Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said in a video address posted on social media on Saturday that the West has for more than four years been “needlessly pouring oil on the fire” in Ukraine. In his view, the strategy of “destroying Russia” through the war has failed, and some Western...
Germany records rise in Russian disinformation targeting Chancellor Merz
Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), the country’s domestic intelligence and counterintelligence agency, has recorded a marked increase in recent months in Russian disinformation directed at Chancellor Friedrich Merz. The Handelsblatt newspaper reported this on 16 September, citing a statement from the agency. According to the...
Fico says he does not want to drag Slovakia into a war “because of some Article 5” of NATO
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico publicly expressed his reluctance to fulfill obligations under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on collective defense. He made the remarks on September 17, 2026, during a speech to students and hospital staff in Prešov. “Can you imagine, ladies and gentlemen, that Article 5...
Raiffeisen shares plunge more than 8% after sanctions-evasion allegations
Shares of Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) fell more than 8% in Thursday trading in Vienna on September 17. At one point the drop reached nearly 9%. By midday the stock was trading around €59.6–€59.8. The sell-off followed a report published by U.S. investment fund Grizzly Research. The fund said...
European Commission proposes ban on social media for children under 13
On 17 September 2026, the European Commission presented a draft of the EU Kids Act, a law designed to strengthen the protection of children online. The proposal would introduce uniform age rules for access to social networks and video platforms across the European Union. Children under 13 would be barred...
France’s Foreign Ministry refuses to name partners seeking to lift sanctions on Usmanov
The French Foreign Ministry has declined to name the international partners pressing for Alisher Usmanov’s removal from the EU sanctions list and has not explained the “national security considerations” it cited earlier. Paris has confirmed that it supports taking the Russian-Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov off the European Union’s sanctions list,...
EU countries approve first five major joint defence projects
Representatives of EU member states on Wednesday, 16 September, approved at the level of permanent representatives the first five European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCI). Each of them is set to receive €60 million in funding from the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). Formal adoption of the list is...
Trump threatens EU with tariffs over proposal of associate membership for Canada
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened the European Union with “very serious” tariffs and a possible restriction of trade after a proposal to make Canada the bloc’s first associate member. The remarks were made on September 16 in North Carolina. Trump called the idea “laughable” and suggested Washington could treat...
Former President of Kosovo sentenced to 25 years in the Hague for war crimes
The Kosovo war crimes tribunal in The Hague has found former Kosovo president Hashim Thaçi guilty of war crimes and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Thaçi, 58, was convicted of murder, torture, cruel treatment and arbitrary detention committed in 1998–1999, when he was one of the leaders of...
Germany is checking hospital readiness for war
Across Germany, government agencies and hospitals are assessing whether the healthcare system could withstand a major armed conflict, a mass influx of wounded, and drone strikes. Bloomberg reported this on September 16. According to Bundeswehr estimates, in a war on NATO’s eastern flank, 300 to 1,000 wounded service members could...