Author: staff
LONDON — Donald Trump has launched a crusade to convert European politics to his cause, mobilizing the full force of American diplomacy to promote “patriotic” parties, stamp on migration, destroy “censorship” and save “civilization” from decay. The question is whether Europe’s embattled centrists have the power, or the will, to stop him. In its newly released National Security Strategy document, the White House set out for the first time in a comprehensive form its approach to the geopolitical challenges facing the U.S. and the world. While bringing peace to Ukraine gets a mention, when it comes to Europe, America’s official…
“But our leadership position cannot be taken for granted,” it continues, calling on America to leverage “our dynamic free market system and our leadership in digital finance and innovation to ensure that our markets continue to be the most dynamic, liquid, and secure and remain the envy of the world.” The strategy lists the “world’s leading financial system and capital markets, including the dollar’s global reserve currency status” as one of the U.S. key levers of power. Trump’s comments come as Europe looks to grow its own finance system to reduce the continent’s dependence on Wall Street. The EU has…
Russia’s frozen state assets in the EU are better suited as a bargaining chip to achieve peace in Ukraine instead of financing a €165 billion reparations loan for Kyiv, according to the chief executive of Euroclear.“At this stage, it would be better to use that money for peace negotiations, rather than setting up an extremely complex and risky legal structure and then losing that leverage in the talks,” Valérie Urbain told Belgian broadcaster VRT on Friday.Urbain’s comments follow the European Commission’s proposed reparations loan on Wednesday, two weeks ahead of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels. Ukraine’s war chest is…
“In the coming months, there will be more decisions coming,” Virkkunen told reporters after a meeting of EU digital affairs ministers in Brussels. “With most of the investigations, we already have published the preliminary findings, and after that, the next step is to encourage those online platforms to comply with our rules,” she said. If they don’t, a non-compliance decision — which could include a fine — would follow. While European politicians expressed cautious praise for the X decision on Friday, the Trump administration reacted with fury. “The European Commission’s $140 million fine isn’t just an attack on @X, it’s…
Hungary’s rejection came hours before a dinner between German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever in Brussels to discuss the loan. Merz said he was planning to use the event to bring De Wever on board. “I take the concerns and objections of the Belgian prime minister very seriously,” Merz told reporters on Thursday night. “I don’t want to persuade him, I want to convince him that the path we are proposing here is the right one.” Germany is offering a backstop on 25 percent of the funds to convince Belgium to send the frozen billions to…
The European Union’s plan to issue a reparations loan for Ukraine suffered a fresh setback on Friday after Euroclear, the main custodian of the immobilised Russian assets, said the proposal is “very fragile”, too unpredictable and could trigger an exodus of foreign investors away from the eurozone. The warning comes as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz meets with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels in a bid to unblock the loan before a crucial summit on 18 December. “The proposal, as it stands, seems to have a great deal of legal…
The draw ceremony for the 2026 FIFA World cup has taken place at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, with next year’s tournament kicking off in Mexico City on 11 June. FIFA announced all 12 groups that include the 42 teams in a ceremony at the Kennedy Centre in Washington, but won’t announce the full calendar until Saturday. It will take an extra day to work out logistics and match time slots so that, for example, European teams will be scheduled to play in time slots more convenient for a European audience. Six of the participating teams at the World Cup…
Published on 05/12/2025 – 15:00 GMT+1 •Updated 17:18 It looks like a manufacturing plant but it’s actually a huge research facility. Inside Borealis’s Innovation Hall in Linz, Austria, raw materials with bizarre names — like polymers — are mixed with additives, antioxidants or glass fibre to test the manufacturing of a wide array of everyday products. “The different products we design could be pipes or bumpers, or of course packaging material to wrap a sweet,” explains Doris Machl, the Head of the Competence Center at Compounds & Recyclates. From insulating materials to fully recyclable transparent films, these real-size manufacturing lines…
December’s supermoon, the last of three consecutive events in 2025, illuminated the night sky as the moon reached its closest point to Earth, appearing larger and brighter than usual. The phenomenon produced vivid nighttime views captured in various locations, including Sarıkamış in Kars. Residents admired the bright lunar display, which briefly lit up the landscape. Supermoons occur in clusters when the moon passes through the closest part of its elliptical orbit, and this one marked the year’s final occurrence.
Update: Kein Schwarzer Freitag für Merz – was vom Renten-Streit bleibt – POLITICO Skip to main content