All coverage of Belgium, ranked by recency.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog accused Britain of intervening in his country’s elections through sanctions he called “unfair and politically motivated,” urging his European allies to talk with Israel before blaming the country. “I was very disturbed and offended on behalf of my nation regarding the sanctions that were laid against us by the U.K. government,” Herzog said Thursday in an interview...
BERLIN — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz moved to reassure allies in Europe and Kyiv that his domestic political weakness would not erode his government’s support for Ukraine as the war nears its fifth winter. The chancellor also sought to convince an increasingly wavering German electorate that it is in their direct interest for Berlin to provide military support for Ukraine — warning that fa...
BRUSSELS — The European Commission and Ukraine have reached a deal to accelerate the disbursement of €45 billion earmarked for Kyiv in 2027 under the EU’s €90 billion loan program , they said Thursday in a joint statement . Russia has in recent weeks escalated its drone and missile attacks against Ukraine, while the country is running out of funds to buy weapons to defend itself. Prime Minister...
European leaders must stop calling Russian attacks “hybrid,” according to Estonia’s foreign minister. They are “terror attacks” and “sabotage attacks,” Margus Tsahkna told POLITICO in an interview, and part of a systematic Russian effort against Europe that amounts to “some kind of war.” Tsahkna was speaking after Estonia’s announcement Tuesday that Russian special services were behind an Augus...
BRUSSELS — A Russian bombing attack on a European weapons factory should trigger NATO’s Article 5 mutual defense clause, the EU’s top defense official said Thursday. The call comes in the wake of a growing number of suspicious incidents at arms factories across Europe, some of which have been attributed to Russia. “If Russia will hit our factories in European territories, that would be Article ...
PARIS — French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu called an emergency meeting on Thursday to address the fast-growing number of student protests across the country. The movement, which was born of anger over conditions in secondary schools, began in recent days with teenagers blocking entrances to educational institutions in underprivileged suburbs of Paris. The Union Syndicale Lycéenne , the stu...
PARIS — France will increase its defense budget next year despite increasingly strained public finances, according to a document obtained by POLITICO. The French government will present later on Thursday a 2027 budget that earmarks €63.4 billion for military expenditures, compared with €57 billion this year. About 12% will be dedicated to nuclear deterrence and 43% to the purchase and maintenan...
Latvia has detained two of its citizens since June on suspicion of spying for Russia’s military intelligence agency and using a private aircraft to surveil an army base hosting NATO forces, authorities said Thursday. Latvia’s State Security Service (VDD) said the two Latvian citizens are suspected of collecting information on the Ādaži base — one of Latvia’s most important military stations and...
Listen on Spotify Apple Music Amazon Music Ukraine’s prime minister is warning of a $20 billion defense funding gap as Russia intensifies its attacks and Kyiv struggles to protect its skies and keep the country running. Zoya Sheftalovich and Sarah Wheaton look at just how much pressure Ukraine is under — from its military finances to farmers struggling to get their grain out. They also unpack t...
ERICEIRA, Portugal — Donald Trump is bleeding support on the European far right. The leader of populist Portuguese party Chega has joined a chorus of nationalist politicians criticizing the U.S. president — their ideological ally — over the war in Iran and its ripple effect on fuel prices. “There were lots of mistakes that President Trump committed in the last months. The war in Iran is affecti...
FlyDubai Airlines has suspended all its flights to and from Israel after one pilot stabbed another on a flight to Tel Aviv, causing the plane to plummet thousands of feet. The Emirati flight made an emergency landing Wednesday in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, after crew and passengers entered the cockpit and overpowered the co-pilot, according to Israeli officials . A second pair of FlyDubai pilots were...
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday pulled together hundreds of troops to lay out cuts to the Pentagon’s bureaucracy — and ended up announcing major plans to add to it. At first, the Pentagon chief’s “State of the Force” speech at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia, sounded similar to his more publicized talk last year, where he declared new grooming and fitness standards and v...
The Trump administration is excluding several major allies from a gathering of NATO members next month — after threatening to deploy a “ naughty and nice list ” against governments that have run afoul of the president’s priorities. The planned meeting in Poland, which Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby has spearheaded, is essentially a working group focused on NATO’s future, according to six ...
KYIV — Vladimir Putin is intensifying Russia’s pressure on Ukraine, smashing cities, factories, bridges and ports with constant waves of killer drones and missiles. Short on interceptors, Kyiv is having difficulty knocking down Russia’s increasing number of jet-powered drones — and Ukraine’s problems don’t end there. Prime Minister Sergii Koretskyi warned journalists this week that Ukraine face...
LONDON — Britain believes Iran was involved in the incident at a British airbase used by the United States which saw five men arrested on suspicion of terrorism , U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said. Speaking to the BBC, Burnham said: “We will say more in due course but we can confirm … that we believe Iran to have played a part.” Five British men in their 20s were arrested in the early h...
BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Wednesday issued a strong rebuke to Russia after Moscow sent a letter to the alliance threatening nuclear escalation over NATO activity near its border. “We had to reply and make clear to [Russia] that NATO is a defensive alliance … and stop the war in Ukraine and stop the nuclear threats because it’s not helpful,” Rutte said at a security summit ...
BRUSSELS — The EU and Canada will use a landmark summit next month to announce an expansive new partnership, ranging from breaking down digital trade barriers to joint support for Ukraine and investing in fighting wildfires. “The world is rapidly changing with unprecedented geopolitical challenges as well as challenges across trade, energy, technology, climate, and resources,” reads a draft joi...
La Française Anaïs Rosso nouveau coup de cœur des Médias Francophones Publics RTBF
LIVERPOOL, England — One of the most stinging criticisms thrown at Andy Burnham is that he is a people-pleaser who hates to pick a side. But on one of the most contentious issues facing Labour, he has done just that. Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband made the shift clear in his speech to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool this week — directly telling internal critics who had accused the govern...
De tachtig minuten die Israël zo vreest zijn nu ook bij ons te zien: in de docu ‘Naza’ vertellen Israëlische soldaten koel hoe ze in Gaza tekeergingen De Standaard
BERLIN — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Tuesday Moscow had proven it was not ready for “serious talks” after Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov criticized a surprise meeting with his German counterpart. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul held a meeting with Lavrov at the U.N. on Saturday in what marked the first meeting between ministers from the two countries since Russia’s ful...
LIVERPOOL, England — The U.K. faces threats against its energy infrastructure “all the time,” a government minister told the Labour Party annual conference. Speaking at the POLITICO Pub in Liverpool, Energy Minister Michael Shanks said we are living in an “uncertain” and “really scary world.” “There are threats against our energy infrastructure all the time. And we’ve seen in Ukraine very clear...
