EUobserver

The humanitarian catastrophe is a consequence of a prolonged European abdication: the refusal to hold a belligerent Israeli government and an erratic American administration to account when doing so mattered. That failure is not just a shameful moral lapse. It is strategic self-harm that has left the European continent exposed, divided and diminished. More: euobserver.com/214521/europes…

US lawmakers have urged the European Commission not to reopen its new regulation aimed at curbing deforestation, despite pressure from the Trump administration to exempt US firms from the law. euobserver.com/213630/eu-urge…

A senior member of the far-right Patriots for Europe in the European Parliament could face an anti-fraud investigation over allegations of millions of misspent EU funds. euobserver.com/213300/patriot…

“Like it or not, suffer it, my beauty”, joked Vladimir Putin about Ukraine, using a necrophiliac rape lyric, which prefigured war crimes, as Russian culture also seduced Western macho men. euobserver.com/211800/sex-and…

Two years ago, the EU court slapped Budapest with a €200m fine for failing to implement an asylum law, in a case that stems back to 2020 when Hungary was already faulted by the court for forcing people back to Serbia. euobserver.com/212596/hungary…

Most Canadians believe that Canada should consider joining the European Union. Would that even be possible? And what would it look like? euobserver.com/212433/not-an-…

From a former Shell global vice-president managing the economy to a Nato-backed diplomat steering foreign policy, the incoming Tisza government marks a radical shift back toward the European mainstream. We look at the key figures — from banking titans to world-renowned surgeons — tasked with restoring the rule of law and bringing the euro to Budapest. euobserver.com/212286/who-wil…

Israel has been engaged in the deadliest and most deliberate effort to kill and silence journalists ever-documented since 1992, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based non-profit. euobserver.com/212166/israel-…

To depict countries in Russia’s neighbourhood as economically stricken and militarily defenceless is as harmful as making direct donations to the Kremlin’s war machine, writes @edwardlucas euobserver.com/212128/western…

“More and more often, responsibility for the state of Russia’s collapsing economy is being assigned to Putin. This was unthinkable a year ago,” wrote journalist @christogrozev euobserver.com/211883/putin-l…

Released Jeffrey Epstein files expose how associate Jean-Luc Brunel used Czech and Slovak modelling agencies to recruit and traffic underage girls. Brunel leveraged his industry prestige to lure victims into Epstein’s network, often using professional contracts as legal cover. euobserver.com/209827/sex-tra…

Microsoft and DigitalEurope, a lobby group whose members include Amazon, Google and Meta, secured a secrecy provision in EU law to block public access to critical information on data centres’ environmental impact, Investigate Europe can reveal. euobserver.com/211609/how-big…

Next month two elections take place on the far north-western fringe of Europe that may, in a small way, shape the future size of the EU. Both countries are, currently, non-EU members. Both have populations keen on membership. Both would fit the accession criteria, with very few teething problems. They are Scotland and Wales. euobserver.com/211383/scottis…

EU foreign ministers will discuss Israel trade sanctions next week, while waiting for Hungary’s new foreign policy to take shape. Belgium, Ireland, Malta, Slovenia, and Spain had advocated the move in past meetings. More: euobserver.com/211526/eu-to-d…

EU businesses warn China’s new supply chain law puts firms on collision course with bloc’s rules euobserver.com/210991/eu-busi…

‘An obsession with European unity will no longer work. I do not believe that the European Union can cope with the challenges of the real world if we insist on having all 27 countries on board. We need a much more flexible structure. The future of the EU – if it is to succeed – is a strange mixture of integration and disintegration’, warns Ivan Krastev. Read: euobserver.com/211367/intervi…

In Denmark, it is already too late. The postal service has ended after 400 years and with it 1,500 jobs. Letters are now delivered at high cost by a single private logistics company with a monopoly over critical infrastructure. Danish residents, especially the 271,000 digitally exempt individuals dependent on physical letters, will suffer the consequences. euobserver.com/208473/how-to-…

The European Commission is championing renewable and nuclear energy as safeguards against future shocks from global conflicts such as Iran euobserver.com/211032/eu-comm…

China is recruiting EU assets via all-expenses paid trips, Estonia has warned, while Russia is using nuns, monks, and children to do its dirty work in Europe. euobserver.com/211008/beware-…

Perhaps JD Vance could visit Belarus next? Or Slovakia? Or Serbia? Pro-democracy forces there would be thrilled. More: euobserver.com/210927/orbans-… by @edwardlucas