After winning general and presidential elections in 2024, the ruling VMRO DPMNE party is now poised to extend its dominance in North Macedonia to municipal level. VMRO DPMNE’s narrative has been relentless, accusing the opposition Social Democrats, SDSM, who ruled from 2017 to 2024 – but who failed to deal…

The EU and its member states have been shocked, though not entirely surprised, by a reported Hungarian spying scandal, which seemingly also involves the current commissioner from that country, Oliver Varhelyi. Last week, an investigative report published by Hungary’s Direkt36, in cooperation with Belgium’s De Tijd, Germany’s Der Spiegel and…

International media bodies have voiced outrage over the assault on Turkish environmental journalist Hakan Tosun – who died from his injuries on Wednesday – amid concern that he was targeted for his work. International media organisations on Wednesday condemned the killing of independent Turkish journalist Hakan Tosun and called on…

Polish authorities have formally charged a Russian couple with espionage on behalf of the FSB. On October 13, 2025, the National Prosecutor’s Office in Silesia submitted the indictment to the District Court in Sosnowiec, southern Poland. The couple is accused of participating in Russian intelligence activities and transmitting information potentially…

Prodded by U.S. criticism, the European Union is strengthening its sanctions on Russia with measures that directly target Moscow’s energy revenues. Washington, however, has yet to match the EU’s pace. The bloc is preparing its 19th package of sanctions over Russia’s war against Ukraine. In the first year after the…