🇪🇺🏳️‍🌈⚖️🇭🇺 A legal earthquake - CJEU finds Hungary to have violated EU law on multiple counts with its anti-LGBT+ legislation (as expected) but also for the first time in history, in an EU law-reshaping precedent, finds Hungary to violate Art 2 TEU in a self-standing manner.

To the point.

Thanks to @szabolcspanyi.bsky.social for doing real journalism in the face of attempted intimidation. Vindication for decency and professionalism.

for sure, congratulations to magyar. but the real heroes imo are those in civil society & journalism & rank-and-file opposition & academia who have fought against the disintegration of rule of law, the weaponization of the courts/media, & so much more for so long. 🇭🇺

A Russian drone struck an ambulance in Sumy region during the ceasefire, wounding three medics, after a prior attack killed an evacuation team carrying wounded soldiers. #Ukraine

I’m not so sure about the headline claim, though. The issue is not whether autocrats can be beaten electorally as whether they can be removed entirely from power, and post-2023 Poland shows that this is not easy. Hungary will be even harder.

Statement on Smear Campaign Against VSquare Journalist - VSquare.org The Orbán government is once again resorting to authoritarian tactics to target a journalist whose reporting exposes truths inconvenient to the regime.

The Orbán government is once again using authoritarian tactics to target our journalist Szabolcs Panyi, whose reporting exposes truths inconvenient to the regime.

Great to see the new Framework Agreement being put into the wider context of interinstitutional dynamics. And I would love to see the keyword „bicameral“ appear more often in other articles about EU governance as well.

As EU governments look to spend more on #defence to better deter security threats from Russia & others, a lack of public support for the spending trade-offs involved risks triggering a political backlash.

New @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social paper by @armida.bsky.social
Read here: buff.ly/CqgCMt8

That was always the risk in going for the solution based on EU debt rather than using the Russian assets. The assets would have required QMV, the debt needs unanimity regardless of the fact that it would be carried out by enhanced cooperation. France et al knew that risk and went for it anyway.

The sense of optimism present at our workshop in Chișinău really left a lasting impression on me. All of the knowledge & experience is there, Western experts (or even policymakers) just need to pay attention.
dgap.org/en/research/publications/countering-hybrid-threats

2 important rule of law related opinions today with one by AG Capeta the most important as it more broadly concerns undue politicisation of EU’s rule of law toolbox with enforcement or lack thereof dependent on (disguised) reasons of political expediency

democracyinstitute.ceu.edu/articles/lau...

European ­Cohesion for Security and Defense The practical response by European countries to Russia’s war on Ukraine has been uneven, with frontline states in the north and east showing much greater resolve. Disagreements about burden sharing fo...

New paper in our @dgap.org project "European Zeitenwende": insights about different perspectives on European defence from Northeast to Southwest. Authors @aagilli.bsky.social, @nicolekoenig.bsky.social & Margarita Šešelgytė argue for strategic empathy +operational solidarity dgap.org/en/research/...

NGOs are being blacklisted in the open by Orban's Soviet-style "SPO" and yet the @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu @ec.europa.eu has repeatedly - and irresponsibly IMO - failed to apply for interim measures in its pending infringement action

@tinekestrik.bsky.social @michaelmcgratheu.bsky.social

Institutions matter:

Stromausfälle in Kyjiw: Für Freiheit frieren In der Eiseskälte nahezu vergessen: ein Hilferuf unserer Korrespondentin Olivia Kortas aus Kyjiw

In diesen Tagen, in denen Kyjiw in Teilen kollabiert, wächst in mir eine Furcht: dass die Worte, die wir aus der Ukraine in den Westen schicken, verhallen. Ich habe einen sehr persönlichen Leitartikel geschrieben, aus einer Stadt am Rande der humanitären Katastrophe: www.zeit.de/2026/05/kyji...

In Odesa russia struck an apartment building, killing at least 3 people‼️
The search and rescue operation is still underway.

We're currently on season 10 of "don't underestimate the European Parliament"

Trump's Greenland narrative is almost a 1:1 copy of Putin's Crimea narrative:

"It belonged to us in the past. Stupid leaders gave it away for no good reason. Now we want it back. We need it for our security. We need to protect it. It will be best for the people who live there."

Parliament says Commission’s ‘Democracy Shield’ against disinformation too weak Russian interference and Big Tech pose ‘dangerous cocktail’, rapporteur warns

Parliament says Commission’s ‘Democracy Shield’ against disinformation too weak

a footnote to this discussion is that the EP acquired the power to request these opinions from the CJEU only in 2003, along with the general power to request the annulment of EU legislation

Reflections on the European Council decision to borrow €90 billion and lend it to Ukraine. Tl; dr: Ukraine benefits, but not enough; Putin & Trump will be encouraged; the EU & individual member-states have shown that it’s still too easy to intimidate them. 🧵1/13

How Romanians Helped Conservative Brothers in Poland Win Elections - VSquare.org We go behind the scenes of the “MEGA” movement and reveal European Trumpists between Bucharest and Warsaw.

💥Pro-Russian far-right leader George Simion may have lost Romania’s presidential race, but the online campaign machine behind his rise helped Karol Nawrocki win in Poland—and is now powering the populist Law and Justice’s comeback push.

Check out our new investigation & follow @vsquare.bsky.social!

Is Germany again dragging its feet and undermining a "simple" solution to the Ukraine financing problem, instead pushing the ubercomplex reparations loan?

It's a tempting eurocrisis reflex that if only there were a will in Berlin, there would be a better way.

But there isn't. Here is why:

Quote: “The Commission’s proposal may be defensible under international and European law, though it remains on precarious legal ground.”

The EU’s proposed Reparations Loan – using immobilised Russian assets to support Ukraine – raises major legal and financial questions.

PETER VAN ELSUWEGE analyses the risks, Belgium’s objections, and what’s at stake ahead of the December European Council.

verfassungsblog.de/on-the-legal...

⚖️ Passionate about the #RuleofLaw?

We are hiring a Research Officer to join our team in Berlin! If you have: a strong legal background; a deep understanding of the EU’s Rule of Law landscape; and experience working with media, policymakers or social media then apply before Dec 19 👉 bit.ly/48H2QT5

Does Europe Finally Realize It’s Alone? Washington’s new National Security Strategy ratifies an adversarial relationship.

Europeans lull themselves into the belief that Trump is unpredictable. This is strangly reassuring, but wrong. The #NSS is only the latest confirmation that Europe is, at best, alone. My piece @ForeignPolicy
foreignpolicy.com/2025/12/05/n...

Good to see @europarl.europa.eu refer to principle of solidarity in its resolution on Hungary calling for triggering of Art. 7(2) TEU. With @dimitrispieker.bsky.social and Ulrich Karpenstein, we argued that new Art. 7 procedure should be initiated against HU based on breaches of solidarity in CFSP

🗳️Again, a 2/3 majority backed the report condemning the Orbán government’s rule-of-law violations in the EP: 415 in favour, 193 against, 28 abstentions. As the abstentions aren’t counted in the tally, the 2/3 majority stands, just as it did 7 years ago with the @judithsargentini.bsky.social report