Germany and France call for stronger EU trade defences
Germany and France have urged the European Union to give the European Commission the power to fully cut off access to the single market if a third country destabilizes trade. The proposal is set out in a joint letter from Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Emmanuel Macron to European Commission…
Swedish churches cut ties with Russian Orthodox parish over security fears
Sweden’s Christian Council has frozen the Swedish branch of the Russian Orthodox Church under the Moscow Patriarchate out of its membership. The board approved the step on 17 September and published it on 1 October. In effect, the council is only putting on record a break that has already held…
BND chief calls confrontation with Moscow a shadow war
The head of Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (BND), Martin Jäger, said Germany must become significantly more resilient to threats, above all from Russia. He made the remarks on Monday, 5 October, at a public hearing of the Bundestag’s Parliamentary Oversight Committee. “Russia is waging a shadow war against us,” Jäger…
MEPs push for inquiry into Left Alliance over French protests
A signature drive has begun in the European Parliament to force a vote on an investigation into the European Left Alliance (ELA), a European political party whose members include Spain’s Podemos, Denmark’s Enhedslisten, Italy’s Left and Portugal’s Bloco de Esquerda, as well as France’s La France Insoumise (LFI). The initiative…
Spain calls early parliamentary elections for 29 November
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced the dissolution of parliament and early general elections for 29 November 2026. He made the announcement on Monday in a statement from the Moncloa Palace, after the Congress of Deputies rejected two government decrees on housing. Sánchez said he had first informed King…