Good morning from Brussels. I’m Mared Gwyn. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT While you were sleeping: Down under in Canberra, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese clinched a free trade deal designed to bolster the two blocs’ economies at a time of increased geopolitical and trading…

Published on 24/03/2026 – 8:39 GMT+1•Updated 9:02 Hungary’s Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó has acknowledged that he regularly contacts his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, during private EU meetings on foreign affairs. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Earlier, the Hungarian government had dismissed those allegations as fake news. The Washington Post reported over the weekend…

As the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year and the war in the Middle East rages on, more than seven in 10 EU respondents say they are “highly worried” about the active conflicts near the European Union, according to the latest Eurobarometer. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Among the 16 EU countries…

Published on 23/03/2026 – 7:30 GMT+1•Updated 10:39 While the Commission wants to invest more than €43 billion by 2027, housing is becoming a structural crisis. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT House prices increased by 60.5%, and rents rose by 28.8% compared to 2015. House ownership in 2024 was 68%, down from 69% in…

The report, adopted with 367 votes in favour, calls for urgent action to tackle rising costs, shortages, and declining living standards across the bloc. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In most European capitals, young people would need to earn much more than they do now to buy a home, since prices have risen…

Slovenia’s ruling liberals and opposition right-wing populists were tied, according to nearly final preliminary figures in Sunday’s fiercely contested parliamentary election, signalling a time of political unpredictability in the central European nation. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT After tallying about 99% of the votes, the State Election Commission reported the centre-left Freedom Movement,…

Published on 23/03/2026 – 7:44 GMT+1•Updated 8:01 Stefan Grobe reports on the latest developments and reactions to the Iran war, now entering its fourth week. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT EU Editor Maria Tadeo breaks down the controversy surrounding Hungary, which has been accused of sharing sensitive information from EU meetings with Russia.…

France’s municipal runoff delivered a mixed verdict for the country’s main political forces on Sunday: the Left held Paris with Socialist Emmanuel Grégoire, the far-right and its allies scored a major symbolic win in Nice, and mainstream parties pointed to resilience in several big and mid-sized cities ahead of the…

Following its launch in 2016, Pokémon Go quickly became a phenomenon in Europe and around the world, turning streets of Brussels, Paris and Rome into augmented reality playgrounds where players could hunt virtual creatures such as Pikachu, Dragonite or Eevee. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The app is still popular today (with more…

Spring is coming to Brussels, but all your reporter hears when he goes outside are three letters: ETS. That is because ten EU countries are in open revolt against the bloc’s flagship climate policy. But hold on: what actually is the ETS, and why is there such a massive backlash…