White House and Canada amid their trade war and diplomatic drift. Canada, which Trump would like to welcome as the 51st of the United States, is also part of the Commonwealth — not to be confused with the U.S. states…

Experts told Euronews Next about the impacts of AI systems at the border, saying it deserves more attention from EU lawmakers. As EU leaders said in Brussels this week that they need to keep exploring new ways to curb irregular migration, experts are calling for more attention to be drawn to how programmes backed by artificial intelligence (AI) and automated surveillance could be used at Europe’s borders. Experts told Euronews Next that 12 EU states are either testing automated border control systems or AI-powered systems at borders. Derya Ozkul, an associate professor at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, said…

Journalists who survived until the bitter end of Thursday’s European Council were treated to a inadvertent standup comedy set by Belgium’s new Prime Minister Bart De Wever. That’s a change of pace for Brussels, where leaders’ summits are usually a somber — often tense — affair, even when Russian military threats and tariff wars aren’t on the agenda. De Wever is the first Flemish nationalist to take the reins of Belgium, and his government has pledged big spending cuts and the strictest migration policy ever. In large swaths of Belgium’s French-speaking Wallonia region, where his past derisory statements about Walloons…