Published on 15/05/2026 – 11:40 GMT+2 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday that joint debt was not an option to finance the European economy, speaking at a ceremony awarding former European Central Bank President Mario Draghi the Charlemagne Prize. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In his speech at Aachen Cathedral, Merz echoed…

Published on 15/05/2026 – 11:06 GMT+2•Updated 11:08 Vienna is hosting its 70th anniversary, but the “United by Music” motto is under its heaviest strain yet. Let’s look what’s behind the glitter. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT With only 35 participating countries, the lowest level since 2003, the competition is struggling to survive the…

Germany was the world’s largest exporter of plastic waste in 2025, sending 810,000 tonnes overseas, according to a new study. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT It was followed by the UK, which exported 675,000 tonnes abroad, said the report, which was carried out by journalists at Watershed Investigations and the environmental NGO Basel…

Good morning from Brussels. This is Maïa de la Baume and Angela Skujins, writing Friday’s newsletter from the Belgian capital, where EU officials have already slipped into long-weekend mode. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Just in: Latvia’s former defence minister Andris Sprūds, who resigned on Sunday, told the Europe Today programme that he…

Published on 14/05/2026 – 10:04 GMT+2 A court in Kyiv ruled on Thursday that a powerful former aide of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky be detained ahead of a high-profile trial on corruption allegations in a probe that has roiled the country. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Former chief of staff Andriy Yermak has…

Updated: 14/05/2026 – 15:03 GMT+2 The EU must realise that “it’s difficult to survive” if it does not speak with one voice, Michael Bloss, a Greens MEP, tells Euronews. He made the comments off the back of US President Donald Trump visiting China to speak with President Xi Jinping about…

Published on 14/05/2026 – 10:44 GMT+2 First, Elon Musk is there to protect Tesla’s massive Chinese footprint and his interests as head of xAI. Tim Cook is managing his final lap as Apple’s CEO, balancing billions in sales with a shift of production away from China. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT There is…

Poland’s capital, Warsaw, registered its first same-sex marriage on Thursday, implementing court rulings that require the country to recognise same-sex marriages registered abroad. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT In November, the European Union’s highest court ordered Poland to register same-sex marriages that were entered into in other EU countries even if Polish law…

Hungary’s government has ended the country’s state of emergency in a move that new Prime Minister Péter Magyar said represented a return to “normality.” ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT “As of today, after four years, the wartime state of emergency in Hungary is ending, and with it we are also putting an end…

Published on 14/05/2026 – 15:28 GMT+2 Denmark’s Queen Margrethe, who abdicated in 2024 has been admitted to hospital due to chest pain, the Royal House of Denmark said on Thursday. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT The 86-year-old Queen was admitted to Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen’s main hospital, “this afternoon due to angina,” the court said…