Bottom line? Today’s European Council discussions will test once again the EU’s ability to navigate internal divisions while responding to increasing external pressures — from Ukraine to energy policy and Middle East security.
🇸🇮 Meanwhile, Slovenian elections are on the horizon, amid fears of foreign interference
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It is also important to ask ourselves who is benefiting from all this chaos. The answer is Russia.
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At the same time, Cyprus is pushing for stronger EU-level defence coordination amid fractures within Nato.
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🌐 Iran and maritime security tensions
Despite escalating tensions in the Middle East, there is little appetite in the EU for deeper involvement in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
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🌍 Energy and climate battles resurface
Poland and the Czech Republic have concerns with ETS, while Italy has even called for it to be scrapped. In contrast, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Spain, Portugal, Slovenia, and Luxembourg have backed it.
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🇭🇺 Orbán once again at the centre of EU divisions
Hungary’s vetoes and electoral manoeuvring threaten to complicate discussions on support for Ukraine and on how far the EU can maintain unity. Slovakia is backing Hungary, which strengthens this stance.
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It’s EUCO day in Brussels — and EUobserver's coverage offers an in-depth look at the tensions shaping the summit agenda.
1/2 European leaders have been carefully drafting cautious statements urging ‘de-escalation’ and ‘respect for international law’. But one voice has sounded different. And it speaks Spanish. My analysis from yesterday:
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“We should not have any illusion … Russia will not stop this war out of mercy,” he told @euobserver.com in an interview.
“They genuinely need to want this peace, and we don’t see this situation so far”.
For the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, I spoke with Ukraine’s ambassador to the EU, Vsevolod Chentsov. His message was clear: don’t mistake fatigue for peace. Moscow hasn’t abandoned its aim, and diplomacy without pressure won’t end the war.
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Viktor Orbán has also pledged, in his annual address earlier this month, to “clear out” after the April elections media and civil society organisations deemed to threaten “sovereignty.” Fidesz already directly or indirectly control 80 percent of Hungary’s media.
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Looking forward to working more closely with Veronika Munk, Tomas Bella, who joins us as our new CEO, and all the other people at Denník N.
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For EUobserver, it’s a new beginning. One that feels right and timely. This partnership secures a stable future while preserving what matters most to us: our editorial independence, our critical voice, and our commitment to covering the EU for all Europeans (without pressure, fear or favour).
For our readers, nothing changes. Every day, our reporters (and I) will continue publishing original and in-depth stories about the developments shaping Europe and the world. We’ll also bring more reporting from central and eastern Europe, stories too often ignored by mainstream media.
Today, I’m thrilled to share that @euobserver.com is joining journalist-owned Slovak publishing house @dennikn.bsky.social. A new era. One I hope will bring great stories, more cross-border collaboration, and growth.
What’s in the EU’s new sanctions against Moscow over the Ukraine war? From the Russian head of world chess and Central Asian sanctions evaders to chemical weapons, killer drones, mercenaries, crypto, metals, and even salt.
Good intel here:
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Let's stop overusing the "Exclusive" tag, we’ll all benefit.
⚠️UN expert warns: chemical pollution is a hidden global crisis.
“Forever chemicals,” corporate loopholes & weak policies put human rights and environment at risk.
Science & political will must align to protect human rights.
@euobserver.com @elenasanchez.bsky.social
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Tonight the controversial US ambassador to Belgium Bill White was supposed to speak on a Film & Politics panel about European dependence.
He pulled out last minute. So the moderator @elenasanchez.bsky.social asked the panellists what they would have said to him if he was there.
For Europeans, order is something the police restore under law, not something the army imposes under executive will. Fortunately, EU member states built constitutional architecture to prevent what the US Insurrection Act enables.
Wondering whether European governments could coerce investors into selling trillions in US holdings? Europe would be the first to suffer, explains my colleague @westervangaal.bsky.social in this excellent analysis
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Two months into the fragile ceasefire, what is going on in Gaza?
"A combination of hope and despair," told me Marta Lorenzo Rodriguez, the director of the @unrwa.org office in Brussels, in a recent interview.
Read it for free on @euobserver.com
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It was great to take part in the #ClimateArena of the @journalismarena.eu . We took part in the pannel on "How to make sense of the Commission's mass deregulation agenda", with @elenasanchez.bsky.social of @euobserver.com and facilitation by @jelena-prtoric.bsky.social
Photos by Raul Duran Giro.
If you're in Budapest at the #ClimateArena of the @journalismarena.eu , join us tomorrow at 11am in Auditorium A for the session "The quiet undoing of the EU: How to make sense of the Commission's mass deregulation agenda" with @elenasanchez.bsky.social and moderation by @jelena-prtoric.bsky.social
Moldovan citizens are going to the polls on Sunday (28 September), in what is set to be a highly-contested election — with possible implications for the whole continent. This election is not about left or right; it is about a democratic Moldova or Russia.
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