Browsing: EU Trending

Denmark’s parliament has approved expanding compulsory military service to include women for the first time. From summer 2025, all Danish citizens turning 18 will enter a gender-neutral draft lottery, replacing previous voluntary enlistment for women.

Tens of thousands attended the Budapest Pride march, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to 200,000 participants, despite a police ban imposed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez criticises EU members for not suspending a trade deal with Israel despite a recent review citing major human rights violations in Gaza.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called on Hungarian authorities to reverse the ban on Saturday’s Budapest Pride.

Greenpeace and anti-tourism activists protested Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez’s wedding, highlighting billionaire tax inequalities and environmental concerns with banners in St Mark’s Square.

The EU has been focused on NATO’s defence spending, with members agreeing to up spending to 5% of GDP (except Spain). European leaders are preparing to deal with Donald Trump again at the NATO summit, after several EU members called for retaliatory tariffs on the USA.

The war in the Middle East and Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine have also made up a lot of this week’s European headlines. Kyiv has suffered another heavy bombing, and there have been reports that the EU is considering suspending its partnership with Israel over its genocide in Gaza.

The EU and Canada have strengthened their ties with a new partnership and talks of digital trade and deeper cooperation on AI. The EU-Canada summit comes just before NATO.

The continent (including the UK) has experienced a lovely heatwave last week, and whilst it may have ended for the UK, much of the rest of Europe is still basking in the sun – get out and see our incredible continent and all it has to offer, as the summer break begins for some – and is creeping close for the rest of us!

France and Germany have joined forces in calling for a measured yet assertive EU response to proposed U.S. tariffs on aircraft and aircraft parts, part of Washington’s broader 20% levies on EU imports.

Spain’s government released a report concluding that the massive blackout on 28 April that plunged parts of Spain and Portugal into darkness was due to a combination of technical miscalculations and planning failures, not a cyberattack. Voltage surges triggered a cascade of shutdowns across southern Spain.

An Iraqi national is charged with attempted manslaughter after allegedly driving into a crowd in Passau, injuring five, including his wife and daughter.