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EUobserver is a online non-profit news outlet reporting on the European Union." /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="EUobserver" /> <meta property="og:locale:" content="en_GB" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=1500/fib5937904/013ee2a5-d63a-4a62-9b48-1b9597198faf-b3a31e5a-f125-4566-aa8a-8c3d499aae36-173ee046-7765-47b0-abb6-4a36abfeaefe.png" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://euobserver.com" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://euobserver.com" /> <meta property="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image" /> <meta property="twitter:site" content="@euobs" /> <meta name="robots" content="max-image-preview:large" /> <script type="application/ld+json">{"@context":"http://schema.org","@type":"WebSite","name":"EUobserver","legalName":"EUobserver ASBL","foundingDate":"2000-09-09T00:00:00Z","email":"contact@euobserver.com","logo":"","address":{"@type":"PostalAddress","streetAddress":"Rue de la Loi 155","addressLocality":"Brussels","addressCountry":"BE","postalCode":"1040"},"alternateName":["euobs","eu observer","euobserver"],"url":"https://euobserver.com","potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://euobserver.com/search/{search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"},"sameAs":["https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EUobserver","https://x.com/euobs","https://www.linkedin.com/company/euobserver/","https://www.facebook.com/EUobserver/","https://www.youtube.com/@EUobserver","https://mastodon.social/@euobserver","https://www.instagram.com/euobserver/","https://news.google.com/publications/CAAqBwgKMKv1rgswuIDHAw"]}</script> <link rel="icon" type="image/x-icon" href="https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/favicon-UOZ7ZRS5.ico" /> <script>window.__basedcache__={"12588239297382":{"v":{"data":[{"id":"ar382a781f","headline":"EU dropping the ball on sanctions enforcement ","abstract":"The EU relies on punitive measures to project its will on the world stage. But when it comes to upholding sanctions law at home, enforcement is weak and monitoring is patchy.\n","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1740636000000,"img":{"id":"fiad96bfd5","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/5980524a0fdf8959f83746a9f2eb2b16.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Unsplash","sourceUrl":"https://unsplash.com/@tingeyinjurylawfirm"}},"headerImageCaption":"There are currently 36 sanction regimes in place at EU level, targeting approximately 5,000 individuals and entities. Half relate to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. ","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"5019a5cd48","title":"Rule of Law","type":"section"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80e452251d","title":"Investigation","type":"articleType"}],"contributorsText":"Pascal Hansens"},{"id":"ar92f814ce","headline":"As US snubs Kallas, EU struggles to stay relevant on Ukraine deal","abstract":"A planned meeting between Kaja Kallas and Marco Rubio on Wednesday was cancelled at the last minute. This latest snub comes amid a drastic shift in US policy in dealing with Moscow and Kyiv, which has left Europeans running around like headless chickens. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740591002467,"author":{"id":"eu83cf6ae2","firstName":"Elena Sánchez","lastName":"Nicolás"},"img":{"id":"fiace189ab","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fiace189ab/5a61a3cc-56f2-43e0-92ce-19e2be5ff1c7-19f0fe51-583a-4677-84a0-a7b1bb0f47e1-034d831a-2c87-48f5-b296-bc0ad8c3ebbe.jpeg","credit":{"source":"António Costa social media"}},"headerImageCaption":"French president Emmanuel Macron briefing other EU leaders by videocall on Wednesday on his visit to meet Donald Trump in Washington","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"803b7f3d61","title":"EUobserved","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar7aff2577","headline":"EU to 'mobilise' €100bn to boost clean industries and tackle energy costs","abstract":"“We’re showing that we’re a safe continent with clear rules for investment ,” said EU executive vice president Stéphane Séjourné. “We don’t have a chainsaw, but we have competent people leading the charge.”\n\n ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740589589318,"author":{"id":"eud6dc869c","firstName":"Wester van","lastName":"Gaal"},"img":{"id":"fi760fae28","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi760fae28/278aab3e-1546-4481-9400-8e5851d769ba-1f173bdf-845b-4f5d-b01b-85e9d72f8fe6-2d9d0269-4cfb-4ef7-9281-736ebf411573.png","credit":{"source":"EU Commission","sourceUrl":"C:/Users/weste/Downloads/sejourne.jpg"}},"headerImageCaption":"Stéphane Séjourné: 'All our industrial sites face the same problem — energy costs are too high, and the power market is too volatile'","section":[{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar79f9f307","headline":"Ukraine ready to sign US minerals deal without 'security guarantees'","abstract":"The United States and Ukraine are on the brink of concluding a minerals agreement worth hundreds of billions of dollars in a move that could make Ukraine a critical part of the international supply chain for critical materials. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740588711395,"author":{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},"img":{"id":"fib0927bbc","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fib0927bbc/29f4145d-c5e0-4102-945c-6b37163da3b4-15dd90ec-be36-4329-ac34-d394affb20d7-980af51d-dc90-4962-a992-116c44d72324.jpeg"},"headerImageCaption":"It is estimated that about five percent of the world's critical raw materials are in Ukraine","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy","type":"section"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine","type":"section"}],"articleType":[],"contributorsText":"Benjamin Fox and Elena Sánchez Nicolás"},{"id":"arbf01c44a","headline":"Gutting EU due diligence law 'robbed' victims of corporate abuse","abstract":"The EU Commission's proposal to water down its new due diligence law, and the lack of consultation that preceded it, has \"robbed victims of corporate human rights abuses from accessing effective remedy\".","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740588703053,"author":{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},"img":{"id":"fi4367b023","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/c0899baf0f5c902a6dded97f00f9e1c7.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Kevin Woke","sourceUrl":"https://www.journalismfund.eu/journalists/woke-kevin"}},"headerImageCaption":"The EU Commission's proposals to water down due diligence rules will 'rob' victims of the right to hold companies accountable, says Joseph Byomuhangyi","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"5019a5cd48","title":"Rule of Law","type":"section"},{"id":"5041632de8","title":"Africa","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80d5f984c1","title":"Interview","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ara0433565","headline":"Von der Leyen's bonfire of regulations is an act of vandalism","abstract":"Ursula von der Leyen’s commission has just signalled that it is shifting towards a Trump-influenced deregulatory agenda that prioritises market freedoms over public interest, writes former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, and Phil Bloomer.","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1740583373390,"contributorsText":"Mary Robinson and Phil Bloomer","img":{"id":"fid8ec0c2e","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fid8ec0c2e/27768b58-d401-4bfd-89bf-3c608ef72d7d-0ce32e3c-3890-46a8-b0d9-e8c26d93bade-3aca424f-a539-4fda-8f73-9a6dbcc38f2b.jpeg","credit":{"source":"EU Commission","sourceUrl":"https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/photo-details/P-065711~2F00-36"}},"headerImageCaption":"Ursula von der Leyen's second-term commission has selectively listened to old oil and gas companies and backward-looking business associations","section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political","type":"section"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy","type":"section"},{"id":"508bf89c3a","title":"Health & Society","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"806f303338","title":"Opinion","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"arec2ca46d","headline":"'We are indirectly financing Putin's war', admits EU Commission","abstract":"The EU is indirectly financing Russia's war chest against Ukraine, says the European Commission. \"We are still, in Europe, buying Russian gas and thereby indirectly helping Putin finance his war,\" Dan Jørgensen, the EU energy commissioner, told reporters.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740578570307,"author":{"id":"eu09e46885","firstName":"Nikolaj","lastName":"Nielsen"},"img":{"id":"fifcf5da14","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fifcf5da14/96d4c433-b23f-479c-b8d3-69bf5ffaaa83-fbd69bb9-1880-4865-9f37-e1fc9cac97b3-f52a0239-4eb2-4496-9c9a-9c0743ab8c35.jpeg","credit":{"source":"EC - 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","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740504179770,"author":{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},"img":{"id":"fif433c1c9","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/15e4c4e8ad9c830867d444a5bbafc04d.jpg","credit":{"source":"Yoko Nekonomania"}},"headerImageCaption":"EU industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné had hinted on Monday that the EU was ready to improve its offer on critical minerals to Ukraine","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy","type":"section"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar67102241","headline":"Will the European Court of Justice hearing on Albania-Italy deal matter?","abstract":"Whatever the outcome, the impact of the final judgement is likely a moot point given it is based on outdated EU asylum laws that will no longer be valid as of June next year.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740503577476,"author":{"id":"eu09e46885","firstName":"Nikolaj","lastName":"Nielsen"},"img":{"id":"fi34d71a2e","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi34d71a2e/67ff56ae-86b2-4336-94d1-8d8b9840d4ac-aabfeabf-ccba-4a3f-8f07-173693e12f11-f30f13da-ca9a-402f-b460-68541eeac0d3.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Italian government "}},"headerImageCaption":"Prime ministers of Albania (Edi Rama) and Italy (Giorgia Meloni) shaking hands after signing a deal to offshore asylum","section":[{"id":"50192d9286","title":"Migration","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80178480d0","title":"Analysis","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar3490fcb5","headline":"'Brussels So White' — but what role play journalists?","abstract":"This is the most rightwing EU executive in the bloc’s history and, in fact, a Trump-like roll back of the “Union of Equality” agenda seems to be ongoing. Are journalists part of the problem?","membership":1,"type":"article","articleFormat":1,"publishDate":1740497885012,"contributorsText":"Shada Islam","img":{"id":"fi7e186c2b","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi7e186c2b/19cb77cf-335c-463e-ad74-ec7f615bf2cf-746654f6-a0d4-471b-a2fa-bb45dfc5207a-3899a4ed-f1d7-4a35-afb9-0ea58e661e85.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Shada Islam"}},"headerImageCaption":"Some Brussels journalism is about casual racism disguised as clever commentary. Plus the fact that brown and black journalists are still rare in European newsrooms","section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political","type":"section"},{"id":"508bf89c3a","title":"Health & Society","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"807976613d","title":"Column","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ardd660461","headline":"Is Ukraine's EU accession dependent on Zelensky being there?","abstract":"The US is now discrediting the very people who have maintained a functioning state under full-scale war for three long years — adding to the long list of challenges Ukrainian society must navigate.","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1740484806928,"contributorsText":"Miriam Kosmehl ","img":{"id":"fia4476f3d","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fia4476f3d/5ad187cb-4660-44bd-9685-cb92bafbacac-037648a7-97b9-487a-b8ec-038cd992beac-7b490aed-a482-45f4-aed5-e0aded6273c2.png","credit":{"source":"EU Commission","sourceUrl":"https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/search?kwgg=zelensky&mediatype=PHOTO"}},"headerImageCaption":"Volodmyr Zelensky, aware of this new Trump reality, is currently offering his position in exchange for Nato membership for Ukraine","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"806f303338","title":"Opinion","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar25a67024","headline":"EU leaders under pressure to agree new Ukraine aid before 6 March summit","abstract":"EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas urged the EU's 27 leaders to agree on a new aid package for Ukraine at the next emergency summit on 6 March. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740417225956,"author":{"id":"eud6dc869c","firstName":"Wester van","lastName":"Gaal"},"img":{"id":"fib48e4732","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fib48e4732/147a09ed-82f5-4f7b-804b-b41d35e421f2-4483480d-d164-4fa4-b9ae-ae505f28e3aa-000006d4-31d5-411d-855a-6f78315705e0.png","credit":{"source":"EU Council","sourceUrl":"https://bsky.app/profile/consilium.europa.eu/post/3liwps4qb7k2e"}},"headerImageCaption":"Kaja Kallas: The 'Russian narrative' is 'clearly' taking a hold of Donald Trump ","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar4923d65f","headline":"EU suspends defence cooperation with Rwanda but holds back on sanctions","abstract":"The EU agreed to suspend defence cooperation with Rwanda on Monday but shied away from further sanctions against the east African state following the recent escalation of its invasion of neighbouring DR Congo. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740416018143,"author":{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},"img":{"id":"fic10daeff","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fic10daeff/d3172d37-2033-4a8f-bbd8-f7a56d9840e3-4855d429-29c8-482d-84e4-b0f4149647d2-4667f3c6-98f6-41b0-acbe-77a5a1b4bec7.jpeg","credit":{"source":"European Commission"}},"headerImageCaption":"EU foreign ministers will suspend defence cooperation with Rwanda but have decided against immediately suspending the EU's cash-for-minerals pact","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"5041632de8","title":"Africa","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar165da1bb","headline":"Ukraine warns of collapse of world order as US pivots towards Russia","abstract":"EU leaders are scrambling for a response to support Ukraine as the United States under Donald Trump pulls apart decades of transatlantic ties.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740415817674,"contributorsText":"Nikolaj Nielsen and Elena Sánchez Nicolás","author":{"id":"eu09e46885","firstName":"Nikolaj","lastName":"Nielsen"},"img":{"id":"fib097b8e7","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fib097b8e7/5fd87386-8061-4f9d-ab14-ccdd502f7cdf-e70b634c-35c5-4dec-b99c-bbbe7b2167bb-19540045-f538-4f23-aab1-4f88bdb59111.jpeg","credit":{"source":"European Union, 2025","sourceUrl":"https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/photo/P-065711~2F00-26"}},"headerImageCaption":"Various European leaders gathered in Ukraine to show their support alongside Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky (fourth from right), on Monday 24 February","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar211d6928","headline":"Monday is when EU should say 'no' to Israel’s genocide, occupation and apartheid","abstract":"For the first time in the EU’s history, ministers will welcome the representative of a state whose prime minister and former defence minister are subject to International Criminal Court arrest warrants. ","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1740407286218,"contributorsText":"18 Amnesty International directors from across Europe ","img":{"id":"fie8fe8ebd","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/12dadcbcf78cd9188df7ab0a9a55235e.jpg","credit":{"source":"Ted Eytan"}},"headerImageCaption":"Under the EU-Israel Association agreement, Israel enjoys certain privileges to the EU market when it comes to trade and economic cooperation, as well as EU funds for research and development, education and culture","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"806f303338","title":"Opinion","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar6f116fda","headline":"80 percent said no — so let’s stop pretending the AfD speaks for ‘The People’","abstract":"There are two takeaways from Sunday's election in Germany — it was the highest turnout in two generations, and four-in-five Germans refused to vote for the racist far-right.","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1740405359637,"contributorsText":"","author":{"id":"euc7f898e4","firstName":"Matthew","lastName":"Tempest"},"img":{"id":"fi7b594eea","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi7b594eea/ba3f8ef8-f993-436c-b02b-57454352340a-bec95434-3df8-4f12-b433-1c1130d317ad-be9488b4-47b5-4f4e-b436-f2b510aecdd5.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Wikimedia","sourceUrl":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Weidel#/media/File:2019-04-11_Pressekonferenz_der_AfD_by_Olaf_Kosinsky-8134.jpg"}},"headerImageCaption":"The AfD's Alice Weidel — who lives in Switzerland, with a Sri Lankan woman, and worked for Goldman Sachs — yet portrays herself as the voice of Germany's white underclass ","section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"803b7f3d61","title":"EUobserved","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"arb7a73ad3","headline":"German election and Macron-Trump meeting on Ukraine in focus This WEEK","abstract":"Europe will digest Germany's election results, as it faces a key moment for its global leadership, especially regarding the future of Ukraine. Macron visits Washington on Monday, Starmer follows Thursday, while von der Leyen joins Sánchez and other EU leaders in Kyiv to mark the war’s third anniversary.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1740376920000,"author":{"id":"eu83cf6ae2","firstName":"Elena Sánchez","lastName":"Nicolás"},"img":{"id":"fif7117473","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fif7117473/74881bf8-0e0d-43b8-a140-262349b86c7b-dfa5d8ca-0526-497b-9d3f-d4f6f1400b14-deff33d7-840c-4399-b3e5-ce956e7dadc3.jpeg","credit":{"source":"EU Council"}},"headerImageCaption":"Macron convened two crisis summits last week with EU leaders, the Nato chief, the Canadians, and the UK, on the future of Ukraine and Europe’s security","section":[{"id":"5050d2d5c0","title":"Agenda","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"arcd35b652","headline":"EU envoy in Kyiv warns: Don't repeat ‘about us, without us’ mistake","abstract":"As the US and Russia discuss ways to end the worst conflict on the European continent since World War II, EU ambassador to Kyiv Katarína Mathernová has cautioned against sidelining Europe and Ukraine from future negotiations.","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1740376800000,"author":{"id":"eu83cf6ae2","firstName":"Elena Sánchez","lastName":"Nicolás"},"img":{"id":"fia13eb965","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fia13eb965/b843f56b-1f7b-4ca4-af5f-f8be2788d6d4-1b52f58a-01d1-4f1a-b249-da5d068d9557-fdc5f251-3b21-4577-8928-6bbea19fc0ef.jpeg"},"headerImageCaption":"Katarína Mathernová was officially appointed as the EU envoy to war-torn Ukraine in September 2023. Her ties with the region date back to her time in Brussels, where she served in the European Commission’s department for neighbourhood and enlargement negotiations.","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80d5f984c1","title":"Interview","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar650dfc3d","headline":"EU foreign ministers to discuss Rwanda sanctions options over Congo war","abstract":"The EU is moving closer to imposing sanctions on Rwanda after it captured the two major cities in eastern DR Congo, EUobserver has learned. 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","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1739206086974,"author":{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},"img":{"id":"fi6500c59d","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/08fee4b7fe4a57db34a7977337822839.jpg","credit":{"source":"European Parliament"}},"headerImageCaption":"EU aluminium and steel exports to the US will be hit by a blanket 25-percent tariff set to be imposed by Donald Trump later on Monday","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar9947fa31","headline":"Donald Tusk's decade-old anti-asylum plan takes shape","abstract":"Eight years ago, when Donald Tusk was president of the EU Council, the European Commission described his proposal to no longer divide up arriving asylum seekers among EU states as shameful. 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With no clear majority, he may need to form a coalition — an outcome that seems unlikely considering called the opposition parties \"animals\" at a midnight celebration.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1739199417760,"contributorsText":"Idro Seferi","img":{"id":"fi3f75d14c","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi3f75d14c/07d33839-ba65-438d-b225-a02f1ca72fc1-32346152-b8e6-4927-9ce4-420ae967ed96-1c782118-1363-4e51-8b77-7e6d398a0983.png","credit":{"source":"EU Commission","sourceUrl":"https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/photo-details/P-064904~2F00-03"}},"headerImageCaption":"'We will form 'Kurti 3' [a third term] and continue our work. We are the winners,' incumbent PM Albin Kurti declared, before joining the celebration in Pristina's Skanderbeg Square","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar2c16b5c9","headline":"EU needs to halt rich member states poaching doctors and nurses","abstract":"The last thing the EU needs is inward-turning member states that resort to the quick fix of competing for each other’s’ scarce health workers, without reflecting on the consequences of their actions on access to healthcare in other countries.","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1739195093966,"contributorsText":"Mariëlle Bemelmans","img":{"id":"fi54a3ad6e","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/0c45b95e0e19efa1d73140b942389153.jpeg","credit":{"source":"National Cancer Institute","sourceUrl":"https://unsplash.com/@nci"}},"headerImageCaption":"Romania, Slovakia and Hungary are particularly affected by ‘brain drain’ of their health workers. If anyone should know this, it's the new commissioner Olivér Várhelyi — given that his home country, Hungary, is disproportionally hit","section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political","type":"section"},{"id":"508bf89c3a","title":"Health & Society","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"806f303338","title":"Opinion","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar0ae57451","headline":"How 'forever chemicals' ban could threaten pharma production in Europe","abstract":"The proposed ban on forever chemicals (PFAS) could force the pharmaceutical industry to move production out of Europe, leading to a shortage of 600 critical medicines — or so the industry claims. However, campaigners call for implementation without delay. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1739185233419,"contributorsText":"Staffan Dahllöf","img":{"id":"fia39205f5","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fia39205f5/86002df7-9ee4-4f5a-8ac4-8ab30784b6f6-b716f47a-ce6f-42e4-a1e0-c7d4120e351c-682a7038-6b17-4fe1-b58d-e134fb9b64ae.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Pexels"}},"headerImageCaption":"Industry claims that more than 600 medicines from the World Health Organization's 'essential medicines' list could be at risk if the PFAS ban is implemented ","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"508bf89c3a","title":"Health & Society","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar8898dff0","headline":"EU joins K-Street queue in a rush to lobby Trump town","abstract":"The European Commission is set to join the growing ranks of foreign governments hiring Washington DC lobby shops by retaining DCI group, a K-Street firm with impeccable Republican links. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1739167800000,"author":{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},"img":{"id":"fi2a040c71","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi2a040c71/7eb7e89c-666f-46fa-bd6f-b51d42318539-a0d03b5a-ed1d-4148-b85c-4abc315f558e-ec4aa3ce-a3f6-4ab2-b68f-d38ec91c5329.png","credit":{"source":"Wikimedia","sourceUrl":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K_Street_(Washington,_D.C.)#/media/File:K_Street_NW_at_19th_Street.jpg"}},"headerImageCaption":"However, some Trump-linked firms are reported to be wary of taking on clients who could find themselves in the crosshairs of the president. Denmark’s government, now facing attempts by Trump to purchase Greenland and the prospect of trade tariffs if they reject his demands, has been turned down by Ballard as a client","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"arb1f7e932","headline":"2025 work programme and busy Strasbourg session in focus This WEEK","abstract":"The European Commission is expected to present its vision for the EU budget for 2028-2034 and work programme for this year to MEPs in Strasbourg on Wednesday. The situation in the Middle East, DR Congo-Rwanda conflict, Serbia, and Georgia, as well as transatlantic relations, will also be part of the plenary agenda. 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","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738942914529,"author":{"id":"eu87ebf9ee","firstName":"Andrew","lastName":"Rettman"},"img":{"id":"fi12286209","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi12286209/8c178c16-8792-414c-8be4-776383bdbcb6-e46637ca-0f17-484e-ad29-5134a64743f9-5dc455bf-9efd-4876-9bf8-21b2508830e0.jpeg"},"headerImageCaption":"US aircraft-carrier strike forces used Port of Thessaloniki to resupply their warships with fuel and other essentials","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"8088e5421e","title":"Feature","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar310d8372","headline":"Von der Leyen's second-term U-turns will come back to hurt Europeans","abstract":"In her first term, Ursula von der Leyen defended the EU Green Deal as a “strategy for growth that gives more back than it takes away”. 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","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738855595046,"author":{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},"img":{"id":"fiaf84b7c3","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fiaf84b7c3/1af9afb5-bb9e-45e9-968e-f5115485733e-fde8e314-1af4-4123-b17f-2bd2ee02cee1-4d214529-2bb1-4dac-a29e-c90016dd2d8e.jpeg"},"headerImageCaption":"The US has walked out of a new UN convention on global tax rules, but the EU and others declined an offer to join them","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar53e949ce","headline":"Trade may be bait to convince third-countries to host EU deportation centres","abstract":"Trade could be used to entice third-countries to accept 'innovative solutions' on deportations, according to the Polish EU presidency.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738853543271,"author":{"id":"eu09e46885","firstName":"Nikolaj","lastName":"Nielsen"},"img":{"id":"fiad263c01","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/b9417649bf0757196bf1c5902e727a2f.jpg","credit":{"source":"Investigative Reporting Project Italy (IRPI)"}},"headerImageCaption":"Only around one-in-three people issued with a return decision actually leaves. 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","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738775608390,"author":{"id":"eu87ebf9ee","firstName":"Andrew","lastName":"Rettman"},"img":{"id":"fiaff99979","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/6c7f10a1b9885b1419343331d0e4a664.jpg","credit":{"source":"Council of the EU"}},"headerImageCaption":"Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić has held power for 12 years","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"arb1e90feb","headline":"Have minimum wages risen across EU to hit November 2024 deadline?","abstract":"The EU minimum wage directive set a November 2024 deadline for national capitals to align their minimum wages against two criteria. 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Another destructive consequence is the indiscriminate capture of marine life","section":[{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar5d73ef96","headline":"UN refugee agency worried by Trump funding cuts","abstract":"Donald Trump's ideologically-driven funding cuts have spooked the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), whose budget is almost 40 percent US-sourced.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738770223655,"author":{"id":"eu09e46885","firstName":"Nikolaj","lastName":"Nielsen"},"img":{"id":"fi64dbf63b","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi64dbf63b/7db9d49c-1efb-4637-87e1-de8c34fc6fab-8c774b6a-9627-4a08-b827-bdf32e9b671e-33d0f5b3-aac2-4abb-b99e-d1c3b612dd3e.jpeg","credit":{"source":"UNHCR","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/FilippoGrandi/status/1883134707082424624/photo/1"}},"headerImageCaption":"UNHCR high-commissioner Filippo Grandi (l) with Syrian leader Al-Sharaa in January","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50192d9286","title":"Migration","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar78badd92","headline":"How to reform EU overseas aid in the wake of Trump","abstract":"The EU cannot simply substitute itself for missing US overseas aid — it must broaden the number of donating states, and it should copy economist Thomas Piketty's idea of fiscal measures on the €458bn in European corporate dividends, ten times more than enough to help the 300 million people in need of humanitarian aid.","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1738752789530,"contributorsText":"Pierre Micheletti","img":{"id":"fia8b35203","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/f13e4d678059ebe3c3bf840b167f5010.jpg","credit":{"source":"Arsenie Coseac"}},"headerImageCaption":"Women in south Sudan — one of the world's many neglected crises, which include Haiti, Afghanistan, and migrant shipwrecks in the Mediterranean","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50192d9286","title":"Migration","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"806f303338","title":"Opinion","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar8a8bbcc5","headline":"EU ministers play nice in Warsaw in face of a Trump trade war","abstract":"European ministers met in Warsaw for a trade and competitiveness summit to discuss how to deal with Trump — with Luxembourg’s foreign minister Xavier Bettel pointing out: 'Biden wasn’t the closest ally to the EU either'.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738691290785,"author":{"id":"eud6dc869c","firstName":"Wester van","lastName":"Gaal"},"img":{"id":"fi7b458ce2","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi7b458ce2/633614e4-c88a-43dd-b4a8-1ebc959b1cdc-ec0ec607-7a6f-4423-82ed-98c1833bbf30-32318b96-8a75-4a3b-b6a2-5ba601097c25.png","credit":{"source":"EU Commission"}},"headerImageCaption":"'The trade situation, and the stance of the US, changes virtually every hour, which is interesting', said EU Trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič ","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar753f668e","headline":"The EU swallows Putin's bait on migration","abstract":"Few would argue Belarus and Russia are not pushing people over the borders with Finland, Poland and the Baltic states. But the EU's security-centric narrative against migrants and asylum seekers, while simultaneously insisting on the defence of their rights, appears increasingly hard to square. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738684816727,"author":{"id":"eu09e46885","firstName":"Nikolaj","lastName":"Nielsen"},"img":{"id":"fif06655e4","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/f8994a9406497e8c44283a3229c96dec.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Kainuun Raja","sourceUrl":"https://twitter.com/KainuunRaja/status/1726196970925252788"}},"headerImageCaption":"Finland shut down its land border with Russia, after migrants tried to cross on bicycles","section":[{"id":"50192d9286","title":"Migration","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80178480d0","title":"Analysis","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"arce9b9340","headline":"The EU's unwavering support for Rwanda must end now","abstract":"One might have hoped that the capture of Goma would be the shock that would push the EU to change course. However, despite certain member state efforts to sanction Rwanda, they were once again blocked by France: national interests prevailed.","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1738671644000,"contributorsText":"Kristof Titeca and Erik Kennes","img":{"id":"ficbb7393b","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/ficbb7393b/6a15fa54-7e00-48c0-8e72-41c6e7a9cb63-8d2b73a8-a18d-491f-b4cd-5ce94f64791f-b1207137-27c4-40c7-8d84-2e30d8b308fa.jpeg","credit":{"source":"ec.europa.eu"}},"headerImageCaption":"Paul Kagame and Ursula von der Leyen in 2023. Rwanda's military help in Mozambique, coupled with the ongoing guilt-complex for its failure during the 1994 genocide, have led EU member states and high-ranking European officials to offer unwavering support to Rwanda","section":[{"id":"5041632de8","title":"Africa","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"806f303338","title":"Opinion","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar6e6efb12","headline":"Is Europe's rational response to Trump's irrationality going to be enough?","abstract":"After the US election, a new characterisation of transatlantic differences is popping up: Americans are supposedly thinking ‘astrologically’, while Europeans are thinking more ‘astronomically’ — ie while identity politics and sentiment prevail in America, facts and reason tend to dominate policy-making in Europe.","membership":1,"type":"article","articleFormat":1,"publishDate":1738671049733,"contributorsText":"Caroline de Gruyter ","img":{"id":"fibd6c5637","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fibd6c5637/c6700ebf-a557-4df3-a700-666797b364f2-af3de044-07c6-4c6d-b0a8-1f411c209b65-5dcf9fe8-e6e0-4e3a-aac3-084483a575c1.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Author","sourceUrl":"http://www.carolinedegruyter.eu/"}},"headerImageCaption":"While identity politics and sentiment prevail in America, facts and reason tend to dominate policy-making in Europe","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"807976613d","title":"Column","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar291f2834","headline":"UK's Starmer warns against 'fragmentation' in pitch for EU-UK defence pact","abstract":"UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Monday night warned EU leaders to avoid ‘fragmentation’ of the continent’s defence and security resources, in the first step towards a new EU-UK defence pact. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738664554080,"author":{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},"img":{"id":"fi20297301","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi20297301/98968ae1-4540-4f38-82c4-a47c3c866753-813ebe32-53a5-47fe-bf50-f316efada5f4-7579bcc4-a57e-4a54-911e-b98363a4dd44.jpeg"},"headerImageCaption":"Keir Starmer's (left) invitation to the EU leaders' retreat in Brussels on Monday was the first since Brexit in 2020","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ard437f4e3","headline":" Looser fiscal rules on the table as EU ramps up defence","abstract":"National leaders met in Brussels to discuss ways to boost defence capabilities, and raise at least €500bn in the next decade.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738648232598,"author":{"id":"eud6dc869c","firstName":"Wester van","lastName":"Gaal"},"img":{"id":"fi9582c2a3","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi9582c2a3/3602327c-8d8f-41da-a08d-c4f78a2135da-c1770c33-00b9-4d59-a55f-0004b9a82d90-ea5561b5-2383-4e3c-814a-62ee3f642463.png","credit":{"source":"EU Commission"}},"headerImageCaption":"'I am willing to explore the full range of flexibilities in the stability and growth pact to allow for significantly more public funding,' said EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (r) ","section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar97e44609","headline":"Environmental NGOs fire back at ‘slanderous’ attack by EPP on funding","abstract":"Brussels green NGOs defended their track record in a special press call after weeks in which Europe's biggest political group has campaigned to restrict their funding.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738603112542,"author":{"id":"eud6dc869c","firstName":"Wester van","lastName":"Gaal"},"img":{"id":"fi5bda20c3","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/aa5c75afcd806748ea56bfc0c2aeb1b8.jpg","credit":{"source":"European Parliament","sourceUrl":"https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/search?q=Monika+Hohlmeier&sn=true&st=EPV_PHOTO&ut=EPV_REPLAY-EPV_VIDEO_FOOTAGE-EPV_EDITED_VIDEOS-EPV_AUDIO-WS_VIDEO&ol=EPV_PHOTO&at=1"}},"headerImageCaption":"Monika Hohlmeier, a leading European People's Party MEP in the budgetary control committee, has led the attack against Green groups\n","section":[{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"arb0e950ed","headline":"EU states urge action against Musk and Putin-type 'interference'","abstract":"France and Germany are among 12 member states pressuring EU to use its digital services act, as well as blacklists, to crack down on foreign meddling ahead of key elections. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738591880743,"author":{"id":"eu87ebf9ee","firstName":"Andrew","lastName":"Rettman"},"img":{"id":"fie2a4347e","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fie2a4347e/c3b3d873-5895-4f82-92a0-34d2a6fc340f-bfd4ddfc-0026-4b5f-85c9-c9578cfb6580-5b30e624-722c-45c7-ace6-d94f86f25a9a.webp","credit":{"source":"Dingena Mol / EPA-EFE","sourceUrl":"novayagazeta.eu"}},"headerImageCaption":"Russia-friendly populists are running in three EU states facing election battles in the coming months ","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"503f501420","title":"Digital","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ara5e65490","headline":"Trump's foreign aid freeze leaves a major opportunity for EU diplomacy ","abstract":"Donald Trump's decision to impose a three-month freeze on all US foreign aid offers the EU an opportunity to strengthen its diplomatic influence.","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738579949070,"author":{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},"img":{"id":"fic2ed391b","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/ef54917ca8f44a23d2b4757f0b75f6df.jpg","credit":{"source":"Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead"}},"headerImageCaption":"Donald Trump's decision to freeze US foreign aid was one of a flurry of executive orders signed within hours of taking office on 20 January","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"5041632de8","title":"Africa","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80178480d0","title":"Analysis","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ar6aec9598","headline":"Meloni's Albania deportation experiment has failed","abstract":"Last Friday (31 January), Italian courts ordered that remaining 43 people taken to Albania were to be returned to Italy. It’s time for Georgia Meloni’s government to face reality — this unlawful and, hopefully, unsuccessful — plan is embarrassing Italy on the world stage.","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1738579483617,"contributorsText":"Ilaria Salis","img":{"id":"fi5adfdd35","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/17c7e93748087b814a02e44715ee523d.jpg","credit":{"source":"European Union","sourceUrl":"https://newsroom.consilium.europa.eu/photos"}},"headerImageCaption":"Georgia Meloni has claimed that people exercising their legal right to claim asylum, or humanitarians providing aid, are criminals","section":[{"id":"50192d9286","title":"Migration","type":"section"},{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"806f303338","title":"Opinion","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"arced08e96","headline":"A personal view from on the ground in Damascus","abstract":"I walked the streets of Damascus last week and could read the joy on people's faces. The many Syrians with whom I sipped tea or shared a meal were in a kind of intoxication, a combination of deep joy, pride and immense relief that Bashar al-Assad's barbaric regime of terror is over. ","membership":1,"type":"article","publishDate":1738573728888,"contributorsText":"Koert Debeuf ","img":{"id":"fif4b8b64a","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fif4b8b64a/4bb19c6d-6db1-43f1-8c23-69664c926f3d-c28160c0-57c2-4ea2-960a-b3150df6f505-3e4324c8-ea4a-4cf4-88af-183e7e20d0b6.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Koert Debeuf"}},"headerImageCaption":"'If revolution existed in pill form, I would take one every day'. The perfume of freedom hung in the air of the streets and cafes where suddenly everyone was talking politics for the first time in their lives.","section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World","type":"section"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"803b7f3d61","title":"EUobserved","type":"articleType"}]},{"id":"ara22c9e74","headline":"EU leaders' new 'retreat' meeting, and Polish presidency in Gdańsk This WEEK","abstract":"EU leaders are gathering in a new format 'retreat' on Monday to discuss defence and relations with Washington, while the European Commission's official visit to Gdańsk in Poland for the start of the country's EU presidency is on Thursday and Friday. ","membership":0,"type":"article","publishDate":1738562400000,"author":{"id":"eu83cf6ae2","firstName":"Elena Sánchez","lastName":"Nicolás"},"img":{"id":"fi7d2197a5","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi7d2197a5/fd08bafd-543f-4b9b-85d6-cfdb50dcd021-197d94b1-d6b6-47fd-a0b3-6341d31b1aeb-1aea2a94-5574-4622-9dfe-20b192e33da5.jpeg","credit":{"source":"Security & Defence Agenda","sourceUrl":"https://www.flickr.com/photos/securitydefenceagenda/7279567202/in/photolist-DCKcF-at6Sdu-sejpVx-at6SiU-at4eFP-seorAZ-sfVFeG-sfVFUQ-sfVNfL-svAGHf-sttAUS-sxu3yP-gjhpGW-svM4Ki-gmdNtH-rAvxDJ-secmGy-svJE6z-rAvu1S-scrwFc-svAsZ3-scruE8-svATHm-sfWNmY-ryL3WL-ryL34J-sttC3J-svLR1v-sebcxS-c6gFHm-scroeH-svJF4B-sebjh3-c6gG7f-sejcSz-stttxs-GavKkB-2pAzDax-FkUWmu-FRfxUs-2pAzDk7-2pAyVQc-2pAAcKD-2pAxUma-2pAxUgA-2pAzDJd-2pAtxz4-2pAAcuy-2pAAcvf-2pAyW8X"}},"headerImageCaption":"EU leaders will meet on Monday at Palais d’Egmont —after the location was changed from Château de Limont due to security concerns","section":[{"id":"5050d2d5c0","title":"Agenda","type":"section"}],"articleType":[]},{"id":"ar7fd56ef9","headline":"Germany's 'next chancellor' — Friedrich Merz’s rise to power and plans for EU","abstract":"Who is Friedrich Merz, the leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) likely to become Germany’s next chancellor on 23 February — and what can we expect of his leadership in the five years to come?","membership":1,"type":"article","articleFormat":0,"publishDate":1738562340000,"contributorsText":"Marion Bergermann","img":{"id":"fiba64c74d","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fiba64c74d/f7b4f26b-ccb2-449a-be25-0350c126ecc5-e7d2d113-cecb-4dd5-9668-56361a328273-f4705f43-cac3-4576-b502-17419492082b.jpeg","credit":{"source":" European People's Party","sourceUrl":"https://www.flickr.com/photos/eppofficial/"}},"section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political","type":"section"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80178480d0","title":"Analysis","type":"articleType"}]}]},"c":9060912430559,"s":107934},"9690298612751":{"v":{"carousel":[{"id":"ar92f814ce","headline":"As US snubs Kallas, EU struggles to stay relevant on Ukraine deal","abstract":"A planned meeting between Kaja Kallas and Marco Rubio on Wednesday was cancelled at the last minute. This latest snub comes amid a drastic shift in US policy in dealing with Moscow and Kyiv, which has left Europeans running around like headless chickens. ","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A planned meeting between EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas and US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Wednesday (26 February) was cancelled at the very last minute due to \"scheduling issues\" – in a sign of increasing diplomatic tensions between Brussels and Washington.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The latest snub comes amid a drastic shift in US policy in dealing with Moscow and Kyiv, which has left Europeans running around like headless chickens, struggling to present a coherent clear common position. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While announcing her visit to Washington on Monday, Kallas defended Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky's legitimacy and criticised US president Donald Trump for adopting \"Russian narratives’\"</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“I have been very clear that no deal without us, without Ukraine or without Europe will work in practice – and that is for the United States, which also needs to work with us. So, a bad deal for Ukraine is a bad deal for Europe, but it is also [a] bad deal for America,” she said, referring to the message she intended to deliver during her meeting with Rubio.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Despite Kallas’ strong comments, communication lines had been open until now. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Following last week’s US-Russia high-level meeting in Saudi Arabia, with no Ukrainian or European representative, Rubio spoke by phone with the foreign affairs ministers of France, Germany, Italy, and the UK, as well as Kallas. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The two top diplomats had also met earlier this month during the Munich Security Conference. And during their first phone call ever, they </span><a href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-01-28/top-eu-us-diplomats-discuss-pressuring-russia-over-ukraine-war\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">reportedly</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> agreed to keep pressure on Russia to ensure a lasting peace in Ukraine – a questionable promise given the latest developments. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Tensions between Washington and Brussels have been growing for weeks, pushing the EU to </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar9713c139\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">look for new geopolitical allies</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">On Monday, French president Emmanuel Macron did not shy away from publicly correcting Trump in the White House over the extent of Europe's financial aid to Ukraine.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“To be frank, we paid. We paid 60 percent of the total effort. It was like the US: loans, guarantees, grants,” he said, speaking in the White House alongside the American president. \"If you believe that, it's OK with me,\" Trump replied.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Mini-EUCO</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Macron briefed EU leaders on Wednesday on his visit to Washington. In a scene similar to emergency meetings during the pandemic, the online meeting in which EU Council president António Costa and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen were also present was rather brief — lasting only about 30 minutes. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Ahead of the videoconference, Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said on X that Europe should be “united” around its own vision of Ukraine's future and relations with Ukraine and Russia. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"We all hope for a quick end to the war, and Europe wants to have the most unambiguous position possible,\" said Tusk.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But Hungary and Slovakia have previously praised Trump's efforts to end the war in Ukraine, showing cracks in European foreign policy.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Divisions were also notable during this week's UN vote, when European countries abstained in a vote at the UN Security Council, allowing a US-drafted resolution to pass, despite no criticism whatsoever of Russia. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But even more surprising was seeing the US joining Russia in voting against a resolution on Ukraine that referred to Russia as the aggressor. Other countries that voted 'no' were North Korea, Hungary and Israel.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Wednesday's mini-EU summit was a warm-up for next week's extraordinary European Council meeting and another gathering in London this Sunday, where UK prime minister Keir Starmer is also expected to talk about his visit to Washington on Thursday (27 February).</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Very useful [meeting] to prepare our special European Council on 6 March, where we will take decisions on our support to Ukraine and strengthening European defence,\" Costa wrote on his social media when the meeting finished.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Macron vs Lavrov</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As the EU leader hosting two emergency summits in Paris and coordinating calls with over 30 heads of state, Macron was also the first European leader to meet Trump after peace talks were announced.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">During his visit to Washington, the French president cautioned Trump to \"be careful\" in the negotiation process, arguing that \"peace must not mean a surrender of Ukraine”.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And in a recent </span><a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/video/6369277034112\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">interview</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, Macron clarified his preferred choreography. He said the US, Russia, and Ukraine could negotiate a ceasefire “in the coming weeks” — opening a window of opportunity for discussions on security guarantees, occupied territories, and Ukraine's reconstruction. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But he stressed the need for US backing, citing Russia's past violations of the Minsk Agreements in 2014 and 2015.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Acknowledging that there is no agreement on Ukraine joining Nato, the French president suggested that these security guarantees could initially focus on boosting Ukraine's military capabilities, followed by the deployment of European peacekeepers.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The Élysée thinks the French president has a special relationship with Trump from his first tenure, which might help him influence the capricious president.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But when it comes to peacekeepers, the Kremlin has already shot down Macron’s plans, calling it “unacceptable”. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">France and the UK have been working on a plan to deploy 30,000 peacekeepers in the country. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But on Wednesday, Russian foreign affairs minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia could not consider \"any options\" for European peacekeepers in Ukraine. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">This approach is aimed at “further fueling the conflict and stopping any attempts to calm it down,” Lavrov said during his visit to Qatar.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Tusk's pledge</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Following Russia’s annexation of Crimea, a special monitoring mission from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was deployed to Ukraine in March 2014 — but ceased operations in March 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Lavrov also made it clear that Moscow still demands full control over the four regions (Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia) it claims as its own in any deal, despite Ukraine's strong opposition.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But Tusk has warned about capitulating to Russia over Ukraine, including territorial demands. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Ahead of next week’s EU leaders summit, the Polish PM has also renewed his call for the confiscation and use of the over €200bn</span><b><strong class=\"rte-bold\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> </strong></b><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">frozen Russian assets to finance aid for Ukraine – an idea supported by Baltic states. But Belgium, Germany France and other EU countries are against it given legal uncertainty and economic consequences.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Meanwhile, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that if he visits the White House on Friday to </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar79f9f307\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">sign a deal on critical materials</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, he will demand security guarantees in exchange.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“I want to find a Nato path or something similar,” he told reporters in Kyiv, adding: \"If we don’t get security guarantees, we won’t have a ceasefire, nothing will work, nothing.\"</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu83cf6ae2","firstName":"Elena Sánchez","lastName":"Nicolás"}],"publishDate":1740591002467,"section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine"}],"articleType":[{"id":"803b7f3d61","title":"EUobserved"}],"img":{"id":"fiace189ab","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fiace189ab/5a61a3cc-56f2-43e0-92ce-19e2be5ff1c7-19f0fe51-583a-4677-84a0-a7b1bb0f47e1-034d831a-2c87-48f5-b296-bc0ad8c3ebbe.jpeg"}},{"id":"ar79f9f307","headline":"Ukraine ready to sign US minerals deal without 'security guarantees'","abstract":"The United States and Ukraine are on the brink of concluding a minerals agreement worth hundreds of billions of dollars in a move that could make Ukraine a critical part of the international supply chain for critical materials. ","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The United States and Ukraine are on the brink of concluding a minerals agreement worth hundreds of billions of dollars in a move that could make Ukraine a critical part of the international supply chain for critical materials.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to formally sign the agreement with US counterpart Donald Trump in Washington on Friday (28 February), although the visit is yet to be confirmed. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Zelensky told reporters on Wednesday that he hopes to discuss the possibility of using Russia’s frozen assets for mining resources development, weapons purchase and reconstruction. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He also said that the preliminary minerals deal is more a “framework” as further details are still being worked out. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But Zelensky also sees it as an opportunity to push for security guarantees. “I wanted to have a sentence on security guarantees for Ukraine, and it’s important that it’s there,” he said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“This agreement signifies our commitment to lasting peace and strong partnership, as well as the US desire to participate in Ukraine’s reconstruction,” said Ukrainian deputy prime minister Olha Stefanishyna in a written statement on Wednesday (26 February). </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The agreement will see the US obtain Ukrainian mineral resources in lieu of payment for military support in Ukraine's defensive war against Russia. It will also establish a joint investment fund that will help finance the reconstruction of Ukraine’s infrastructures, to which 50 percent of future revenues from its government-owned natural resources will be contributed. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">However, Zelensky rejected the notion that Ukraine will repay money given to it by the US as part of the minerals deal. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“I will not accept [even] 10 cents of debt repayment in this deal. Otherwise, it will be a precedent,” he said at the press conference on Wednesday. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Trump has falsely claimed that the US has given Ukraine $350bn [€333bn] since February 2022. The actual figure is around $120bn, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Officials have indicated that the minerals pact does not include concrete security guarantees from Washington. Instead, the text states that the US was \"supporting Ukraine's efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to build lasting peace\". </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It is estimated that about five percent of the world's critical raw materials are in Ukraine, including substantial supplies of graphite, which is used to make batteries for electric vehicles, and a third of European lithium deposits, the key component in current batteries. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Prior to Russia’s invasion in February 2022, Ukraine also produced seven percent of the world's titanium. It also has sizeable uranium deposits. </span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi87a83841/3847fcdb-0e3d-4ca5-b6dd-f2bbd5daff1d-f111b178-ce47-4ce3-822c-fc46862eafd8-99164ce0-2459-4f85-be24-b9876138ec00.jpeg\"><figcaption>Ukraine's critical materials (Source: Ukrainian Geological Survey)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But where, and how much? </span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">However, there are major question marks over the true scale of Ukraine’s reserves of minerals and rare earths. President Trump had put their value at $500bn but such figures are US government “slogans” said Olga Slyvynskal, head of international relations at the Kyiv School of Economics. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Ukraine needs to protect its own interests and the way this agreement is formed should be beneficial for both parties, not only Amercians. That’s something that needs to be monitored,” she told EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Slyvynskal added that the country currently lacks an updated and rigorous analysis of the resources available to Ukraine, as well as a clear definition and methodology for assessing critical minerals </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“What we know for sure is the location of potential areas where you can find these deposits and where drilling operations can take place to clarify information,” said the head of strategic projects of the Kyiv School of Economics Maxim Fedoseienko. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He said the critical materials deal with the US is important for Ukraine not only to attract foreign investors and technology development but also “be part of the international value chain”.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The global race for the critical minerals needed to power industrial transitions across the world has seen the EU and US attempting to close the gap on China, which currently has far greater access to minerals and raw materials, and controls most of the world’s refining capacity. Trump has also made aggressive attempts to acquire Greenland, a resource-rich semi-autonomous state that is currently part of Denmark.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Separately, DR Congo’s president Felix Tshisekedi has offered the US access to his country’s vast minerals reserves in exchange for Washington’s support in forcing the Rwandan army and militia groups out of its eastern regions, where many major mining sites are located. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">On Tuesday, the European Commission </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/arc1c35803\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">rowed back on claims</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> that its industry commissioner, Stéphane Séjourné, had pitched an alternative deal to Kyiv that could offer the EU greater access to Ukraine’s minerals. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Officials said that Séjourné had instead been referring to an existing Memorandum of Understanding that the EU has had with Ukraine on critical raw materials since 2021. </span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"},{"id":"eu83cf6ae2","firstName":"Elena Sánchez","lastName":"Nicolás"}],"publishDate":1740588711395,"section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine"}],"articleType":[],"img":{"id":"fib0927bbc","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fib0927bbc/29f4145d-c5e0-4102-945c-6b37163da3b4-15dd90ec-be36-4329-ac34-d394affb20d7-980af51d-dc90-4962-a992-116c44d72324.jpeg"}},{"id":"arbf01c44a","headline":"Gutting EU due diligence law 'robbed' victims of corporate abuse","abstract":"The EU Commission's proposal to water down its new due diligence law, and the lack of consultation that preceded it, has \"robbed victims of corporate human rights abuses from accessing effective remedy\".","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The adoption of the corporate sustainability due diligence directive by EU lawmakers last April marked the conclusion of a decade-long battle following the </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar1e22e1d0\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> when a sweatshop complex collapsed in Dhaka and crushed 1,134 people to death in 2013.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">However, less than one year on, the directive’s status is under threat after the </span><a href=\"https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/qanda_25_615\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">European Commission unveiled plans </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">on Wednesday (26 February) to </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-political/ara0433565\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">cut back the number of companies</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> that would fall within the law’s scope.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Joseph Byomuhangyi, head of the </span><a href=\"https://ucca-uganda.org/about/#:~:text=The%20UCCA%20was%20established%20in,and%20Cultural%20Rights%20(ESCRs).\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Uganda Coalition on Corporate Accountability</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, believes that the pushback is the result of fears among the EU’s business leaders that the costs of compliance will hurt their competitiveness. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The directive “was the first attempt at having hard law that is going to create mandatory human rights due diligence across the entire value chain”, Byomuhangyi told EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“I guess it's a fear of the EU taking the first step,” he says, adding that “I consider this as a push back from the corporate actors, because they have always resisted regulation. They have always resisted hard law.” </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">At the heart of the law had been provisions to extend corporate responsibility for human and environmental rights abuses to the entire supply chain. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Hiding behind green labels, or simply ticking sustainability boxes is no longer enough,\" said Lara Wolters, the Socialists & Democrats MEP who led the file through the European parliament. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The law would mean that companies can be held liable in court for human or environmental wrongdoings resulting from their business activities. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But Wednesday’s commission proposed amendments would require companies to only undertake in-depth assessments of their direct business partners, and subsidiaries, leaving out other subcontractors and suppliers in their supply chains, as part of an ‘Omnibus’ proposal covering several other files that were originally aimed at making business more sustainable. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU executive also wants to scrap the civil liability provisions in the law. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Byomuhangyi argues that gutting the directive would make it little more valuable than the patchwork of existing voluntary measures, including a UN charter on responsible business practices, as well as a raft of national action plans in the EU and elsewhere, which do not ensure that companies can be held accountable. </span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Back to 'voluntary'</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“The most valuable part of the CSDDD is the binding nature of due diligence,” he says. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“You aspire to responsible business conduct, but the moment you have mandatory human rights due diligence, the moment you have discussions around civil liability, administrative sanctions, it becomes hard law, and companies can't figure themselves out of that,” he says. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“If they remove the mandatory nature of CSDDD, they remove the civil liability and administrative sanctions. For us, we feel like they would have robbed victims of corporate human rights abuses from accessing effective remedy, either as host communities or as workers or as people in the value and supply chain,” says Byomuhangyi. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The commission also plans to delay the implementation of the law, and there is speculation that conservative lawmakers in the European parliament will seek to further water down the scope of the due diligence obligations. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“For us as human rights advocates, our message has always been clear: strengthen the legal and policy frameworks such that you have a level playing field of doing business.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“The moment you have sustainable business, then you'll be able to continue giving your shareholders value, but also the communities that are hosting you and the people that you're employing. They should be able to get value from the work that you're doing.” </span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Global South ignored — again</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Civil society groups have also been angered by what they say is a lack of consultation from the commission. </span><a href=\"https://www.antislavery.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20250213-Global-South-Statement-Omnibus-FINAL.pdf\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In a statement last week</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, 75 civil society groups from the Global South said that they were “shocked by the opaque and hurried process through which the decision to reconsider the CSDDD is being made.”  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“It is unacceptable that so far this process has excluded the voices of communities and civil society from the Global South and other non-EU countries - often those most affected by harmful business practices,” they added.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">They also pointed out that, in contrast, the initial draft of the CSDDD proposed by the commission was written after soliciting the contribution of over 174,000 people and organisations from outside the EU. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Byomuhangyi contends that the lack of consultation mirrors the way the EU executive rushed through its plans to delay a separate regulation designed to tackle deforestation. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“The nature of international trade is that it's global. So if EU is seeking to set a standard to protect the world against deforestation, it should engage and inform stakeholders,” he says. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Meanwhile, rather than re-writing the due diligence directive to assuage European business concerns, the EU should focus on helping firms with compliance, he adds. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“EU businesses are worried about competition. But what the European Union should do is invest in dealing with the worries of its businesses. If it's the cost of compliance, how do they design systems to enable them to comply? </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“They need to look at their stakeholders beyond the shareholders that bring money to invest in the ventures. Communities are part of the stakeholders. The environment is part of the stakeholders. If we continue doing business the way it's done, without regard to the planet and the people, then their businesses are not going to be sustainable,” he says. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> </span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"}],"publishDate":1740588703053,"section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World"},{"id":"5019a5cd48","title":"Rule of Law"},{"id":"5041632de8","title":"Africa"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80d5f984c1","title":"Interview"}],"img":{"id":"fi4367b023","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/c0899baf0f5c902a6dded97f00f9e1c7.jpeg"}},{"id":"ara0433565","headline":"Von der Leyen's bonfire of regulations is an act of vandalism","abstract":"Ursula von der Leyen’s commission has just signalled that it is shifting towards a Trump-influenced deregulatory agenda that prioritises market freedoms over public interest, writes former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, and Phil Bloomer.","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Ursula von der Leyen’s commission has just signalled that it is shifting towards a Trump-influenced deregulatory agenda that prioritises market freedoms over public interest. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Through Wednesday's (26 February) </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/green-economy/ar0d5be99c\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">'Omnibus' reforms</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> of recently-agreed legal directives and regulations, the commission is dismantling vital safeguards and in so doing will </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar310d8372\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">deepen inequality in Europe</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> and beyond and apply convenient myopia to the accelerating climate crisis. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In these new turbulent times, ironies abound. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It was von der Leyen’s </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar310d8372\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">previous commission that championed forward-thinking business regulations</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> — the sustainable finance framework. These agreed EU laws support markets and companies to accelerate growth to deliver our green economies of the future — where new, well-paid jobs, clean tech, cheap and secure energy are created, and human rights are respected. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">They require companies to report on their efforts and act to reduce environmental harm and uphold workers and communities’ rights — not just in their own operations, but across the global supply chains that produce the food we eat, the clothes we wear and the technology we use. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The new commission’s proposals are now for these essential protections to be effectively scrapped, in</span><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">all but name. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Von der Leyen’s commission’s ‘Omnibus simplification package’ is a proposed act of economic vandalism on Europe’s long-term prospects for growth, competitiveness and sustainability. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The new commissioners have closed their ears to 140 responsible investors, and responsible business associations representing, together, more than 6,000 businesses, large and small. </span></p><blockquote class=\"rte-blockquote\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The commission has selectively listened to old oil and gas companies and backward-looking business associations</span></blockquote><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">These leading investors and companies had called for implementation of the new directive, sustained legal certainty, and smart regulation to help responsible business navigate action on climate and inequality. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Instead, the commission has selectively listened to old oil and gas companies and backward-looking business associations. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As the US administration implements wrong-headed policies to maximise short term returns, promote financial speculation, and narrow economic nationalism, Europe must take a different path. The commission, member states, and parliamentarians must hold their nerve. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The opportunity is not just to resist deregulation, but to lead: to direct markets towards long-term value creation and shared economic prosperity. The United Nations and the OECD have set the standards for this approach — one that strengthens the standing of Europe and offers investors and companies the legal certainty and rule of law they need.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The commission’s attempt to eviscerate these sustainability laws must not be agreed by the European Parliament and by the member states. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Responsible investors, banks and companies will join with citizens’ groups across Europe to insist that all the core aspects of the laws are maintained, including: </span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Firstly, the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) must have teeth (civil liability) otherwise reckless companies will ignore it. </span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Next, the CSDDD as well as the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) must include reporting and protections for workers and communities within brands’ full supply chains. </span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Finally, they must cover a critical mass of companies in order to have a systemic impact and humanise markets. </span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">'Regulation without penalties is no regulation'</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The new commission proposes to scrap civil liability for companies that abuse workers and communities. For responsible business, that immediately tilts the playing field in favour of irresponsible business, allowing it, with impunity, to keep polluting and retain forced and child labour in their supply chains. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As the CSDDD’s original architect, EU commissioner Didier Reynders said, regulation without penalties is no regulation. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The new Commission insists that corporations’ human rights and environmental risk assessment focuses on ‘Tier 1’ of supply chains (their immediate suppliers). </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">This contravenes international business standards, ignores all evidence that the most egregious abuses are conveniently buried below brands’ Tier 1, fuels tick-box approaches rather than smart measures; and once again, disadvantages and disincentivises responsible business that continues to identify and expunge the most severe human rights risks, wherever they are in their supply chains.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The commission seeks to limit the number of businesses that report to only the very largest, and to drastically reduce reporting requirements. Ask any responsible investor what they need to make high-quality judgements about how to invest sustainably and they will say: up-to-date meaningful reporting from across the large portfolio of companies that they are invested in. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">That is why so many investors have spoken in support of these sustainability laws. They need this information to make the right investments for our future growth and prosperity. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The arguments from irresponsible business and unscrupulous politicians against these laws, such as ‘regulation stymies growth’ are self-serving fallacies. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">All the evidence is that smart regulation stimulates and rewards innovations — creating profit and enhancing workers’ and communities’ welfare. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Today the choice is stark. Is Europe to lead the world in investment and business practice that delivers greater shared prosperity, responsible business, and tackles the climate crisis? Or will it continue with the failed business-as-usual model driving unsustainable inequality and environmental crisis? </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The second option is the one that has delivered the fear and uncertainty driving the rise of authoritarianism in Europe. To continue with it is folly.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Across Europe, efforts must now be re-ignited to hold onto the key achievements of the sustainable finance framework. This is not a bureaucratic battle; this is a fight to humanise our economies and address the ecological crisis engulfing our planet. </span></p>","contributors":[],"publishDate":1740583373390,"section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy"},{"id":"508bf89c3a","title":"Health & Society"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion"}],"articleType":[{"id":"806f303338","title":"Opinion"}],"img":{"id":"fid8ec0c2e","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fid8ec0c2e/27768b58-d401-4bfd-89bf-3c608ef72d7d-0ce32e3c-3890-46a8-b0d9-e8c26d93bade-3aca424f-a539-4fda-8f73-9a6dbcc38f2b.jpeg"}},{"id":"arec2ca46d","headline":"'We are indirectly financing Putin's war', admits EU Commission","abstract":"The EU is indirectly financing Russia's war chest against Ukraine, says the European Commission. \"We are still, in Europe, buying Russian gas and thereby indirectly helping Putin finance his war,\" Dan Jørgensen, the EU energy commissioner, told reporters.","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU is indirectly financing Russia's war chest against Ukraine, admits the European Commission.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Since the war began, we have imported fossil fuels from Russia for an amount equal to the cost price of 2,400 F35 fighter jets. This will not stand,\" Dan Jørgensen, the EU energy commissioner, told reporters on Wednesday (26 February).</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"We are still, in Europe, buying Russian gas and thereby indirectly helping Putin finance his war,\" he said, while noting that the EU had gone from a 45-percent dependency on Russian gas to 19 percent last year. Currently, it is around 13 percent.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"We need to go to zero. Until we are there, we're not independent of the Russian aggressor,\" he added.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It means a quarter of Russia's fossil-fuel export revenues still come from Europe,</span><a href=\"https://energyandcleanair.org/publication/eu-imports-of-russian-fossil-fuels-in-third-year-of-invasion-surpass-financial-aid-sent-to-ukraine/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> notes a recent report</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (Crea).</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Crea estimates EU states purchased almost €22bn of Russian oil and gas since the Kremlin launched an all out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Notably, EU imports of Russian fossil fuels in the third year of the invasion surpassed the €18.7bn of financial aid they sent to Ukraine in 2024,\" noted the report.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Russia has netted some €847bn in revenue from its fossil fuel earnings in the third year of the invasion. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The biggest buyers are China at €78bn, followed by India (€49bn) and Nato-member Turkey at €34bn, amounting to some 74 percent of Russia's total revenues from fossil fuels, notes the report.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The report also found that sanctions have only led to an eight-percent drop in Russian revenues, compared to the year before it invaded Ukraine.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A host of sanctions have since aimed to ban, among other things,</span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar9b66b4f4\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> Russian \"shadow fleet\" oil tankers</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, which transport some 61 percent of Russia's total seaborne oil exports.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But despite the impositions, EU member states still spent €7bn on Russian LNG in the third year of the invasion, with volumes rising by nine percent year-on-year, says the report.</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu09e46885","firstName":"Nikolaj","lastName":"Nielsen"}],"publishDate":1740578570307,"section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine"}],"articleType":[],"img":{"id":"fifcf5da14","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fifcf5da14/96d4c433-b23f-479c-b8d3-69bf5ffaaa83-fbd69bb9-1880-4865-9f37-e1fc9cac97b3-f52a0239-4eb2-4496-9c9a-9c0743ab8c35.jpeg"}},{"id":"ar0d5be99c","headline":"EU's green rules rollback criticised for 'missing the point' ","abstract":"The EU Commission is set to unveil a proposal to ease the regulatory burden on companies, but critics argue it fails to simplify and instead reverses key Green Deal achievements.","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Just a few years ago, Europe's green transition seemed unstoppable. But rising inflation and cost-of-living concerns, primarily driven by high gas prices, fuelled a backlash </span><a href=\"https://www.businesseurope.eu/publications/businesseurope-proposes-targeted-actions-comprehensively-reduce-regulatory-burden\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">led by business groups</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> and conservatives, who framed green policies as burdensome and too costly.</span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">This narrative managed to convince many. By 2023, the EU's Green Deal began to falter, and by 2024, the EU’s main objective shifted to industrial competitiveness</span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU Commission is set to unveil its long-awaited omnibus simplification package on Wednesday (26 February), a proposal aimed at easing the regulatory burden for companies while keeping the EU's climate ambitions intact.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But critics are concerned that the simplification measures proposed by the commission are little more than a veiled attempt to unwind green reporting requirements hated by corporations.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The most significant changes in the commission’s proposal come in the form of drastic reductions to the reach of three pivotal pieces of legislation: the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and the so-called Taxonomy.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Under the new proposal, CSRD would only apply to companies with more than 1,000 employees, rather than 250. If adopted, this change would reduce the number of companies covered by approximately 85 percent. </span></p><h3 class=\"rte-h3\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">'It misses the point'</span></h3><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU’s due diligence rules, which hold large corporations accountable for environmental issues and human rights violations in their supply chains, which critics point out hasn't been implemented yet, would also be watered down in the omnibus proposal. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The revised proposal limits reporting requirements to direct suppliers only, a move that lawyers for the green NGO ClientEarth argue ignores “higher-risk actors further down the supply chain.”</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“This is not playing to the EU’s strength,” said Jurei Yada, from E3G. “Rolling back regulations undermines the very thing the EU should be most confident in—its power to shape global norms through the single market.”</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Tessa Younger, a sustainability specialist at CCLA, a fund manager for charities and religious organisations, shares similar concerns. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“The weakening of due diligence rules makes it harder to push companies to comply with climate rules,” Younger argued. “And investors rely on it to assess risk and identify opportunities.” </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">For her part, Heather Grabbe, senior fellow at Bruegel, a Brussels-based think tank, argued that “what’s odd about this package is that it ignores Draghi’s focus on investment and productivity”. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Referring to Mario Draghi’s report on competitiveness, which Commission president Ursula von der Leyen calls the ‘blueprint’ for a second mandate, he calls for more investment and better access to capital markets by finalising the capital market union—none of which are addressed in the omnibus package.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">By reducing the scope of green reporting standards, the commission “reduces transparency,” Grabbe also said. “Understanding risks is critical for attracting the kinds of investment Draghi is talking about.”</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Draghi advocates for gold-plating EU rules by national regulators; for having common standards; and ending paper-based reporting,” she continues. “Not rolling back green reporting requirements. Any steps that reduce the level playing field for investors misses the point.”</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“We need to ask how [the omnibus package] is going to improve competitiveness,” she said.</span></p><h3 class=\"rte-h3\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">‘A patchwork of national laws’ </span></h3><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">BusinessEurope, the lobby group representing large corporations in Brussels, has been a driving force behind calls to weaken the CSRD and CSDDD regulations. </span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Over 60 percent of companies cite regulation as a barrier to investment,\" said its director general Markus J. Beyrer, </span><a href=\"https://www.businesseurope.eu/publications/businesseurope-proposes-targeted-actions-comprehensively-reduce-regulatory-burden\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">claim</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">ing that green reporting requirements harmed EU industrial competitiveness.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Dutch NGO SOMO put this claim into </span><a href=\"https://www.somo.nl/csddd-companies-cry-burden-while-paying-out-billions-to-shareholders/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">perspective</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, calculating that companies lobbying against EU green directives have paid out €2.9 trillion to shareholders over the past decade, while the cost of compliance is just 0.13 percent of their annual shareholder payout.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In any case, Enrico Letta, Italy's former prime minister, tasked last year to write the book on simplification (</span><a href=\"https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/ny3j24sm/much-more-than-a-market-report-by-enrico-letta.pdf\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">literally</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">), recently told EUobserver that reducing the regulatory burden isn’t about cutting the scope of existing rules, but preventing EU-wide rules from being transposed into 27 individual national laws.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In his report, Letta identified a major flaw in legislation like CSDR and CSDDD: their status as directives rather than regulations. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While EU regulations apply uniformly across member states, directives set broad EU goals while leaving it to individual countries to draft their own laws.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"The easiest and most effective step [to achieve simpler rules] is to phase out directives and move exclusively to regulations,\" Letta </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/news/ar24829da8\" class=\"rte-link\"><u><span class=\"rte-underline\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">told</span></u></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">However, the omnibus package ignores this, focusing instead on reducing the scope of the directives as requested by Beyrer and others in the business-lobby. </span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And while excluding SMEs from reporting requirements may relieve smaller entrepreneurs, it also “undermines consistency and comparability,” said Younger. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Germany and France have both lobbied “hard” for the commission to weaken EU-wide due diligence legislation. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“At the same time, they already have their own versions,” said Grabbe. “So what will this result in? Do we end up with 27 bits of national legislation? That will only make things more complicated.”</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“We need a unified due diligence law, not this patchwork of national laws,” said Ramsköld.</span></p><h3 class=\"rte-h3\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Race to the bottom </span></h3><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“We cannot compete by lowering standards,” said Julien Denormandie, France's former agriculture minister and now chief impact officer at Sweep, a sustainability data management platform, in an interview with EUobserver.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“The US has lower energy costs, and China has even fewer environmental regulations. Reducing environmental standards will not make Europe more competitive.”</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Instead, corporate reporting standards and due diligence laws force exporters who want to gain access to the EU single market to adjust to EU rules, thereby creating a level playing field. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“It's one of the best tools we have to remain competitive,” Denormandie continued. “If we roll it back, and Europe competes only on price, we lose. That’s a race to the bottom, and it will hurt everyone.”</span></p><h3 class=\"rte-h3\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Not final</span></h3><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The changes proposed in Wednesday’s omnibus proposal are not final. The package still needs to be negotiated between the commission, the European Parliament, and EU member states. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The commission is pushing for a quick resolution. But the reality is that it is going to be difficult to get an inter-institutional agreement—especially with mounting opposition, not just within the commission and parliament, but also from civil society groups and investors. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">At the same time, the European People’s Party (EPP) is pushing hard for the roll-back of green rules, and is the most dominant political group in Brussels, and has already </span><a href=\"https://www.politico.eu/article/europes-divided-parliament-could-nuke-von-der-leyens-plan-to-slash-red-tape/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">signalled</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> its willingness to collaborate with the far-right if von der Leyen's usual centre-left coalition comes out against the plans. </span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“I’m very worried,” said Yada. “If the EPP aligns with the ECR to push pieces of the omnibus through, the next few years could be a ‘great bargaining game’ to gut the Green Deal.”</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eud6dc869c","firstName":"Wester van","lastName":"Gaal"}],"publishDate":1740542400000,"section":[{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy"}],"articleType":[],"img":{"id":"fi301a8a85","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/c6596a3250495c06f963ec7f7115d340.jpg"}},{"id":"ar7aff2577","headline":"EU to 'mobilise' €100bn to boost clean industries and tackle energy costs","abstract":"“We’re showing that we’re a safe continent with clear rules for investment ,” said EU executive vice president Stéphane Séjourné. “We don’t have a chainsaw, but we have competent people leading the charge.”\n\n ","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU Commission laid out its plan to ‘mobilise’ €100bn to boost clean industries and lower energy prices, particularly for green electricity.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Almost all our industrial sites face the same problem — energy costs are too high, and the power market is too volatile. Industry needs to be able to sidestep this,” EU executive vice president Stéphane Séjourné, who is directly responsible for the EU’s industrial strategy, told reporters on Wednesday (26 February).</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The goal is to cut €45bn from gas import bills this year, €130bn by 2030, and €240bn by 2050, primarily by boosting the adoption of renewables.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">This will help 47 million EU citizens struggling to pay their monthly bills and support energy-intensive industries, which currently pay two to three times more for energy than competitors in the US and China.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">There is also a geopolitical reason to reduce fossil fuel reliance: “Since the start of the war, we have spent on Russian fossil fuels the equivalent of 2,400 F-35 fighter jets,”</span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/arec2ca46d\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> </span><u><span class=\"rte-underline\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">said energy commissioner Dan Jørgensen</span></u></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. “This can obviously not stand.”</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">To speed up the European energy transition, the commission is proposing to relax national state aid rules to get more money flowing into wind, solar, and other clean energy projects, including gas and hydrogen.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Other measures include the reduction of energy taxes to EU minimums: member states would be encouraged to lower electricity taxes, with value-added tax (VAT) capped at five percent.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Finally the EU will speed up approval times for green kit from years — or even decades — to six months for simple projects and two years for bigger ones like grids.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The plan sidesteps the question of which sectors should take priority, but the commission does hint at a direction, with strategies in the works for automotives, chemicals and steel. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Séjourné also said a plan for an EU-based battery supply chain will be announced in March. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“It is unacceptable that we export black mass for batteries, only to buy the finished product back at a much higher price later,” he said.</span></p><h3 class=\"rte-h3\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Buy European</span></h3><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU also seeks to create a bigger market for European-made cleantech by changing its public procurement legislation, which is up for review next year.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“We must totally rethink public procurement — moving away from a solely cost-based approach to one that prioritises sustainability and EU preference,” said Séjourné.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He also stated that the EU would “bolster” the uptake of long-term energy contracts, mostly by helping governments develop long-term agreements that guarantee a fixed price (range) for generators.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">To stabilise prices, Jørgensen added that the commission “will look at” how to decouple retail power prices from high gas costs, though the current plan offers no further details on this.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Speaking to procurement, Irene Domínguez Pérez, policy manager at energy NGO Bellona Europa, said: “Small cracks can sink big ships. It is not enough that the revision of the procurement directives will ‘allow’ for sustainability and resilience criteria; these criteria must be mandatory.”</span></p><h3 class=\"rte-h3\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Safer than Trump bet</span></h3><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU used Wednesday’s proposal to position itself as the safer bet for green investment compared to the US under president Trump.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“We’re showing that we’re a safe continent for investment with clear rules,” said Séjourné. “We don’t have a chainsaw, but we have competent people leading the charge,\" in an apparent reference to</span><a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly25yny3ego\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> </span><u><span class=\"rte-underline\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Elon Musk wielding a chainsaw</span></u></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> earlier this week.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While the plan may be rules-based, some of the financing remains unclear. The €100bn Industrial Decarbonisation Bank is not a lump sum but a mix of guarantees, reshuffled funds, and financial manoeuvring.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A big slice comes from the Innovation Fund, which is expected to raise around €40bn by 2030</span><a href=\"https://carbonmarketwatch.org/eu-ets-revenue-simulator/\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> </span><u><span class=\"rte-underline\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">from fluctuating</span></u></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> ETS revenues—money that depends on carbon prices staying high but which, under the new plan, should bring in “additional funds.”</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Another source of funding is InvestEU. Often framed as a €372bn fund, it is backed by only €26.2bn in direct EU funds, with the rest relying on private investors.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Tweaks to InvestEU rules are meant to stretch the pot by another €50bn, but that too depends on private capital and carbon revenues actually materialising.</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eud6dc869c","firstName":"Wester van","lastName":"Gaal"}],"publishDate":1740589589318,"section":[{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy"}],"articleType":[],"img":{"id":"fi760fae28","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi760fae28/278aab3e-1546-4481-9400-8e5851d769ba-1f173bdf-845b-4f5d-b01b-85e9d72f8fe6-2d9d0269-4cfb-4ef7-9281-736ebf411573.png"}},{"id":"arc1c35803","headline":"EU shoots down trade commissioner's Ukraine minerals 'offer'","abstract":"The European Commission on Tuesday rowed back on claims that it had offered Ukraine a revised deal that could offer the EU greater access to Kyiv's critical minerals. ","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The European Commission on Tuesday (25 February) rowed back on claims that it had offered Ukraine a revised deal that could offer the EU greater access to its critical minerals. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">During a </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar165da1bb\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">visit by a group</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> of EU commissioners to Kyiv on Monday to mark the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné indicated that he had offered a minerals-access deal to Ukraine.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Twenty-one of the 30 critical materials Europe needs can be provided by Ukraine in a win-win partnership,\" Séjourné said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"The added value that Europe offers is that we will never ask for an agreement that is not mutually beneficial,\" he added — in a barely-veiled critique of the controversial offer made by the United States. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">However, the EU executive executed a quick U-turn in scotching any suggestion that the commission was pushing a rival offer to Washington. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“There is no proposal”, </span><a href=\"https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-268195\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">a Commission spokesperson told reporters on Tuesday</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, who stated that Séjourné had instead “reaffirmed our commitment” to a “mutually-beneficial partnership”, a reference to a Memorandum of Understanding that the EU has had with Ukraine on critical raw materials since 2021. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Séjourné’s remarks were “not about any sort of competition with the US”, the commission spokesperson added. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The row back appears to stem from concerns that the EU could be expecting access to Ukraine’s minerals as a quid pro quo for its military support and aid, and that the EU was setting itself up as a rival to the Trump administration in the US. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">US president Donald Trump has demanded that Ukraine sign an agreement giving the US access to a purported $500bn in rare earths and minerals as part of a peace deal to end Russia’s war against it. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In return, Ukraine has demanded that security guarantees from the US be part of the agreement. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">On Tuesday, Olga Stefanishyna, Ukraine's deputy prime minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration, said on X that the two sides were close to agreement.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Negotiations have been very constructive, with nearly all key details finalised,\" she said, adding that \"we are committed to completing this swiftly to proceed with its signature\". </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Access to raw minerals has become one of the defining geopolitical battles facing the EU and US, as they seek to reduce their dependence on China which controls 75-percent of rare earth deposits in the world. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU has signed a series of cash-for-minerals agreements under its Critical Raw Materials Act, primarily with African states with deposits of cobalt, lithium, tungsten and tantalum. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">These deals typically involve EU investment in traceability and mining sector reform in exchange for access to the minerals the bloc needs to power its green industrial transition. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In an interview with Ukrainian media on Tuesday, European Council president António Costa said that the EU would not demand any mineral resources from Ukraine in return for providing assistance in its defence against Russia.</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu7c6b1824","firstName":"Benjamin","lastName":"Fox"}],"publishDate":1740504179770,"section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World"},{"id":"50739332cc","title":"Green Economy"},{"id":"50adaaad9b","title":"Ukraine"}],"articleType":[],"img":{"id":"fif433c1c9","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/15e4c4e8ad9c830867d444a5bbafc04d.jpg"}},{"id":"ar67102241","headline":"Will the European Court of Justice hearing on Albania-Italy deal matter?","abstract":"Whatever the outcome, the impact of the final judgement is likely a moot point given it is based on outdated EU asylum laws that will no longer be valid as of June next year.","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Italy's controversial 2023 deal with Albania to process and deport asylum seekers has largely failed to deliver, wasting several hundred million euros of taxpayers' money in an effort to curb irregular migration arrivals.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">On Tuesday (25 February), on the opening day of a hearing at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg aimed to unpack how EU asylum laws apply to a deal predicated on Italian premier Giorgia Meloni </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/migration/ar6aec9598\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">political promises to offshore asylum</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Whatever the outcome, the impact of the final judgement may be a moot point given it is based on outdated EU asylum laws that will no longer be valid as of June next year.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While no judgement is expected in months, the hearing dived into how current EU asylum laws define an origin country as 'safe enough' in order for Italy to quickly process protection claims.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"It is regrettable to find that the Italian government has betrayed these values when it comes to designation of safe countries\" said Dario Belluccio, one of the lawyers at the Luxembourg-court hearing on Tuesday, citing the principles of legality, separation of powers, and equality.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The first-instance Court of Rome last year threw a spanner into Meloni's plans after it essentially forced authorities to suspend the fast-tracking of all asylum claims throughout the entire country, including the centres in Albania. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Such accelerated asylum procedures in Italy typically takes four weeks instead of the normal several months and are based on the 2013 directive. In Albania, it is less than 24-hours, says Amnesty International's Elisa de Pieri.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"It's obvious that the rights are being undermined, left, right and centre. And we need to work as much as possible to hold on to the safeguards that there are,\" she said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The Court of Rome based its decision on a separate ruling by the Luxembourg court in October, which said member states cannot designate some parts of an origin country as safe.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But given that these same EU laws will no longer apply next year, the wider discussion taking place at the Luxembourg-based court is also puzzling — and possibly irrelevant.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"It might not matter what the court says now, because the wording of the regulation changed,\" says Andreina De Leo, a legal scholar at Maastricht University.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">At the heart of the matter is the EU's asylum procedure directive from 2013 and how it defines the safe country of origin, as well as broader pushes by the EU to create </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/migration/ar8dfd5782\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">so-called \"innovative solutions\"</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> to asylum.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Italy has been at pains of trying to send people from its centres in Albania back to their home countries of origin. And before those centres became operational, Italy had expanded its list of safe countries of origin. </span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Where — and who — are 'safe'?</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Some had been deemed safe except for specific \"at-risk groups\" — such as LGBTIQ+ individuals, victims of female genital mutilation, and human rights defenders.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Such exceptions are not allowed in the 2013 directive, meaning that EU law requires the entire country be safe for everyone. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Specifically, the directive says an origin country can only be safe if it is generally and uniformly free from persecution, torture, or inhuman treatment, including harm caused by conflict.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">That basically tosses out any possibility of territorial exceptions, as carved out by Meloni's decree on safe countries, which had designated some parts of Egypt and Bangladesh as safe.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While territorial exceptions are not possible, judges at Tuesday's hearing need to clarify if exceptions based on certain categories of people are allowed. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Italy claims both Egypt and Bangladesh as safe for some categories of people, posing questions on whether the Luxembourg-court's ruling last October even applies.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But next year, new rules also come into force and the 2013 directive will no longer be on the books. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It also means the wording on safe countries of origin will have changed, as defined in the new asylum procedures regulation. The regulation allows EU states like Italy to designate parts of a county as a safe, as well as impose exceptions for certain categories of people. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But those rules don't kick in until June of next year, posing tricky questions for Meloni who wants her centres in Albania to start deporting people as quickly as possible.</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu09e46885","firstName":"Nikolaj","lastName":"Nielsen"}],"publishDate":1740503577476,"section":[{"id":"50192d9286","title":"Migration"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80178480d0","title":"Analysis"}],"img":{"id":"fi34d71a2e","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi34d71a2e/67ff56ae-86b2-4336-94d1-8d8b9840d4ac-aabfeabf-ccba-4a3f-8f07-173693e12f11-f30f13da-ca9a-402f-b460-68541eeac0d3.jpeg"}},{"id":"ar3490fcb5","headline":"'Brussels So White' — but what role play journalists?","abstract":"This is the most rightwing EU executive in the bloc’s history and, in fact, a Trump-like roll back of the “Union of Equality” agenda seems to be ongoing. Are journalists part of the problem?","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Writing about structural racism in the EU is not for the faint-hearted. It requires persistence, resilience and a (very) thick skin. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Additional assets? An ability to separate fact from fiction and differentiate myth from reality. Perhaps also a touch of kindness and empathy, a minimal understanding of societal power asymmetries, and yes, a dogged determination to check facts.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It is a tough job. And as we have seen recently, not everyone gets it right.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The </span><a href=\"https://fra.europa.eu/en/publication/2024/being-muslim-eu\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> repeatedly spotlights the degree of racism and discrimination facing minority communities across the EU. Pointing out this fact, however, is not welcome. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">On the other hand, in keeping with the current xenophobic and anti-Muslim mood music across much of Europe, it is much easier to</span><a href=\"https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/opinion/the-brief-never-again/\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> repeat facile Islamophobic tropes</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It looks set to get worse.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Expect more transatlantic contagion as US president Donald Trump takes a sledgehammer to </span><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/14/diversity-equity-inclusion-dei-us-trump-google-amazon-walmart\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">diversity, equity and inclusion</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> initiatives and our own homegrown racists start acting on their </span><a href=\"https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2025/02/08/your-time-is-over-far-right-leaders-take-on-the-eus-mainstream-parties\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">promis</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">e to reconquer the EU and 'Make Europe Great Again'. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">That is no empty threat. The </span><a href=\"https://www.dw.com/en/alternative-for-germany-afd/t-17455253\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Alternative for Germany party (AfD)</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> has just scored a historic result in German elections and while it will not be in the new governing coalition, its anti-migrant and anti-Muslim influence runs through much of Germany’s political class.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Elsewhere too, centrist politicians, including French prime minister </span><a href=\"https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250129-immigration-row-piles-pressure-on-french-pm-after-flooding-remark\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Francois Beyrou</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> have embraced the far-right’s tough approach on 'migrants', often a euphemism for their citizens of colour. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">What about </span><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/jun/09/eu-brussels-white-george-floyd-colour-equality\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Brussels so White</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">?</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Is the European Commission, as guardian of EU treaties and values, rolling up its sleeves and getting serious about pushing back the far-right? </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Unfortunately, not. This is the most </span><a href=\"https://www.thegoodlobby.eu/what-to-expect-from-the-most-right-wing-european-union-ever/\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">rightwing</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> EU executive in the bloc’s history and in fact, a Trump-like roll back of the </span><a href=\"https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/new-push-european-democracy/equality-and-inclusion_en\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Union of Equality</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">” agenda seems to be ongoing.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Anti-discrimination directive withdrawn</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Some examples: the EU executive has just withdrawn an important proposal for an </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar5e0315d6\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">anti-discrimination directive</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> — originally tabled in 2008 but blocked by Germany, the Czech Republic and Italy — which aims to extend equality protections for all Europeans beyond the workplace to areas such as education, housing, and social services. It is still not clear if a new proposal will be tabled.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU’s previous standalone equalities’ commissioner Helena Dalli has been replaced by </span><a href=\"https://commission.europa.eu/about/organisation/college-commissioners/hadja-lahbib_en\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Hadja Lahbib</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> who has to juggle anti-discrimination work with the massive task of managing the EU’s response to disasters. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Making things even more complicated and confusing, tackling EU-wide antisemitism and Islamophobia along with migration management are in the hands of Austria’s </span><a href=\"https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/european-commission-magnus-brunner-new-commissioner-internal-affairs-and-migration-2024-11-27_en\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Magnus Brunner</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Lower down, the commission bureaucracy is similarly fragmented and divided.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The two officials tasked to combat antisemitism and anti-Muslim hatred now sit in the Secretariat-General, presumably close to the big boss, while there has been no similar upgrade for Michaela Moua, the first-ever EU Anti-Racism Coordinator, who is also that rare commodity among EU officials: a person of colour.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In the newsrooms</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Faced with these realities, people often ask about the role of the press. Are reporters and commentators paying attention to racial injustice and questions of discrimination?</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">After all none of this is happening behind the scenes. And by now it is common </span><a href=\"https://lawlog.blog.wzb.eu/2021/03/26/the-distorted-image-of-the-other-why-racism-threatens-democratic-legitimacy/\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">knowledge</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> — or at least should be — that racism in all its different ugly manifestations erodes European democracy from within and negatively impacts both the EU’s standing among its own citizens and its global reputation.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Additionally, the media scene in Brussels has </span><a href=\"https://x.com/JavierespBX/status/1884841981257417148\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">allegedly</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> never been this vibrant, with more and more reporters and newsletters arriving on the market.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The answer is not really, and not enough. Partly, it is a question of time, interest, priorities and breaking news — and the amount of clicks that articles get online.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Partly, it is a question of just what journalists, commentators and op-ed writers - as well as publishers -believe being a journalist or editor entails. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Regrettably, some of it is about casual racism disguised as clever commentary and the fact that brown and black journalists are still rare in European newsrooms. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">There is no one homogenous view of journalism. Some who believe it is only about “reporting and informing” bristle at being told they have to act ethically and responsibly.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Others are trying to correct the rise of public distrust in mainstream media through the introduction of </span><a href=\"https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/can-the-media-be-trusted-again-ejn-founder-aidan-white-reveals-the-path-to-redemption\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">higher ethical standards</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> while still others believe that the press has a role in calling out European politicians and policymakers when they diverge from EU values.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">My own experience is that — whether we like it or not — journalists are part and parcel of the story of Europe. Our articles, editorials and op-eds, the words used to inform, the people chosen to interview — and those who are not interviewed — the information disseminated or not, are not selected randomly. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Journalists can opt to become part of what British author Hanif Kureishi so accurately describes as Europe’s “</span><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/30/hanif-kureishi-migrant-immigration-1\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">collective hallucination” </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">about the threat posed by black and brown people.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">We can also engage seamlessly with </span><a href=\"https://elifnotes.com/edward-said-orientalism-definition-summary-analysis-quotes/\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">orientalist</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> myths of the dangerous barbarian “other” that Palestinian-American thinker Edward Said has warned about so brilliantly.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">We can play with insouciance with dangerous new versions of Islamophobia which blame age-old Europe-wide antisemitism on Muslims and </span><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/dec/31/antisemitism-israel-gaza-war-right\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">weaponise</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> anti-semitism to silence critics of Israel.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Or we can choose a more mature approach.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">We can acknowledge that our choices and narratives are deliberate, intentional, with real life consequences and because of that we can decide to play a more meaningful role in shaping both the story and the reality of Europe.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Some friends insist — perhaps a tad too optimistically — that a 'quiet revolution' is underway in “Brussels So White” as more people challenge racism as well as conscious and unconscious biases. Civil society organisations, grassroots movements, as well as individuals are pushing back against discrimination and demanding accountability from individuals and institutions. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Yet although there is strength in numbers, making EU institutions more accessible and attractive to people of colour is not just about representation. What many of us are hoping to achieve is a truly inclusive Europe, both in its domestic outreach and in its global interactions.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">An amazing number of successful, feisty and confident European citizens of all colours, genders, religions and economic backgrounds are now pushing back against racism, xenophobia and Eurocentrism.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">We are making headway, but the road is long, winding and difficult — and to quote American poet </span><a href=\"https://poets.org/poem/stopping-woods-snowy-evening\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Robert Frost</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> — we have miles to go before we sleep.</span></p>","contributors":[],"publishDate":1740497885012,"section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political"},{"id":"508bf89c3a","title":"Health & Society"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion"}],"articleType":[{"id":"807976613d","title":"Column"}],"img":{"id":"fi7e186c2b","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi7e186c2b/19cb77cf-335c-463e-ad74-ec7f615bf2cf-746654f6-a0d4-471b-a2fa-bb45dfc5207a-3899a4ed-f1d7-4a35-afb9-0ea58e661e85.jpeg"}}],"order":{"carousel":["ar92f814ce","ar79f9f307","arbf01c44a","ara0433565","arec2ca46d","ar0d5be99c","ar7aff2577","arc1c35803","ar67102241","ar3490fcb5","ardd660461"]}},"c":4408487164669,"s":95578},"5733535540108":{"v":{"mustRead":[{"id":"ar1eb43d53","headline":"Why EU leaders should get off Musk's X","abstract":"Leaders should ask themselves - is X really what I want my brand to be associated with? ","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">When men go to pee in a public toilet they spend a minute gazing at the wall in front of them, in what many advertisers have seized upon as an opportunity to display posters of their products above the stinking urinals. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But in terms of framing, you'd better ask yourself: Is this really what I want my brand to be associated with? </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">You might well think twice if you were selling ice cream or toothpaste, so what if your poster was Ursula von der Leyen's face selling EU values?</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Because that's the kind of environment in which the European Commission president, other top EU officials, and national EU leaders are posting their images and comments every day when they use X to communicate with press and the EU public. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Even the toilet analogy is too kind. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">There was already lots of toxic crap on X before the summer of 2024.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Racist, antisemitic, and homophobic content had \"surged\", according to a study in January by</span><a href=\"https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.04129\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> US academics</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">X had more Russian propaganda than any other big social media, an </span><a href=\"https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/code-practice-disinformation-new-reports-available-transparency-centre\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EU report warned</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in 2023. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Porn was 13 percent of X in late 2022, according to </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/technology/exclusive-where-did-tweeters-go-twitter-is-losing-its-most-active-users-internal-2022-10-25/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">internal documents</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> seen by Reuters. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But this summer, with the failed assassination of Donald Trump in the US and the UK race riots, X's CEO Elon Musk turbocharged his platform into an overflowing sewer of bigotry, nihilism, and greed.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As I tried to follow the UK riots from Brussels using X, time and again I saw von der Leyen's carefully coiffed Christian-Democrat torso issuing some polite EU statement, while sandwiched on my laptop screen between video-clips getting off on anti-migrant violence, pro-Russian bots, and OnlyFans links. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Musk's </span><a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/30/elon-musk-twitter-hate-speech/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">algorithms pushed</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> pro-riot content so hard down users' throats it prompted a UK government rebuke and talk of legal sanctions.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Tommy Robinson, a leading British racist, got over 430 million views for his X posts, for instance. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Andrew Tate, Britain's top misogynist, got 15 million views for one X post inciting rioters. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And the biggest turd in the cesspit - Musk's own avatar - also kept appearing next to von der Leyen and other EU leaders on my screen, as the US tech baron ranted about \"civil war\" in the UK, peddled pro-Trump conspiracy theories, or told EU commissioner Thierry Breton to \"literally </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/rule-of-law/ar9dab527d\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">fuck your own face</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\". </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Musk's summer coincided with France's </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/are67c4779\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">arrest of a Russian tech CEO</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, Pavel Durov, in August on suspicion he condoned the sale of child pornography and drugs on his Telegram platform.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The European Commission also </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/digital/arc80dc460\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">started legal proceedings</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> against X in July over misleading and illegal content, in a process that could see Musk fined hundreds of millions of euros.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But aside from the grand issues of how to regulate social media without stymieing free speech or privacy, EU leaders could do something a lot simpler and closer to home for the sake of public mental health - just switch to any other less sleazy platform instead.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">You could do it tomorrow with one email to your tech staff and for all the stupid material on Instagram, for example, at least your face won't keep flashing up next to jubilant pogroms and naked tits on your constituents' screens. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Von der Leyen has 1.5 million X followers, French president Emmanuel Macron has 9.8 million, while Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez and Polish prime minister Donald Tusk have 1.9 million each. </span></p><blockquote class=\"rte-blockquote\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EU leaders could also do something a lot simpler and closer to home for the sake of public mental health - just switch to any other less sleazy platform instead</span></blockquote><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But please don't worry, not all journalists or the general public are that dumb yet, most of us will find you and follow you anyway because politics is genuinely important. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And we will thank you for giving us one more reason to get off X ourselves, because so long as you use it as your main outlet for news updates you are dragging us along with you. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">My analogy about ads in a public toilet was meant to show the importance of semiotics in political PR - it matters where you speak, not just what you say. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It also holds good for those who worry that if normal leaders and media abandoned toxic platforms, then extremism would grow in its own exclusive online world. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It's just good public hygiene to bury our sewage pipes, instead of letting people empty their buckets out of the window onto our heads. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But if you prefer to hold your nose and stay on X, consider also that you are not only damaging your own brand, but causing financial and political harm in real life. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Financial hurt, because if you help make people reliant on X for news, then greater use of Musk's platform makes people like him, Robinson, and Tate ever richer via X's monetisation schemes for viral content. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Political injury, because to the extent that von der Leyen, Macron, or Sánchez possess real importance, they aggrandise Musk, Tate, and Robinson by continuously appearing alongside them in X's hyper-curated online space. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And so if you should worry that urinals below your face might put people off, then the situation is actually worse than that. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Your presence on X is also helping to pay for the muck to flow and the toilet owner is using you to sell it to the world.</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu87ebf9ee","firstName":"Andrew","lastName":"Rettman"}],"publishDate":1725379554577,"section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World"},{"id":"503f501420","title":"Digital"}],"articleType":[{"id":"803b7f3d61","title":"EUobserved"}],"img":{"id":"fi99c2bdac","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi99c2bdac/c3d7967f-1bf2-4c02-9e01-0e033c648251-088a7676-b4d2-4f8a-b7d9-d7b96eb92682-08e3ac69-7c3a-4241-9724-f4d13d5ba373.jpeg"}},{"id":"arc4a9656f","headline":"EUobserver's Top 10 stories of 2024","abstract":"Allow us at EUobserver to blow our own trumpet as 2024 draws to a close, with a look back at the best of the journalistic path we follow — less frothy personality-driven politics, more policy, research and investigations.","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Unlike some of our rivals, at EUobserver, we tend not to regard the EU Commission as purely a powerplay soap opera of Berlaymont court politics — who's up, who's down, who are the 50 movers and shakers of the year, etc etc — preferring to concentrate on our USP (unique selling point) of detailed, deep-dive, journalism in five to ten core competency areas of the commission — migration, human rights, the Green transition, rule of law, democracy and transparency, foreign interference, and workers' rights, to name just the most vital and obvious.</span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Largely ignoring the midday press conference, and the slew of daily-trumpeted announcements (which are often not as big news, or even as 'new', as they seem), we favour researching and publishing our own longer-term investigations, and infographics, or co-publishing with partners such as </span><a href=\"https://novayagazeta.eu/en\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Novaya Gazeta Europe</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, </span><a href=\"https://www.investigate-europe.eu/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Investigate Europe</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> and </span><a href=\"https://www.desmog.com/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">DeSmog</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> throughout 2024.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In addition, in this past 12 months of mega elections — the US, India, Europe (well, the European Parliament) plus more recently and controversially </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/news/ar81c737ba\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Romania</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> and </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/news/arc97c026c\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Moldova</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> — EUobserver, despite being just an editorial staff of just six published </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/section/50b734f76d\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">two print magazines</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">: one in early summer on the European Parliament elections, and one more recently in October taking a deep dive into all 25 or so </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/section/505b1e6788\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">European Parliament committees</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. Again, the unglamorous engine room of EU policy-making.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In addition to stories by </span><a href=\"https://x.com/sanchelen\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Elena Sanchez Nicolas</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> (editor-in-chief and covering rule of law, digital, and environment), </span><a href=\"https://x.com/nikolajnielsen\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Nikolaj Nielsen</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> (migration, Frontex, Freedom of Information, corruption and transparency), </span><a href=\"https://x.com/westervangaal?lang=en\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Wester van Gaal</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> (the green transition and economics), </span><a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-rettman-74696a79/?originalSubdomain=be\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Andrew Rettman</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> (foreign affairs, Russian interference) and </span><a href=\"https://x.com/benfox83\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Benjamin Fox</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> (Africa-EU relations, China), in 2024 we've published around 300 opinion pieces, from NGOs such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, academics, think-tanks, and freelance experts, giving breadth, depth and range to our more tightly-focussed news output.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And last but not least, our five columnists: </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar1d311793\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Shada Islam</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in Brussels, </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/search/Caroline%20de%20Gruyter\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Caroline de Gruyter</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> (formerly of Oslo, now back in Brussels), </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/search/Judith%20Arnal\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Judith Arnal</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in Madrid, </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/search/Michael%20Meyer-Resende\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Michael Meyer-Resende</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in Berlin and </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/search/Anton%20Shekhovtsov%C2%A0\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Anton Shekhovtsov</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in Vienna providing weekly takes from their specialised interests (institutional racism in the EU, cultural history of EU, hard economics, democracy and elections, and Russian interference, respectively).</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And so, without further ado, the pieces we would like to showcase as our Top 10 of the year. As per </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/news/ar58d9a651\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">last year's disclaimer</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, these are not (or not necessarily) the best-read or most viral stories of the year. Sometimes, that can simply be confusing analytics, or a story going viral/rogue on Reddit (less so on Twitter/X, these days, although LinkedIn has recovered some panache as a sober social media platform for political discussions). Certainly, we find stories have a 'long tail' — amassing a healthy readership on the day, and then a surprisingly large one a week, or a month, later.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A special shout out too, to </span><a href=\"https://www.linkedin.com/in/piet-ruig/?originalSubdomain=be\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Piet Ruig</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, a very sharp Dutch reporter who spent several months with us in 2024, and </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/bio/eue8083ed8\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Salome Bonneyrat</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, our French intern for the past few months.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">They are not in any particular order - enjoy!</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi66c1bd58/0d37ea76-7417-4a96-b0cd-53f5b84e8b44-97ada4a8-aab8-4fde-b522-c5ad1f050d35-e4823d53-02c4-4c75-8457-23f54353d7dc.avif\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">1. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar76de3ba9\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">INVESTIGATION: Handshake of death: EU embrace of Kagame helping silence dissidents in Belgium</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While Rwanda's president Paul Kagame may be every Western leader's best African friend, it's a very different story among the political and cultural diaspora who left their homeland for a new life in Europe. Foreign editor Andrew Rettman talks to relatives and survivors of those who have displeased Kagame.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fif74d4b34/2fae9d60-f575-4fe6-ba56-30b67c8be015-12edafbc-36dc-4a42-a973-56daec496c6b-6963a590-3735-418a-ad70-3895fda432e7.avif\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">2. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ara5ffa982\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">China set to offer green investment boost to Africa, as EU watches from sidelines</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Our new/returning Africa editor, Benjamin Fox based out of Nairobi, looks at how China is using Africa's need for investment capital, and disenchantment with EU green regulations, to build new relationships on the continent.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fidf34635e/fd7d21bc-b5f0-4bb6-8e9e-eda8fd905260-87ddf646-0868-4337-82d8-44551a5b2b88-e66aca8c-5a88-4418-8494-87600a1f4e4f.avif\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">3. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-political/ar1acd130a\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EU Parliament voting data reveals Ukraine's MEP foes</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Elena Sanchez Nicolas takes a deep dive into voting records to see how the new far-right in the Brussels parliament votes against helping Ukraine — although, interestingly (and fortunately?), there are splits among the ranks of the new extremist populist flank of MEPs too.</span><br></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fib73e27b4/2d2b3f6d-05ed-44bb-aa0e-c177a4b7cc53-06d88a05-b6c7-462e-969c-6a773310d1e6-735dcd21-4012-4a52-bc3a-a02360ca7c4a.avif\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">4. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/arfc186c44\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Wolf in sheep's clothing? The two faces of the Russian Orthodox Church</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Staying on the theme of Russia's aggression, foreign editor Andrew Rettman looks at the role — some might say Fifth Column — of the Russian Orthodox church in Europe during the now nearly-three-year invasion of Ukraine.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi88900a98/33b6fe33-eb93-4b87-b425-40c074a9a7ff-24311df4-bdb2-49fa-9b57-4822140f5382-b98628eb-eb57-47b1-ab7e-07e76ab4340d.avif\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">5. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/investigations/arfcfcce97\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">INVESTIGATION: How QAnon pushed climate-denialism into European mainstream</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A joint piece with our friends at Lighthouse Reports and our own Nikolaj Nielsen, looking at how US climate-change denial and anti-vaccine protests have spread across the Atlantic — making even such a benign and holistic concept as the '15-minute city' into a battleground for conspiracy theories.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi810f351a/46c6cba6-96f1-42cb-bd91-93ecb2682f98-9fb8c8dd-c34a-4b29-a092-81766a25cd34-abf4f364-5ce9-463b-89a4-8c03e91bba27.avif\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">6. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/green-economy/ar90379d42\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">ANALYSIS: Peer-review shreds 'degrowth' concept — but is the criticism justified?</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">'Degrowth' — or at least some form of economic well-being not measured in pure GDP — has been on the fringes of green economic thinking for a couple of decades. A sure sign that it is breaking through into the mainstream is that it is now under fire from mainstream academics. But is their takedown itself justified, or even rigorous? Our green economy correspondent Wester van Gaal doesn't think so.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi62db5385/fccfa961-43c7-4706-b95d-81886905d668-4552d869-5c52-4da2-8195-13ab37b813b9-aa030f0c-c5db-48bb-bb05-e96ee811b30c.avif\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">7. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/ukraine/ar7b97c9cb\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">FEATURE: In Novohryhorivka — everything is gone except hope</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">At the start of the year, Nikolaj Nielsen travelled around a wintry and war-torn Ukraine — then only two years under Russian bombardment, not three — to see life on the ground for those who neither fled as refugees, nor were fighting on the frontline. A cold and sobering read.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi4e70b610/4474613b-b324-4130-8289-011d823b51b3-c0321714-0b37-44d4-9258-e591a3a44b0b-70731436-5a74-4f09-b5eb-2d39ea35541e.avif\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">8. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/areb7fa547\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EXCLUSIVE: How the chemical industry pushes to relax EU regulations</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Again, a seemingly unsexy topic not touched by many other media outlets, but an issue that will (for the worse) affect more European lives than the jostling egos in the Berlaymont — a deep-dive by our freelancer Staffan Dahllof and Elena Sanchez Nicolas into the shenanigans behind the REACH chemicals directive, and the ever-present and ineradicable 'forever chemicals'.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi1612f8df/d3e3ebc0-5560-451d-adae-b6c769a8d600-32263625-7e29-4b88-86fb-5b82bc6c3deb-53971a7b-4340-4d30-ab79-ecd11afed837.avif\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">9. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ard0a60f5a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">ANALYSIS: Will capital markets really solve EU defence woes?</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In times of war — think Ukraine, think Gaza — buy shares in the arms industry. Doubly-so, when Nato members are waving around blank cheques to fulfil their two percent of GDP on defence spending mantra. As Europe transforms itself into a war economy, Wester van Gaal looks at where the money is coming from — and going to.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi4f04a2cb/7471e423-25d2-4eca-9fd8-d0169fa3e4da-bc89e60f-c2eb-4185-b56e-8e78c12a8d2b-f44308c0-7f10-4a3b-bc62-7cf8552d14a4.jpeg\"></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">10. </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar6fb8a9e6\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">INTERVIEW: Lamy: EU should work with African states to make carbon tax work</span></a></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism) was, despite its lugubrious moniker, intended to be the flagship policy of the EU's Green Deal — imposing tariffs (in a good way) on such heavy-duty items as steel, cement, iron and aluminium coming in from non-EU states that do no match Europe's carbon-reduction measures. It hasn't worked out so smoothly, and former EU trade commissioner and a former director general of the World Trade Organisation Pascal Lamy explains to Benjamin Fox why not, and how it can be fixed.</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"euc7f898e4","firstName":"Matthew","lastName":"Tempest"}],"publishDate":1735292480092,"section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political"}],"articleType":[{"id":"8088e5421e","title":"Feature"}],"img":{"id":"fi185363cc","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi185363cc/44d9cc64-21c1-475f-804b-e406fe5617c3-256d7390-5d79-4a3c-bfd9-de33636a99df-5dc35cf6-666d-4e3a-820a-64705a1b9251.png"}},{"id":"arfbf7a119","headline":"2024 belonged to the far-right — what signs of optimism for 2025?","abstract":"A recent study in France found atypical working hours and physical hardship are associated with far-right voters. The battle against far-right populism can be won with secure jobs, full employment, decent pay, functioning public services, equality and strong workers’ rights based on collective bargaining.","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Heated debates took place in the German parliament as the Weimar Republic took its last breaths. Being active in politics or trade unions had become a life-threatening engagement. But that did not stop the Social Democratic member of the German parliament, Kurt Schumacher. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In a speech in the Reichstag in 1932, he concluded that Nazi agitation was a constant appeal to the \"inner pig\" (den inneren Schweinehund). Schumacher argued that Nazis had successfully manage to mobilise \"human stupidity\". </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Mobilising our worst side, the dark side of human behaviour, can generate political power and influence. Rightwing populists, the far-right, fascists and Nazis they all appeal to fear, suspicion, envy, anxiety, jealousy — anything that brings out the worst in us. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A feeling of having lost something (perceived to be yours) or a bruised ego. It is an idea of political influence that thrives on fragmentation and conflict.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As this year comes to an end, the super election year of 2024, one can conclude that the mobilisers of our ”inner Schweinehund” have been successful. Rightwing populists continue to gain ground across Europe, and some election results, notably the US presidential elections, have been grim. It seems as if winter is here, with democracy in a dark place.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU elections in May moved the European Parliament further to the conservative right, with a growing far-right presence. Progressives, and in particular the greens, lost ground. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Now 14 out of 27 EU governments are based upon direct or indirect support from rightwing populists and/or far-right parties. These significant changes in the political landscape are reflected in the incoming EU Commission, with heavily conservative representation.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">When Europe entered a similarly dark valley in 1933, there was light coming from the United States. Franklin D Roosevelt, in his inaugural address, galvanised hope and trust in democracy, declaring that “the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself”. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">None of that can be expected from Donald Trump in January. His appointments have so far been a massive 'fuck you' to all progressive and moderate voters. The world is braced for a very rocky ride starting in January.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">There is certainly lots to worry about. The war in Ukraine, the instability in the Middle East, with its atrocious bombings, must come to an end. The advances of the far-right must be stopped. But the world has not yet fully entered a dark valley. Democracy has not been defeated. There are glimmers of light and hope.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Signs of hope</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The results from the UK parliamentary elections was a solid progressive victory, hopefully ending a destructive era of populism spinning out of control following the Brexit referendum. Social democrats won the elections in Lithuania. In the Nordic countries, progressives and left wing parties were strengthened thanks to a strong trade union mobilisation. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">We saw the same in France, where progressive forces gained ground. So there is no natural force dictating that rightwing populism and far-right parties shall continue to grow inexorably.</span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The New Year can be a time for renewal, when we chase away the darkness of winter and see the shoots of something better begin to emerge. And the evidence shows that the fightback must start in our workplaces. </span></p><blockquote class=\"rte-blockquote\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A recent </span><a href=\"https://ires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DdT_T_Coutrot_2024_2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">study</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in France found atypical working hours and physical hardship are associated with far-right voters</span></blockquote><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A German </span><a href=\"https://www.boeckler.de/en/survey-on-eu-elections-participation-opportunities-at-work-are-positive-for-democratic-climate-60976.htm\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">survey</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> found workers who were dissatisfied with their pay and conditions, and had little say in the workplaces, were more likely to have negative attitudes towards democracy and to be more vulnerable to rightwing narratives. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It’s no wonder then that the far-right Patriots group fought so hard to prevent recent progress on the European Works Councils directive, which is crucial to giving workers a voice in multinational companies.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A recent </span><a href=\"https://ires.fr/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DdT_T_Coutrot_2024_2.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">study</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in France also found atypical working hours and physical hardship are associated with far-right voters. Conversely, workers who were given the opportunity to have a say over their work were more likely to support centre or leftwing candidates.</span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Whereas the far right seeks to centralise and monopolise power, trade unions, through social dialogue and collective bargaining, empower workers at all levels—from the shop floor to the hallways of European institutions.</span><br><br><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">We also saw this trend in the US election, where Kamala Harris won among trade union members, even outperforming Joe Biden. Strengthening trade unionism and social dialogue is thus highly effective in protecting and strengthening democracy’s immune system. This year’s Nobel prize winners Acemoglu and Johnson confirms this view, democracy needs trade unions.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Strengthening social dialogue as our first line of defence for democracy and our welfare models must be the focus of European Union action for the incoming mandate. The idea that the future is open — not closed — has to </span><a href=\"https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2024/01/24/q-and-a-with-jonathan-white-on-in-the-long-run-the-future-as-a-political-idea/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">be reclaimed</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">One does not have to be blithely optimistic but we can choose to be drawn towards the light and progressive politicians must put hope first. The world is not coming to an end: we can jointly shape the future and the world-to-come as we want it to be.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Politics can also be about appealing to our better selves. Cultivating people's faith, hope and desire for a brighter future. A politics of self-restraint, sensitivity and curiosity where our best selves can be expressed. This is the very opposite of the politics of “the inneren Schweinhund”.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The battle against the far-right and rightwing populism can be won with secure jobs, full employment, decent pay, functioning public services, equality and strong workers’ rights based on collective bargaining. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Democracy has to respond better to the demands of working people and ensure these are met, so they cannot be seduced by the populists’ siren songs. Progressives simply must come back with more attractive ideas.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Everywhere where people meet to discuss how to make our workplaces better, debate how to improve our lives and change our societies, and participate in demonstrations - there we find hope. Practising democracy is how we defend it best.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: start;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Kurt Schumacher was imprisoned by the Nazis in July 1933. Schumacher was tortured and sent to a concentration camp. He was imprisoned until the end of World War II. He was liberated in April 1945 by British forces from the Neuengamme concentration camp. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Despite his failing health Schumacher was elected party leader of the Social Democrats in a free Germany. He never became the chancellor, but he fully understood the link between quality jobs and democracy. His contribution to the democratisation of Germany was significant.</span></p>","contributors":[],"publishDate":1735026700122,"section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political"},{"id":"508bf89c3a","title":"Health & Society"},{"id":"50dee1923e","title":"Opinion"}],"articleType":[{"id":"806f303338","title":"Opinion"}],"img":{"id":"fi773e1486","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/5e982a4b001c656cea969e1fb408b6db.jpeg"}},{"id":"ar18626db2","headline":"Gaza's children paying 'high price' for war, UN envoy says ","abstract":"Without shelter from bombs, access to water, food, hygiene, healthcare, or education, Gaza's children are paying “a high price” in the war, UNICEF’s envoy for Palestine told EUobserver.","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Without access to water, food, basic hygiene, healthcare, electricity, or schools, children in Gaza are paying “a high price” in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas, UNICEF’s envoy for Palestine Jean Gough, has told EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“All wars have implications for children, but in this one, it seems to be worse because of the conditions … they can go nowhere,” Gough said in an interview in Brussels.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">About 14,000 children have reportedly been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian health ministry. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"In Gaza, the most frequent age of the casualties is five years old - this is a war against the children,\" former EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar142c771c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">said</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> last month.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">There are more than one million children in Gaza, many of whom are living in dire conditions, having lost family members and been displaced at least five times, said Gough from UNICEF, a UN branch which specialised in child protection. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Reflecting on the implications for the next generations, Gough also said that the severe, long-term consequences for children, including psychological trauma, disrupted development, and a future shaped by the scars of continuous bombardment, are yet to be fully understood.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Vey few populations in history have been under this level of stress day in, day out,” she said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Before the war, over 500,000 children in the Gaza Strip were already in need of mental health support. Today, UNICEF estimates that nearly all children in Gaza require such assistance.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The UN body also estimates that about 17,000 minors are unaccompanied or separated from their families. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As of 1 December, UNICEF has reunited 44 children with their parents, including a one-year-old born at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza, who rejoined their mother after having been relocated for medical treatment.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi46d08065/169be705-5703-46d4-b1e2-86579c8cdc44-93e89e44-2853-4a62-8ce5-6a2ae39ee459-9bab7da2-b710-4dac-9026-86bc61fd5b28.png\"><figcaption>UNICEF's reunification mission in Gaza (Source: UNICEF)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Gough, who served as the UNICEF representative for Palestine also from 2009 to 2013, has observed a shift in Israel's military operations, which require a different humanitarian response — because there is no predictability when it comes to supplies entering Gaza, she said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">She also acknowledged that UN staff have been facing growing bureaucratic obstacles to working in Gaza, such as long visa approvals and waiting times at checkpoints.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As in any armed conflict, there are concerns about sexual abuse and exploitation, to which children are particularly vulnerable - but this was a taboo for many families, and it was almost impossible for UNICEF to monitor such issues, said Gough.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Meanwhile, the number of children in orphanages has been growing.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">‘Education is protection’</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Children [can] fall into the wrong hands and we need to protect them. Education is a protection,” the UN humanitarian official said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">UNICEF has been working with partners to set up 100 temporary learning spaces across the Gaza Strip, covering about 53,000 children.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“But it’s not easy because we had to start from scratch,” Gough explained, adding that Palestinians valued education because “schools give hope for a better future.”</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fie1ffff3f/e93243d9-5195-4201-8171-7993cd7358f9-99f03565-e2a7-4371-b7a3-88e33c9c0e66-24ea954e-4f0c-498d-839d-7285ff988c66.jpeg\"><figcaption>UNICEF is providing children with access to learning spaces across Gaza (Source: UNICEF)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It is estimated that 85 percent of schools have been destroyed or used as shelters.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“The level of destruction is such that almost all schools need to be rebuilt,” Gough said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“The day after [a ceasefire] is not coming and children cannot wait,” she added. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Given the unprecedented restrictions on aid entering Gaza, experts have also raised the alarm over famine in Gaza. Child malnutrition was not a problem in Gaza before the war, but today it is a major concern for UNICEF.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Last month, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that all bakeries in central Gaza have shut down due to severe supply shortages. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And in January 2024, health screenings showed that one in three children under two years of age were acutely malnourished in the north of Gaza.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The UN organisation has been working to improve local resources and advocate for the opening of commercial routes to bring in fruit and vegetables, Gough said, adding that there were almost no eggs or vegetables entering Gaza and that the agricultural sector had all but disappeared.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Meanwhile, the health sector is grappling with shortages of medicines, supplies, fuel, food, and water - making it difficult for children to get treatment. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Earlier this year, the </span><a href=\"https://www.nutritioncluster.net/sites/nutritioncluster.com/files/2024-02/GAZA-Nutrition-vulnerability-and-SitAn-v7.pdf\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Global Nutrition Cluster</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> found that at least 90 percent of children under five had been affected by one or more infectious diseases.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fic9987a52/e432760d-19c7-470d-b961-f235a898f81b-3b9b217c-0847-41f0-8584-04d9511fc602-136f70f6-1c4b-4a83-8d52-43ba21be2861.jpeg\"><figcaption>'The day after is not coming and children cannot wait,' said UNICEF’s envoy for Palestine Jean Gough</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Gaza's children face missiles and disease</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While hunger and disease threaten everyone in Gaza, children suffer the most. And healthcare workers have identified the lack of sufficient food and water as a key factor behind the rise in malnutrition, dehydration, and disease.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In a </span><a href=\"https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/8668/2024/en/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">new report</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, Amnesty International has collected experiences from hundreds of civilians in the Gaza Strip, accusing Israel of genocide. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“To be a displaced mother in Gaza in this war is to live every day not knowing if your children will be killed by a missile or by a disease,” a 35-year-old displaced woman from Gaza City told the human rights organisation.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In June 2024, a paediatrician at Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, North Gaza, where children had died from starvation, also told Amnesty International that since late May, he had seen more cases of respiratory infections and hepatitis A. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Out of every 10 children we are treating, I see at least three with hepatitis A symptoms, related to severe malnutrition and water that is unfit for drinking,” the doctor said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">For his part, a medical worker at Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, which </span><a href=\"https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/06/middleeast/kamal-adwan-gaza-israel-hospital-raid-intl/index.html\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">recently suffered another attack, allegedly killing four doctors</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, also talked about the “radical change” he observed since 7 October. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Before, [severe] malnutrition cases were so rare in northern Gaza we barely even mentioned them … We are [now] receiving cases of children who can’t move or cry because of the severity of the weakness from malnutrition and dehydration,” the worker told the human rights organisation in April.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In 2023, the EU provided €550m to UNICEF for development programmes and humanitarian emergency response.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In September, the European Commission </span><a href=\"https://www.eeas.europa.eu/delegations/egypt/eu-grants-%E2%82%AC54-million-unicef-over-100000-evacuated-patients-gaza-and-vulnerable-children-north-sinai_en#:~:text=The%20EU%20and%20its%20Member,over%20100%20000%20vulnerable%20children.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">announced</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> a €5.4m grant to UNICEF to support over 100,000 evacuated patients from Gaza and vulnerable children in North Sinai in Egypt.</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu83cf6ae2","firstName":"Elena Sánchez","lastName":"Nicolás"}],"publishDate":1734441280905,"section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80d5f984c1","title":"Interview"}],"img":{"id":"fi611a08cd","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi611a08cd/86983770-4194-4578-9f74-c2ebd97cc939-7a45de7b-da24-4fb0-9c22-715cf3f12e56-77b07da2-f554-40ed-a982-d4b7aa70e6ce.jpeg"}},{"id":"ard33cda50","headline":"Drainpipe of shame: How Orbán hypocrisy became a gay icon in Brussels","abstract":"The drainpipe in Brussels where a far-right MEP fled a gay orgy still attracts tourists, who take pics to remember what Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán really represents. \n","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The drainpipe in Brussels by which a far-right Hungarian MEP fled an illegal gay orgy during the Covid lockdown still attracts tourists, who take pics to remember what Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán really represents. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The married MEP, József Szájer, had co-founded Orbán's homophobic Fidesz party and had been his right-hand man for 30 years. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Szájer had even authored an anti-LGBTI constitutional amendment in Hungary in 2010.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">So to see Belgian police catch him trying to escape a gay sex-party on 27 October 2020 (with an ecstasy pill in his pocket), exposed the cynicism of Orbán's identity politics so beautifully that it made </span><a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55145989\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">international headlines</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> at the time. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But for David Manzheley, who organised the event, no one should have been surprised. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“In my experience of organising sex-parties for over 10 years, the more conservative persons [sic] are in public, the more perverted they are behind closed doors,\" he told EUobserver in an interview.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Other Fidesz politicians, as well as guests from the Polish rightwing Law and Justice (PiS) party, also came to Manzheley's orgies, he said.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"From PiS, it was like one-third of the party,\" he claimed.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fid2037b34/b63b975a-330e-44da-bba8-950514396f4b-84a79aa5-4f52-4f6e-89ea-45dc61cfc496-6f2d6780-c287-4f11-b9a6-175d5d6ee319.jpeg\"><figcaption>David Manzheley at Monroe Bar Primus in the EU capital last Sunday</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Manzheley spoke at Monroe Bar Primus on 108 Boulevard Anspach in Brussels city-centre on Sunday (22 September), where four passers-by paused to photograph the famous drainpipe in the space of an hour.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It displayed a fresh sticker of Orbán’s face. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Some 20cm below, a cartoon of a backward-turned cat said: “Have you seen my asshole lately?”. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But if Hungary’s far-right ruler, who now holds the EU presidency, didn't find that kind of satire funny, then the bad news for him was even worse. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The legend of Szájer's escapade on Brussels’ hardcore gay scene appeared to be helping Manzheley to attract more guests than ever, even four years later. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Now, I see a certain buzz around my parties,” Manzheley said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">His upcoming Halloween event in Brussels had pulled in over 1,200 hopeful applicants already, from which more than 200 would be invited to a large venue, he added. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But looking back at former parties, he said of Szájer: \"When you know someone's face from the media, [at first] I was surprised to see him all dressed in leather”. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Shortly after 9PM on the fateful night of 27 October 2020, Belgian police raided Manzheley’s event at a first-floor apartment on Boulevard Anspach because it had over 25 guests, in violation of a Covid-era lockdown. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He recalled the confusion that ensued.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“One couple recognised one of the policemen [who had attended pre-Covid parties in an off-duty capacity] and they said to him ‘Hey, what are you doing here?’ and started to undress him,” Manzheley said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He also gave an insight into what his parties were like. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Manzheley invited a mix of 'Daddies' and 'Twinks' and looked for a ratio of 25 percent Tops, 25 percent Bottoms, and 50 percent Verses [versatiles], he said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Guests were greeted at the door by drag queens, who scanned their QR-coded invitations. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">They got undressed or changed into fetish attire in a cloakroom area, put on wristband IDs, and stored personal items in sealed bags.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The </span><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQ04gPb4LlY\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">playlist was up-tempo</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, there were strobe lights and dry ice, and there was no policy on using drugs or condoms, because “they [guests] are all adults, so they take their own responsibility and their own risk,” Manzheley said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A handful of off-duty medical personnel, such as nurses, were always invited in case of emergencies. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And there were privacy rules: “There’s no phones or devices allowed between 10PM and 6AM - that’s the time for sex,” Manzheley said.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi88172036/ee44e11b-9458-4e5b-b8cc-b8271211b18b-79b27043-83e8-4cd8-9325-dc245011f63b-696da084-be88-43f6-8745-9be8acf108bd.jpeg\"><figcaption>Hungarian ex-MEP József Szájer at the European Parliament in central Brussels in 2019</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Manzheley doesn’t like to confirm his own personal details for security reasons, but said he was a dual Polish-Israeli national and an “entrepreneur”.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He said he was happy to give media interviews about Szájer because he had nothing to do with breaking the original story and because it highlighted the \"hypocrisy\" of parties such as Fidesz and PiS on LGBTI lifestyles.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“That’s why I left Poland and that’s why I refuse to even speak Polish to this day,” Manzheley told EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Meanwhile, Szájer's closet homosexuality had been an open secret in Fidesz prior to 2020, which Orbán must have known, according to Hungarian </span><a href=\"https://telex.hu/english/2020/12/01/jozsef-szajer-lockdown-orgy-resignation\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">media reports</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> from the time.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And the drainpipe fiasco was not an isolated incident in the party's history. </span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Hypocrisy</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Roman Catholic priest Bese Gergő, who had been a Fidesz-media darling and an anti-LGBTI attack dog, fell from grace on 6 September 2024, when it </span><a href=\"https://telex.hu/belfold/2024/09/19/bese-gergo-plebanos-katolikus-megafon-reverenda-influenszerkepzo\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">came out</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> that he had also gone to gay orgies in Hungary and posted content online.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And Orbán's conservative mores looked fake in 2019, when a prominent Fidesz mayor, Zsolt Borkai, </span><a href=\"https://telex.hu/belfold/2024/06/14/borkai-zsolt-gyor-polgarmester-jelolt-civil-fidesz-jacht\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">was filmed</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> at an orgy with drugs on a yacht in the Adriatic Sea.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Hungary has avoided LGBTI issues in its six-month EU presidency programme, which runs until 2025. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But Orbán has continued to attack gay people at home, while also drifting further to the fringe of Western politics in other areas, such as </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar257c9f61\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Russia relations</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> and </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/rule-of-law/arc509b4e0\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">illiberal rule</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in Hungary.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The European Parliament and 15 EU states are suing Hungary in the EU Court of Justice over a 2023 law banning LGBTI “propaganda”. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The US ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, who is gay, complained this summer when Hungarian state media insinuated that he was a paedophile, as it filmed him at a Pride march in Budapest, which included families with children. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“These attacks — whether legal, rhetorical, or reputational — erode the liberties of the Hungarian people, of the Hungarian soul,” said Pressman in </span><a href=\"https://hu.usembassy.gov/news-remarks-of-ambassador-david-pressman-democracy-love-and-fear/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">a speech</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> on 23 June. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Orbán has also ganged up with self-avowed homophobes in his </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/arb09b6118\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Patriots for Europe </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">political family in the EU Parliament. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">These include the Latvia First party, the Voice of Reason party from Greece, and Spain's Vox. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">His group’s other members — Czech party ANO, Portugal's Chega, the Dansk Folkeparti, Austria's FPÖ, Italy's Lega, Dutch party PVV, France's Rassemblement National, and Belgium's Vlaams Belang — were more anti-migrant than anti-LGBTI, said </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/search/Anton%20Shekhovtsov\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Anton Shekhovtsov</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, a writer on European far-right politics.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The FPÖ had its own Szajer moment in 2008 when its late leader, Jörg Haider, was outed by German media. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But “homophobic sentiments are naturally stronger in [rightwing] parties from central and eastern Europe than those from western Europe”, Shekhovtsov said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“The [Dutch] PVV is almost pro-LGBTI,” he said.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi75977910/05961ab3-4ddd-4993-a2e8-ef9b3d55f311-62d460b4-637b-4abf-b861-847667cb67fc-687d6582-6b08-4a79-86f2-f037a4b04134.jpeg\"><figcaption>Orbán (c), with Szájer (r), and Hungarian government spokesman Zoltán Kovács (l) at the EU Parliament in 2015</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Orgy 'misstep'</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU election in June saw a surge in the number of far-right MEPs in Brussels. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But if Manzheley thought that might be another reason for the “buzz” around his Halloween party, then Shekhovtsov poured cold water on the generalisation that “the more conservative persons are in public, the more perverted they are behind closed doors\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"As for psychology, there's no scientific backing to that claim — it's a stereotype which might originate from observations of some Catholic priests' lives,\" Shekhovtsov said, referring to Roman Catholic church child-abuse scandals in Europe and the US in recent decades. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Szájer didn’t reply when EUobserver tried to reach him via the Fidesz party on Tuesday. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But speaking in 2020, he said: “The misstep [gay orgy] is strictly personal, I am the only [one] who owes responsibility for it. I ask everyone not to extend it to my homeland, or to my political community”.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The now 63-year old has stayed out of the public eye and is said to live in the Hungarian countryside.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It remains to be seen if Orbán lets him make a political comeback one day.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Borkai, the disgraced mayor, nearly did so in June when he came third in local elections in the city of Győr despite his past, running as an independent candidate.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Gergő, the defrocked priest, told media he felt betrayed that Fidesz threw him under the bus when his scandal broke.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But if Orbán didn't stand by his old friends, then the Brussels gay scene would greet its Hungarian star with open arms if he ever made a comeback there instead, Manzheley indicated. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“I have his [Szájer's] number and I’ve been in touch,” said Manzheley.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“I wrote to József, saying: ‘You’re welcome to come back [to my parties]’,” he said.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi4005aee1/ec4c7873-ed33-45e2-981e-23b3c54b8af9-78373028-1de2-469b-a495-9bef0e518d99-8717f8f7-25e4-4992-b8b1-e18cab9c21af.jpeg\"><figcaption>Entrance to Brussels' gay district, around the corner from Boulevard Anspach</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu87ebf9ee","firstName":"Andrew","lastName":"Rettman"}],"publishDate":1727185807423,"section":[{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political"},{"id":"508bf89c3a","title":"Health & Society"}],"articleType":[{"id":"8088e5421e","title":"Feature"}],"img":{"id":"fi49aeb5c6","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi49aeb5c6/872fcd99-4200-4d6a-8530-68f14b43cea0-ebfaf3a5-b4e3-4742-a602-12f7513d9f60-6b590920-12bc-4bbd-a2ad-eb75901656e3.jpeg"}},{"id":"ar76de3ba9","headline":"Handshake of death: EU embrace of Kagame helping silence dissidents in Belgium","abstract":"Every time EU leaders shake hands with Rwanda's president Paul Kagame, they embolden him to commit crimes against dissidents in Belgium, making themselves morally liable. ","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is just one in a long line of EU leaders who've embraced Rwandan president Paul Kagame.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">She last did so amid EU overtures to access</span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/news/ar24df2f21\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rwanda's minerals, knowing full well he stood credibly accused of war crimes, assassinations, and torture in Africa. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But did she know he is also terrorising Rwandan dissidents much closer to home — on the streets of Brussels?</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Fear of being poisoned by Kagame's agents is widespread in the Rwandan diaspora in Belgium.   </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Even high-profile African activists, such as Paul Rusesabagina and Denis Mukwege, aren't safe when they visit the home of the EU institutions.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Some Rwanda-associated poisons can be administered via a handshake or soaked into an item of clothing.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The last time von der Leyen shook Kagame's hand was on 18 December 2023 on a visit to Kigali. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Unfortunately ... she did not have a chance to enjoy the local cuisine. However, she did have the chance to try Rwanda's excellent coffee,\" her spokesperson said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">No one is seriously suggesting the Rwandan leader would dare to poison a high-level EU politician.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But even though EU leaders themselves are physically safe, they still ought to worry about their moral hygiene — because every time they meet Kagame, they embolden him to commit further crimes by giving him a sense of impunity. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And that means their handshakes are putting Rwandan dissidents who live in Europe, as well as in Africa, in clear and present danger.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi91dc2c64/f4335f73-de3a-4079-b7a7-7c81aaae2529-abdf18b1-161e-40cb-b342-71c1af3d685e-2c768186-ab24-4616-97d4-f478048884a0.jpeg\"><figcaption>Paul Kagame with Ursula von der Leyen in Kigali in December 2023 (Source: European Commission)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Toxic handshake </span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rusesabagina is the real-life hero of the 2004 film</span><a href=\"https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0395169/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> Hotel Rwanda</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> about the 1994 genocide, who is hated by Kagame and who now lives in the US. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And when Rusesabagina came to Brussels for a family wedding in August 2024, he was urged to take special care by his Belgian and US security advisers, who spoke to EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">They warned him not to travel or stay anywhere alone, not to use unfamiliar taxi drivers, not to meet strangers or accept gifts from them, not to use his normal mobile phone, and not to hire a car. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Part of their advice was designed to evade Rwandan electronic surveillance, since Kagame's agents had already once kidnapped Rusesabagina, in Dubai in 2020. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But another part was because Kagame has a track record of transnational assassinations, including by poison. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"The Rwandans are master poisoners. There's one toxin that can be administered via a handshake: The assassin smears it onto the palm of their hand, shakes the victim's hand on some pretext, then walks away and takes an antidote to save themselves,\" said a Belgian security source, who asked not to be named.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rusesabagina's adopted daughter, Carine Kanimba, told EUobserver: \"My family was really worried about my father coming to Belgium because it's like a playground for them [Kagame's intelligence service]. This is where they have full access. They can hurt you. They've killed people here before\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Kanimba was orphaned in the genocide while she was an infant and is now a human-rights activist living in the UK. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The family marriage in Brussels (her cousin's) was followed by Kanimba's own wedding, near Verona in Italy, also in August.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While planning the two events, the family notified Belgian and Italian intelligence services, hired private security guards, and vetted catering staff and equipment to make sure their food was safe. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"My wedding was meant to be full of love, and it was, but everyone in the family was conscious of the risk,\" Kanimba said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"It might sound like a movie, but it's not — there have been a lot of people who dropped dead because of poisoning by the regime,\" she said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Kanimba herself has faced death threats, issued in person to relatives and on social media. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"One of Kagame’s top aides said on X that I deserved a 'golden machete', which shocked me to the core, because my parents were probably killed with a machete [in the genocide],\" she said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Kanimba's phone was also hacked with Israeli-made</span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/arc47c3859\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> Pegasus spyware</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in 2021, which is sold to states' intelligence services.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"I've learned over the years, the more that we talk publicly about such threats, the safer we become,\" she said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"But the the fact I'm having this conversation with you today, so many people have been killed for the kind of conversation we're having [about Kagame],\" Kanimba said.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi15d98208/c5236a4c-94ff-45e5-81b9-f92cd48e268c-2d8da709-1c5b-4121-b978-84697603ce4c-61de2329-6b21-46b5-b255-014888417996.jpeg\"><figcaption>Carine Kanimba (r) receiving a human-rights award in London in November 2023 (Source: Magnitsky Awards)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">For his part, Mukwege is a Congolese gynaecologist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018 for helping rape victims and who has spoken out against use of rape by Rwandan soldiers and Rwanda-linked rebel groups in Africa.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Mukwege also won the European Parliament's Sakharov award in 2014. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But when he came to Brussels on a trip in May 2015, he was put under</span><a href=\"https://www.lesoir.be/261924/article/2019-11-21/le-docteur-mukwege-sous-haute-surveillance\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">close surveillance by Rwanda's embassy. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Mukwege had received a courtesy car from the EU parliament, but when he arrived at the offices of Belgian newspaper Le Soir for a welcome reception, journalists recognised his driver as being a member of the Rwandan embassy's security staff and advised Mukwege to insist on a different chauffeur. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Mukwege told Belgian friends at the time how the bogus driver, who had infiltrated the parliament's car-pool, had behaved on the way.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He had begged Mukwege to hold his mobile phone and speak to his friends because he was so famous, which Mukwege refused to do.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Mukwege, who is based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), declined to speak with EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But the same bogus driver also offered him a suspicious tie on the same pretext, according to a contact in his Panzi Foundation in DRC.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And, according to two Belgian security sources who asked not to be named, the tie, which Mukwege also declined to touch, had been laced with poison. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Recalling how it happened, one of the Belgian sources told EUobserver: \"He [Mukwege] got into a car with a driver who he didn't know, and the guy said to him: 'Dr Mukwege, you're my hero! Please accept this tie as a humble gift. It would make me and my family so proud if you were to put it on'.\"</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">'Munyuza's droplets'</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Less well-known people are all the more vulnerable. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rwanda was a Belgian colony until 1962 and Belgium is home to some 20,000 to 30,000 people of Rwandan origin - its largest diaspora community in the world. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Most of them live scattered in small towns in the Flanders region, such as Aalst or Dendermonde. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Those of them who are genocide refugees still feel traumatised and divided. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But Rwandans also come together at church and music events, with 2,000 to 3,000 guests expected to visit the </span><a href=\"https://www.cirque-royal-bruxelles.be/nl/evenement/ballet-inyange-2024-11-23-1800\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Inyange folk-dance festival </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">in Brussels on 23 November, for instance.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">One of those taking part in the festival, Rwandan human-rights activist Natacha Abingeneye, who lives in Aalst, believes Kagame's agents murdered her father in Brussels in 2005. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He was a former government minister in Rwanda, was giving evidence to the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda when he went missing, and his mutilated body was later found in a canal in the EU capital. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Abingeneye herself became a target when her civil society group, Jambo, tried to organise a debate on Rwanda in the Belgian parliament in 2018. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Her name was smeared in dozens of articles in Kagame-linked media, claiming, for instance, that she had funded Rwandan death squads in 1993, even though she would have been seven years old at the time.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"There was also suspicious behaviour at my home, but not enough to press charges [with Belgian police],\" she told EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Sometimes, I'd see a car had been following me all the way from Brussels to the roundabout near where I live, and I'd just continue driving because I was scared to stop, as I was alone,\" she said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Shady figures would come to my door, ring the bell, and run away,\" she added.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi58e2443c/683a7cc8-d298-4c1e-8dd9-008b2d2c36b2-4f4cde60-53f6-4af6-a616-958b92a6409b-2f497244-c07c-41e4-83cd-306533146c93.jpeg\"><figcaption>Denis Mukwege at the European Parliament in Brussels in 2016 (Source: European Parliament)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Speaking of the fear caused specifically by regime poisoners, she said: \"It's not mythology. It's reality. It's a method that they have used so much in Rwanda that it even has a name in Rwandese: 'utuzi twa Munyuza', which means 'droplets of Munyuza's waters'.\"</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The phrase refers to Dan Munyuza, who is now Kagame's ambassador to Egypt, even though he was exposed in a conversation </span><a href=\"https://m.youtube.com/watch?si=wVGcslVsoJFkL4mk&v=JpO6BmTd1SE&feature=youtu.be\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">leaked on YouTube</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> to have plotted poisonings of Rwandan dissidents abroad. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Everyone knows that if they want to eliminate you, we share a coffee, you go home, I go home, I'm dead, and no one knows what happened,\" Abingeneye told EUobserver.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"The other day, I went to a team-building event in a bar. I left my drink, went away, picked it up again and everybody was like: 'Are you crazy?',\" she said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"It [poisoning] is as quick as a wave of someone's hand over your glass,\" she added.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Her father's 2005 death is not the only one which has caused suspicion in the Rwandan community.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rodolphe Shimwe Twagiramungu, for example, was a 34-year-old Rwandan musician who went to a nightclub on Avenue Louise in Brussels on 17 April 2022 and who was </span><a href=\"https://en.igihe.com/news/article/faustin-twagiramungu-s-son-dies\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">found dead</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in a nearby street the next morning from unknown causes.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Twagiramungu's father had been a former Rwandan prime minister and another Kagame enemy.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And the Rwandan diaspora aside, if you are a white Western national it doesn't necessarily mean you are untouchable. </span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Urban legend</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Many Congolese people in Belgium even believe Kagame once poisoned the then-Belgian foreign minister, Louis Michel, in 2002. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Michel visited Kigali while calling out Kagame for fuelling conflict in DRC, but </span><a href=\"http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1987126.stm\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">fell gravely sick</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> when he returned to Europe and collapsed at a Nato summit in Reykjavík.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Michel, who is the father of outgoing EU Council president Charles Michel, didn't reply to EUobserver.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But one Belgian contact who knew him said: \"After this incident, one thing is sure: Louis Michel never criticised Rwanda again\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The Michel-poison theory is seen as an urban legend by Belgian security services because the potential cost of a major diplomatic incident if it got out far exceeded the benefit of silencing him.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Kagame may be dangerous, but he's not stupid, and he would do a cost/benefit analysis on every case. It’s much more likely Michel was infected by a bacteria or virus, which happens easily enough in Africa,\" a Belgian security source said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But when Canadian writer Judi Rever, who wrote a Kagame-critical book, visited Belgium in 2014, Belgium gave her</span><a href=\"https://www.rtbf.be/article/belgique-une-journaliste-anti-kagame-protegee-par-la-surete-de-l-etat-9049887\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> two bodyguards </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">after receiving intelligence the Rwandan embassy in Brussels planned to hurt her.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi5abbff07/6b740e62-4c65-4364-98e3-bc6ad098b1bb-3d35eee7-7ddd-4044-82b9-954809ce832b-6a4ee993-d10f-4895-9b45-e2b319f51296.jpeg\"><figcaption>Natacha Abingeneye in Aalst, Belgium, in October 2024</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Some Belgian journalists living in Brussels who spoke to EUobserver asked not to be quoted in this article because of personal security fears. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And Peter Verlinden, a former journalist and now politician living near the Belgian town of Leuven, who wrote a Kagame-critical book in 2015, still requires special protection nine years later.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"To this day, my wife and I are under a specific protection system by Belgian security services. I can't reveal how it works, but if we ever needed help, we can just call and a rapid response [police] unit arrives in minutes wherever we might be,\" he told EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Verlinden has received death threats on his phone and on social media and, as with Kanimbe, Belgian intelligence services found Pegasus on his mobile. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"I think the aim of the [Rwandan] regime in Europe is to cause fear, not to kill,\" Verlinden said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"But if I go to an event with Africans, I only eat from the public buffet and I always serve my own plate [for fear of poison]. I wouldn't use a Rwandan taxi driver whom I didn't know,\" he said. </span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Designer drugs</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The use of sophisticated poisons in </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/ar3a6de8ee\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">targeted assassinations</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in Europe is more readily associated with Russia. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But even if Rwanda's spy services were tiny compared to Russia's, that didn’t mean they couldn't acquire frightening capabilities if they wanted to, said Belgian forensic toxicologist Jan Tytgat. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"Novichok is absolutely available on the dark web and we should be concerned about its potential use around the world,\" he said, referring to a Russian-made nerve toxin. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"There are pages where you can ask AI: 'Please design me the newest generation of organophosphates to kill people' - it's crazy,\" he added.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Tytgat has worked with Belgian police on more run-of-the-mill cases. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He is also professor of pharmacology at KU Leuven university in Belgium and has done research into new medicines in the field in Africa. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A handshake poison could be made from 'designer drugs', such as fentanyl derivatives, he said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"People have designed synthetic molecules that are 10,000 times more potent than morphine. You put a few crystals in the palm of your hand, and if you give a strong handshake, a couple of those crystals will humidify on the sweat and skin of your victim, and this is really sufficient to put them in a comatose state,\" Tytgat said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The assassin could protect themselves by taking an antidote, putting ointment on their hand, or wearing gloves.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A necktie poison could be made from African plant extracts, as well as Novichok-type synthetic compounds, the Belgian toxicologist said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It requires plants that are rich in atropine, but these are commonplace in central Africa.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Symptoms of atropine poisoning were \"hallucinations, disturbed breathing, you have incredible thirst, you feel as dry as a bone, then you have neurological problems from which you can die,\" Tytgat said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He was not aware of any exotic poisoning cases in Belgium. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And in red-flagged incidents, Belgian authorities had access to equipment that could decipher a poisoner's hidden signature, he said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"With high-resolution mass spectrometers we can do isotope mapping [of poison molecules], and knowing the isotope load in a molecule you can, with some luck and some help from AI, devise where it was made and when it was made,\" he told EUobserver.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But in day-to-day medical practice, atropine-type poisoning by an obscure Rwandan plant extract could be overlooked, he said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"If you go to a full forensic toxicologist, initially we might also get a negative result, but we'd continue,\" Tytgat said.   </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"In a standard hospital, I fear they might overlook uncommon plant- or animal venom-based intoxications, because of the protocols they follow in Belgium or in any other typical EU country,\" he said. </span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fie6cba3e7/8b781c1b-bd49-4d04-b295-8d8046292a0f-e7865cbf-a148-459e-8829-184e87a0646b-abb09074-21b8-48db-aab3-603e5e21456d.jpeg\"><figcaption>Belgian toxicologist Jan Tytgat (Source: Jan Tytgat)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Another poison more native to central Africa is black mamba venom. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It can kill people in \"five minutes,\" Tytgat said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But snake-venom proteins were too large to enter through a victim's skin pores and would have to be injected, for instance with an insulin needle, which would be obvious to \"any good pathologist,\" he said.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Intervention Team</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rwanda's embassy to Belgium is located in the green Woluwe Saint Pierre district in Brussels, some 15 minutes down the road from von der Leyen's HQ. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">When EUobserver took a photo of the building on 22 October for this article, a Rwandan man in a bright blue shirt jogged over to ask questions and surreptitiously filmed the reporter on his phone.   </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The Belgian foreign ministry declined to confirm how many Rwandan diplomats the embassy contained. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Belgian sources estimated it has some seven to 15 diplomats, as well as locally hired staff.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"About half of them [Rwandan diplomats] are probably intelligence officers under diplomatic cover, which would be a lot, by any normal standards\", a Belgian contact said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The Rwandan embassy told EUobserver in an emailed statement: \"Rwanda has a handful of diplomats accredited to the embassy and ... their identities and roles are known to Belgian authorities\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">One of them is first secretary </span><a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U76j8ZnMcM\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Gustave Ntwaramuheto</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, who was also accredited at the EU institutions until 2023, and who is a former military captain.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Ntwaramuheto declined to speak to EUobserver. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But, according to an </span><a href=\"https://www.jambonews.net/actualites/20190630-belgique-les-activites-obscures-de-lambassade-du-rwanda-a-bruxelles/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">investigation by Jambo</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in 2019, he is in charge of a task-force which carries out surveillance and violence against Kagame's adversaries in Belgium. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"There are groups of thugs linked to the embassy. They call it the</span><a href=\"https://www.jambonews.net/actualites/20190630-belgique-les-activites-obscures-de-lambassade-du-rwanda-a-bruxelles/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">'Intervention Team' and they are highly organised. It's professional, with a direct, national-level chain of command,\" Jambo's Abingeneye said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rwandan intelligence also spies on people's comings and goings at Belgium's Zaventem airport, according to Jambo. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rwanda told EUobserver: \"The Rwandan embassy in Belgium operates in accordance with international diplomatic standards and within Belgian law. Allegations made by politically-motivated actors [Jambo] known for their conspiracy theories ... have no basis in fact\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But the actions of Belgian authorities suggest otherwise. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Belgian intelligence services took the Rusesabagina family-wedding threat in August 2024 \"seriously\", Kanimba said.</span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fia461fcc9/39060d8a-7c71-46a3-b809-80014dc60fd4-a1e2760a-a819-4244-adc9-dd330d0cabbe-7d6e4a60-2538-4d54-b0b3-2135cc1128e9.jpeg\"><figcaption>Rwanda's embassy in Brussels (Source: EUobserver)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Persona non grata</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And Belgium took an unprecedented step in April 2024 when it made Kagame's new ambassador to Brussels, Vincent Karega, persona non grata before he even arrived, by declining his accreditation. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Karega had previously been expelled from DRC for backing rebels and had represented Kagame in South Africa in 2014, when a Rwandan exile was murdered there. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"No new [ambassador] candidate has been proposed by the Rwandan authorities,\" the Belgian foreign ministry told EUobserver on 25 October.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Verlinden, the Belgian politician, said: \"What has been lacking in Belgium until now has been political courage, but with the Karega decision, this seems to be a first sign that things are improving\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But at the same time, Belgium's capabilities are limited. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Its VSSE homeland intelligence service has slashed its Africa section over the past 10 years, recalling Kanimba's fear that Belgium was Kagame's \"playground\". </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The VSSE's Africa department used to have some 25 posts in its heyday, but now had just one full-time and one part-time intelligence officer covering African threats, a Belgian contact said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The VSSE declined to comment. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Normal bilateral relations despite the Karega row also mean that Belgian judicial authorities still cooperate with Kigali. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Belgian prosecutors raided Rusesabagina's home in the Kraainem district in Brussels in 2020 and gave his private documents to Rwanda in the run-up to his Dubai kidnapping on the basis of a Rwandan extradition request. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"The 2020 search request was channelled officially by diplomatic means\" and \"carried out in strict compliance with Belgian law,\" the Belgian Federal Prosecutor's office told EUobserver on 20 October. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"We do not disclose figures, but judicial cooperation between Belgium and Rwanda [still] occurs regularly,\" they said. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">They added, however: \"If the extradition request has a political character, [this] is a ground for refusal\". </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"To date, no extradition has been accepted,\" they said. </span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi0279a24b/eda12af6-9e1a-4dbd-8686-106b6b6e8b97-48eae7e6-365e-48b9-8ee2-925b36b36f56-2d471218-8c6e-4fe8-9773-98af04824eee.jpeg\"><figcaption>Ursula von der Leyen with Paul Kagame in Kigali last year (Source: European Commission)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EU whitewashing</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rwanda is rich in tin, tantalum, tungsten, and gold and signed a </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/africa/ar09e60539\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">memorandum of understanding </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">(MoU) with the EU on its mining sector in February. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The minerals deal would help \"fight against illegal trafficking of minerals and ... conflict minerals\", the EU commission told EUobserver, while opening up Rwanda to EU mining firms.  </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EU leaders at their summit in Brussels on 16 October also called for the creation of overseas</span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar62877b36\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> return hubs</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> for rejected asylum seekers.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But when asked by EUobserver if this might involve Rwanda, the commission said it \"does not speculate on hypothetical scenarios\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">France relies on Rwandan troops to help protect French energy firms in</span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar9f1a3c27\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> nearby Mozambique</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> from an Islamist insurgency.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">French president Emmanuel Macron also gave Kagame and his wife a welcoming hug at a summit in France on 4 October. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And to add insult to injury for dissidents, Rwanda will host the UCI Road World Championships cycling race in September next year. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The international embrace of Kagame comes despite storied warnings that this emboldens him to do further violence.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EU parliament </span><a href=\"https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/B-9-2021-0133_EN.html\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">resolutions</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/africa/ar24df2f21\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">reports</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> by British civil society group Global Witness, and </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/migration/ara9c366ed\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">investigations</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> by US group Human Rights Watch (HRW) have been ringing the alarm bell for years. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Reacting to the latest HRW report, the EU commission said: \"We call on Rwanda to conduct prompt, impartial, and effective investigations into all allegations of torture ... Perpetrators of any such acts should be brought to justice\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Meanwhile, von der Leyen herself has lived in Belgium for over five years, amid regular Belgian media reports on Kagame's harassment of Rwandans who also live there.   </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And the Belgian foreign ministry told EUobserver the \"timing of the signing of this agreement [the EU's minerals MoU] was unfortunate\", given Kagame's behaviour.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"You can't say you didn't know - today there's enough proof and documentation,\" said Abingeneye. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Speaking of the cycling championship, Kanimba said: \"Rwanda is beautiful, the hills are gorgeous, so I understand the cyclist community viewing my country as a good place for this, but it's covering a lot of darkness and pain, it's hurting our people\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"It's sportswashing at its core,\" she added. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But top EU politicians who meet with Kagame do even more damage, activists say.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"They're going on like it's business as usual with a known murderer\", Kanimba said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Abingeneye said: \"If a European president stands in front of their people and shakes the hands of a killer, then they’re whitewashing his actions and they become partly liable for them\".</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It made Kagame feel free to keep hurting people \"because you showed him there are no consequences\", Abingeneye added.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"I am Rwandan and European. I feel deeply European, but I'm so disappointed when I see this,\" she said. </span></p><figure><img src=\"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fib3b9018b/213bea35-b68f-4b32-9039-2ad73bd56e58-db90a996-869c-48c2-956e-7548b3e13923-67ff12d9-3bb7-488a-a430-e7caf9619047.jpeg\"><figcaption>Emmanuel Macron with Kagame at the Élysée palace in Paris on 4 October (Source: Élysée)</figcaption></figure><p class=\"rte-p\"><br></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><i><em class=\"rte-italic\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">This story was amended to correct the spelling of Paul Rusesabagina's name and the date of his kidnapping in Dubai</em></i></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu87ebf9ee","firstName":"Andrew","lastName":"Rettman"}],"publishDate":1730264400000,"section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World"},{"id":"5019a5cd48","title":"Rule of Law"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80e452251d","title":"Investigation"}],"img":{"id":"fic0f3a655","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fic0f3a655/9576e655-281b-414d-90fe-3f8a1acf56fa-9eb0032f-7012-4ef8-9214-394233ba8bce-ffc3d783-d35f-4cf9-8c02-4ae2fb60d381.jpeg"}},{"id":"arfe6fbaf7","headline":"Why the ICC arrest warrant for Israeli leader puts EU in a dilemma","abstract":"As the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes, the EU now faces a critical dilemma: balancing its commitment to international law with its longstanding political and economic ties to Israel. Quo vadis? ","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes on Thursday (21 November), the EU now faces a critical dilemma: balancing its commitment to international law with its longstanding political and economic ties to Israel. Quo vadis Europa? </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Thursday’s legal action means the ICC's 124 member states — including all EU countries but not Israel or the US — would have to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they enter their territory.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It also means that no EU leaders or officials should meet with Netanyahu or Gallant.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While the ICC has no powers of warrant enforcement and lacks its own police force, this marks the first time the court sought the arrest of a democratically-elected leader, backed by Western countries.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU has long promoted the ICC as a cornerstone of international law, but Thursday’s decision puts the bloc between the hammer and the anvil given the </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/arb494b978\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">ongoing trade ties</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> the bloc has with Israel.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In May, ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan filed applications for arrest warrants against Netanyahu, Gallant, and three leaders of the terrorist group Hamas. On Thursday, the ICC also issued arrest warrants for Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif, as the other two leaders had already been killed. Deif himself is also now presumed to be dead, but that is not confirmed.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The court confirmed that it has found “reasonable grounds” to argue that Netanyahu and Gallant bear criminal responsibility for “the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare” and “the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts” as well as “the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population”.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It also noted that decisions on humanitarian aid were often made due to pressure from the international community or the US, rather than to fulfil Israel's legal obligations or ensure that people in Gaza had access to essential goods.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The ICC decision follows Israeli military operations in Gaza, which have killed over 44,000 people, mostly civilians. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Israel, which has also expanded its operations into Lebanon in recent months, says it is responding to Hamas's 7 October attacks that left 1,206 people dead and around 100 others still held hostage.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">'Antisemitic' response</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The government of Netanyahu has deemed the ICC warrant “antisemitic” and “absurd” — while the US, Israel's biggest ally, has also criticised the court’s decision, Reuters </span><a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/reaction-icc-warrants-israeli-hamas-leaders-2024-11-21/\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">reported</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"We remain deeply concerned by the prosecutor’s rush to seek arrest warrants and the troubling process errors that led to this decision,\" a White House National Security Council spokesperson said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Mike Waltz, who has been appointed by US-elected president Donald Trump as his future national security adviser, said the court had “no credibility”. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“You can expect a strong response to the antisemitic bias of the ICC and UN come January,” he </span><a href=\"https://x.com/michaelgwaltz/status/1859589936967512244\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">said</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> on X (formerly Twitter), referring to Trump's inauguration.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Other world leaders such as Argentina's far-right president Javier Milei have also rejected the decision, despite being a member of the ICC.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Reacting to the news, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said he had taken note of the court’s decision, highlighting that these are “binding” for all EU member states. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But Israel-friendly Hungary was the first EU country to slam the ICC’s move, with Hungarian foreign affairs minister Peter Szijjártó describing it as “shameful and absurd”.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In a </span><a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/szijjarto.peter.official/posts/1096975881895704?ref=embed_post\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">social media post</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, Szijjártó said he spoke on the phone with Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar and assured him that “Hungary refuses to make any institution of the international judicial system a political instrument”. This decision is a disgrace to the international judicial system, he also said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">On Friday, Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán said he would invite Netanyahu to visit Hungary, defying the ICC arrest warrant. \"The ICC ruling will have no effect in Hungary,\" he said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">By the time of publication, there was no comment directly on the ICC warrant from the EU Commission itself.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Between the hammer and the anvil</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The Gaza war prompted Ireland and Spain, in February, to call on the European Commission for an “urgent review” of its </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/are1868c99\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">trade-deal agreement with Israel</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. But the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has failed so far to respond to this letter.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Article 2 of the trade association agreement between the EU and Israel foresees the suspension in case of violations of human rights.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">And, according to Hussein Baoumi, a campaigner for Amnesty International, “no one can doubt that Israel is violating its human rights commitments” after the ICC decision.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Now it is up to the EU to decide whether to respect international law and whether to respect their own laws,” Baoumi said, adding that the EU has constantly failed to hold trade partners accountable for their human rights violations.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“Now it is clearer than it was before,” he said.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">During this week’s foreign affairs ministers' meeting, Borrell proposed mini anti-Israel sanctions, such as halting high-level EU-Israel </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-and-the-world/arb494b978\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">political dialogue</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> and banning goods made by Israeli settlers.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But he admitted that most EU member states have supported maintaining their trade deal with Israel as a means of preserving political and diplomatic relations. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EU foreign affairs policy is based on unanimity. And Israel's friends in the EU, such as Hungary, the Czech Republic, Austria, and Germany, have previously blocked any meaningful action.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Borrell earlier accused Israel of using starvation as a weapon of war and disproportionate and indiscriminate use of force against Palestinians — contrary to other more Israeli-friendly voices in Brussels. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">However, with the new commission taking place on 1 December, there are widespread concerns that his successor, former Estonian PM Kaja Kallas, will </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar9a81b1da\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">not be as vocal </span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">when it comes to the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU is Israel's biggest trade partner, accounting for almost 30 percent of Israel’s trade.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Meanwhile, Thursday's ICC decision puts particularly Germany in a dilemma, given that Berlin is Israel's second-largest arms supplier after the US.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“You need weapons to be able to do the [war] crimes” Netanyahu or Gallant are accused of, Baoumi said, illustrating the difficult questions the EU and its member states are facing. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Earlier this year, French president Emmanuel Macron vocally called to halt arms deliveries to Israel.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The ICC warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant come a day after the US Senate voted against halting arms exports to Israel.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><i><em class=\"rte-italic\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">This article was updated</em></i></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu83cf6ae2","firstName":"Elena Sánchez","lastName":"Nicolás"}],"publishDate":1732210379817,"section":[{"id":"5002452f20","title":"EU & the World"}],"articleType":[{"id":"80178480d0","title":"Analysis"}],"img":{"id":"fi6faf0547","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/fi6faf0547/6a7a3264-d6db-4d84-9c23-9272cb2155d7-7485593e-ac8c-412a-b212-a15cb8df9eb8-489a4556-0003-4102-b353-c795ddf01344.png"}},{"id":"arb7fe6688","headline":"Rule 241: the EU’s hidden ‘bombshell’ against anti-democratic forces","abstract":"Legal scholars have dubbed it a \"sleeping beauty\" — a potent yet practically unused EU Parliament instrument akin to the EU's own Article 7, designed to safeguard the rule of law and the integrity of its institutions.","body":"<p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Hidden in plain sight within the European Parliament's own rules of procedure is a little-known provision that could dramatically alter the Union's ability to defend its democratic values from internal threats. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Legal scholars have dubbed it a \"sleeping beauty\" and “bombshell” — a potent yet practically unused instrument akin to the EU's own Article 7, designed to safeguard the rule of law and the integrity of its institutions.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Meet Rule 241.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A Fragile Democracy Under Threat</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The fragility of democracy in Europe is no longer a theoretical concern; it's a palpable reality. While the democratic backsliding of Hungary under Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party and Poland under its previous administration has been well-documented, similar undercurrents are emerging in Slovakia, Italy, Bulgaria, and Greece. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Judicial independence is under siege, civil society organisations face increasing pressure, and media pluralism is dwindling. These are not isolated incidents but symptoms of a broader malaise affecting the very core of European democracy.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">For member states veering off the democratic path, the EU has a toolkit that includes withholding funds, imposing financial sanctions, and even suspending voting rights — the </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar865019ab\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">so-called Article 7 procedure</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">However, the effectiveness of these measures has been repeatedly called into question. Not only because enforcement has been delayed and weakened, but also because they concern only member states of the EU. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">When anti-democratic forces infiltrate the EU's own institutions, the challenge becomes even more daunting. The Union's mechanisms to counter internal destabilisation are notably limited, and this is where Rule 241 could play a transformative role.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The erosion of the 'cordon sanitaire'</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Historically, the European Parliament maintained a 'cordon sanitaire' around eurosceptic and far-right parties, effectively denying them access to influential positions such as vice-presidents and committee chairs. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">This method was decried by Viktor Orbán early on Wednesday morning (9 October), stating in a plenary debate that “you [the European Parliament] want to lecture me about democracy, but yet you keep the </span><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/*/ar7e524613\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Patriots [for Europe]</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> out of committee chairs”. His European political party recently lodged an appeal at the European Court of Justice to contest this exclusion.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">This political quarantine was a means to suppress voices that sought to undermine the EU from within. However, the recent parliamentary elections have complicated this landscape.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">While the most extreme groups — like the Patriots for Europe (PfE) and Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) — remain marginalised, the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) have been granted significant influence. This is despite the fact that two of ECR's largest national party members are Poland's Law and Justice (PiS) and Italy's Brothers of Italy — parties that have been instrumental in democratic backsliding in their respective countries. Their actions on a national level stand in stark contrast to the values upon which the EU was founded.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">European political parties wield the superpower of electoral legitimacy, having been democratically elected by their constituents. But electoral success does not place them above accountability. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The rules governing European political parties include safeguards against egregious misconduct. However, when it comes to more insidious or values-based transgressions — which have become part of the far and radical right’s playbook, the onus falls on other European parties or citizens to intervene.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Enter Rule 241</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Rule 241 is a provision that allows the European Parliament, the Commission, or the Council to contest the registration — and by extension, the financing — of a European political party or foundation that is in \"manifest and serious breach\" of the EU's foundational values. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">These values, enshrined in the Treaty on European Union, include respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law, and human rights, including the rights of minorities, and are repeated in what’s known as </span><a href=\"https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2014/1141/oj\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Regulation 1141/2014</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">This regulation governs the statute and funding of European political parties and foundations and is enforced by the Authority for European Political Parties and European Political Foundations (APPF). </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">European political parties (EuPPs) are conglomerates of national parties that form supranational entities within the European Parliament. They receive substantial funding from the EU budget — €46m allocated for EuPPs in 2025—making the financial stakes high.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">EuPPs are dynamic entities; they evolve, merge, and sometimes dissolve. The most recent elections witnessed a flurry of activity as rightwing parties realigned into new formations: the Patriots for Europe, including Hungary's Fidesz and Italy's League, and the Europe of Sovereign Nations, comprising Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) and France's Reconquête!</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Notably, Hungary under Fidesz has been under Article 7 sanctions since 2018 for violating EU values— the same values that Rule 241 invokes. This raises an unsettling question: How can a party implicated in undermining EU values continue to receive EU funding and wield influence within its institutions?</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The mechanics of Rule 241</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Activating Rule 241 is a multi-step process:</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><b><strong class=\"rte-bold\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">1. Initiation</strong></b><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">: At least a quarter of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) representing at least three political groups can request a verification of compliance by the APPF. Alternatively, a reasoned request by at least 50 citizens can be submitted to parliament to set the request for verification in motion.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><b><strong class=\"rte-bold\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">2. Consultation</strong></b><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">: The APPF consults its \"council of eminent persons,\" a six-member panel appointed equally by the Parliament, the Council, and the Commission.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><b><strong class=\"rte-bold\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">3. Decision</strong></b><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">: Based on the council of eminent persons’ opinion, the APPF can decide to deregister the party, effectively cutting off EU funding.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><b><strong class=\"rte-bold\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">4. Objection Period</strong></b><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">: The parliament and the council have the opportunity to object to the APPF's decision – for the council the vote to object happens by qualified majority vote, for the parliament by simple majority – and </span><b><strong class=\"rte-bold\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">both </strong></b><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">have to object.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Despite its potential, the process has never moved to stage two. When asked, the APPF stated that it has not received any requests for verification from the Parliament, the Council, or the Commission. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">But that does not mean no one has tried.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A Sleeping Beauty </span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Legal scholars focusing on rule of law and democratic protection have extensively analysed Rule 241. </span><a href=\"https://www.hertie-school.org/en/study/executive/team/profile-1-2/person/morijn-2\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Professor Dr John Morijn</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, a Dutch legal scholar and Henrik Enderlein Fellow at the Hertie School in Berlin, </span><a href=\"https://academic.oup.com/icon/article/17/2/617/5523748\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">penned an article</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> in 2019 highlighting how Rule 241 and Regulation 1141/2014 could be employed to counter populist politics at the EU level.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"This regulation is a kind of sleeping beauty,\" Morijn told EUobserver. \"It's more or less the equivalent of Article 7 in the Treaty of the European Union.\" </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In his article, Morijn writes that the creation of this rule and the accompanying regulation was not without challenges.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The proposal didn’t make it through on the first try, as FPÖ (PfE) in Austria and Northern League (PfE) in Italy, both in government at the time, felt the issue of adhering to democratic values “was an attack on them. Together with Denmark, they ended up voting against the proposal.” The Danish government at that time relied on the support of Dansk Folkepart (PfE)i, the populist Danish People’s Party.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">On the second try, after ping-ponging between the parliament, commission, council and European Court of Justice, it was adopted in 2007. The regulation now applied to EuPPs and their foundations, but remained untouched and unused until 2012, when the commission proposed an expansion of the scope.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The revision included the expansion of the scope of the regulation to both the program and activities of a EuPP – and most crucially, those of its members. It also proposed that natural or legal persons could request the parliament to verify a party’s compliance with values. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The changes led to an agreement on setting up the APPF, that would register, manage and enforce rules applying to EuPPs and their foundations. However, by the time the regulation 1141/2014 made it to its approval, two crucial changes were included: the first being that deregistration of a EuPP or foundation needed the approval of </span><i><em class=\"rte-italic\" style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">both</em></i><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> parliament and council and second, that it only applied to Europarties as a whole, and not on their individual members.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">He points out that while Rule 241 has never practically been used, neither have there ever been such large eurosceptic groups within the parliament.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The challenges of activation</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The procedure's complexity and the political will required to activate Rule 241 present significant hurdles. First, the APPF allows for a form of self-certification regarding adherence to EU values when new parties register, relying on the assumption of compliance unless evidence to the contrary is presented.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">In 2019, The Good Lobby, an organisation aimed at bolstering civil society's advocacy capacity, </span><a href=\"https://verfassungsblog.de/holding-european-political-parties-accountable-testing-the-horizontal-eu-values-compliance-mechanism/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">attempted to trigger Rule 241</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Representing 57 EU citizens, they requested that the European Parliament and APPF verify the compliance of the European People's Party (EPP) and the Alliance of Conservatives and Reformists in Europe with EU values, citing their affiliations with Fidesz and PiS.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">It argued that “the EPP has deliberately and persistently refused to take any concrete action against one of its member parties, Hungary’s ruling party Fidesz, notwithstanding its systemic and persistent undermining of Article 2 TEU values as recently evidenced inter alia by the Sargentini report.” And “urge you to undertake a verification – as you are required under Article 10 of the Regulation – of the EPP’s continuing compliance with the values on which the EU is founded.”</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Their efforts were stymied by procedural technicalities. The parliament rejected the request, citing invalid signatures because they were not physically signed — a requirement that was not clearly communicated. And still is not.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">“We did collect signatures, first electronically then on paper, but the EP never declared our request admissible, what stopped the procedure, which never moved to the substance of the matter,” </span><a href=\"https://x.com/alemannoEU\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Alberto Allemanno</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> a legal scholar and founder of </span><a href=\"https://x.com/TheGoodLobby\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The Good Lobby</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> said, who then took the matter to the European Ombudsman.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The European Ombudsman </span><a href=\"https://www.ombudsman.europa.eu/it/decision/en/119191\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">upheld</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\"> the parliament's decision, pointing out the lack of signed forms but tacitly acknowledging the inadequacy of guidance provided to citizens wishing to exercise this \"very important democratic right.\"</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Since then, it appears that no one has made any attempt to kick off a new verification procedure.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The paradox of militant democracy</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Invoking Rule 241 touches upon the concept of \"militant democracy\" — the idea that a democracy might need to employ undemocratic means to protect itself from forces seeking to dismantle it from within. This paradox presents a moral and practical dilemma.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://euobserver.com/eu-political/ara5ee95a6\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noreferrer\" class=\"rte-link\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Tom Theuns</span></a><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">, a senior assistant professor of political theory and European politics at Leiden University, articulates the tension: \"A militant democratic action is one that itself undermines fundamental democratic principles.\" He cautions that while such measures exist within the EU's legal framework, their use would set a precedent that anti-democratic actors might exploit if they gain power.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">\"One of the core worries of militant democratic measures like party bans is that if you legislate them, it becomes easier for anti-democratic politicians to use these means if they come to power,\" Theuns warns.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Furthermore, taking action against democratically elected parties could feed into populist narratives of an elite suppressing the will of the people — a potent rallying cry for eurosceptic movements.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">A call to action — or a Pandora's Box?</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">MEPs and citizens of the EU thus face a daunting question: Should they awaken Rule 241 to defend its democratic values, risking potential backlash and the erosion of its own principles? Or should it allow the status quo to persist, even as anti-democratic forces gain strength within its institutions?</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The answer may lie in the very values the EU seeks to protect. Democracy is not merely a procedural mechanism but a commitment to uphold human dignity, freedom, and the rule of law. When these principles are under threat, inaction may carry greater risks than decisive, albeit controversial, measures.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Invoking Rule 241 would send a clear message that the EU is willing to defend its foundational values, even at the cost of internal strife. It would also serve as a deterrent to parties that might otherwise feel emboldened to continue undermining democratic norms.</span></p><h2 class=\"rte-h2\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The road ahead</span></h2><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The EU stands at a crossroads. The rise of anti-democratic forces within its own institutions challenges the very fabric of the Union. Rule 241 is not a panacea, but it offers a mechanism — overlooked by most— that could bolster the EU's defence of its core values.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">As professor Morijn suggests, perhaps it's time for this sleeping beauty to awaken. The activation of Rule 241 would require courage, unity, and a reaffirmation of the EU's commitment to its foundational principles. In a time of democratic fragility, such decisive action might be not only justified but necessary.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">Democracy, like a delicate ecosystem, requires constant vigilance to maintain its health. The European Union, conceived as a bastion of democratic values and human rights, must grapple with the internal contradictions posed by anti-democratic elements within its ranks. Rule 241 represents a powerful, albeit contentious, tool that could help preserve the Union's integrity.</span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The question is not merely whether the EU can set off this bombshell, but whether it has the collective will to do so. </span></p><p class=\"rte-p\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"white-space: pre-wrap;\">The future of European democracy may well depend on the answer.</span></p>","contributors":[{"id":"eu31f83c46","firstName":"Alejandro","lastName":"Tauber"}],"publishDate":1728470373055,"section":[{"id":"5019a5cd48","title":"Rule of Law"},{"id":"506324822d","title":"EU Political"}],"articleType":[{"id":"8088e5421e","title":"Feature"}],"img":{"id":"ficc1c5d9a","src":"https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/ficc1c5d9a/1b3e5c0e-4f28-4f08-b34f-9e27c43e35ad-9572d02f-e91b-421b-8cd5-f4f2b184ced8-c61c10e8-fa95-4eab-9e65-5ccf9ca1c0d6.jpeg"}}],"order":{"mustRead":["ar1eb43d53","arc4a9656f","arfbf7a119","ar18626db2","ard33cda50","ar76de3ba9","arfe6fbaf7","arb7fe6688"]}},"c":11847232019809,"s":146429},"8117591503476":{"v":{"data":[{"headline":"European Council meeting","date":1742598000000},{"headline":"European Council meeting","date":1742511600000}]},"c":11280501469927,"s":132},"14179662864941":{"v":{"data":[{},{"headline":{"en":"Italy sells almost all its stake in world’s oldest bank"},"src":"https://www.ft.com/content/65fe3cc4-c8e7-4337-aae8-11ee602e5a60"},{"headline":{"en":"Au-delà du foot Match France-Israël ce jeudi soir au Stade de France : une rencontre sous haute sécurité"},"src":"https://www.liberation.fr/sports/football/match-france-israel-au-stade-de-france-une-rencontre-sous-haute-securite-20241113_VVLG4PNJEZGKTE5AVNHGVMGYZ4/"},{"headline":{"en":"US official charged over leak of Israel plan to attack Iran"},"src":"https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62lvvqezn2o"},{"headline":{"en":"Far-right fake jobs trial: French prosecutors request Marine Le Pen be banned from running for public office"},"src":"https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/11/13/far-right-fake-jobs-trial-french-prosecutors-request-marine-le-pen-be-banned-from-election-to-office_6732729_7.html"},{"headline":{"en":"Italy’s Albania asylum deal has become a political disaster for Giorgia Meloni"},"src":"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/italy-albania-asylum-deal-complete-failure-giorgia-meloni"},{"headline":{"en":"Russians accused of crimes offered choice - 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class="j s"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:64px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;min-width:100%" class="ssvjh9"><div class="in io aj ip iq ds c4 dct6ml kowbca" style="background-position:center;background-image:url(https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=1582/fi7e186c2b/19cb77cf-335c-463e-ad74-ec7f615bf2cf-746654f6-a0d4-471b-a2fa-bb45dfc5207a-3899a4ed-f1d7-4a35-afb9-0ea58e661e85.jpeg)"><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r _1q4eddr _9x1sq c3q9lo _4vprv2" style="color:var(--white);position:absolute;display:inline-flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:0;bottom:20px;margin-left:-24px"></h2></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:0;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:space-between;max-width:33%;padding-right:26px" class="_8sp753"><div class="ir"></div><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);display:none"><a href="/eu-political/ar3490fcb5">'Brussels So White' — but what role play journalists?</a></h2><span class="d0 d1 d8" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">1 day ago</span><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:12px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;margin-top:8px;margin-bottom:20px"><a href="/section/506324822d"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EU Political</span></a><a href="/article-type/807976613d"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Column</span></a></div><div class="cj d8 dl _150jpfw v3ktue _8mu7lq _1p9mi6m _1v5npaz _1h8xwyr yz64aj _18qfyyg tq69qt shy7gc _18qgrsu _143c5sd _17sqer0 mxxezy" style="font-size:18px;line-height:30px">This is the most rightwing EU executive in the bloc’s history and, in fact, a Trump-like roll back of the “Union of Equality” agenda seems to be ongoing. Are journalists part of the problem?</div><a href="/eu-political/ar3490fcb5"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Read it</span></a></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:64px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;min-width:100%" class="ssvjh9"><div class="in io aj ip iq ds c4 dct6ml kowbca" style="background-position:center;background-image:url(https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=1582/fiace189ab/5a61a3cc-56f2-43e0-92ce-19e2be5ff1c7-19f0fe51-583a-4677-84a0-a7b1bb0f47e1-034d831a-2c87-48f5-b296-bc0ad8c3ebbe.jpeg)"><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r _1q4eddr _9x1sq c3q9lo _4vprv2" style="color:var(--white);position:absolute;display:inline-flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:0;bottom:20px;margin-left:-24px"></h2></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:0;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:space-between;max-width:33%;padding-right:26px" class="_8sp753"><div class="ir"></div><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);display:none"><a href="/eu-and-the-world/ar92f814ce">As US snubs Kallas, EU struggles to stay relevant on Ukraine deal</a></h2><span class="d0 d1 d8" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">14 hours ago</span><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:12px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;margin-top:8px;margin-bottom:20px"><a href="/section/5002452f20"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EU & the World</span></a><a href="/article-type/803b7f3d61"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EUobserved</span></a></div><div class="cj d8 dl _150jpfw v3ktue _8mu7lq _1p9mi6m _1v5npaz _1h8xwyr yz64aj _18qfyyg tq69qt shy7gc _18qgrsu _143c5sd _17sqer0 mxxezy" style="font-size:18px;line-height:30px">A planned meeting between Kaja Kallas and Marco Rubio on Wednesday was cancelled at the last minute. This latest snub comes amid a drastic shift in US policy in dealing with Moscow and Kyiv, which has left Europeans running around like headless chickens. </div><a href="/eu-and-the-world/ar92f814ce"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Read it</span></a></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:64px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;min-width:100%" class="ssvjh9"><div class="in io aj ip iq ds c4 dct6ml kowbca" style="background-position:center;background-image:url(https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=1582/fib0927bbc/29f4145d-c5e0-4102-945c-6b37163da3b4-15dd90ec-be36-4329-ac34-d394affb20d7-980af51d-dc90-4962-a992-116c44d72324.jpeg)"><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r _1q4eddr _9x1sq c3q9lo _4vprv2" style="color:var(--white);position:absolute;display:inline-flex;flex-direction:column;flex-grow:0;bottom:20px;margin-left:-24px"></h2></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:0;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:space-between;max-width:33%;padding-right:26px" class="_8sp753"><div class="ir"></div><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);display:none"><a href="/eu-and-the-world/ar79f9f307">Ukraine ready to sign US minerals deal without 'security guarantees'</a></h2><span class="d0 d1 d8" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">15 hours ago</span><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:12px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;margin-top:8px;margin-bottom:20px"><a href="/section/5002452f20"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EU & the World</span></a></div><div class="cj d8 dl _150jpfw v3ktue _8mu7lq _1p9mi6m _1v5npaz _1h8xwyr yz64aj _18qfyyg tq69qt shy7gc _18qgrsu _143c5sd _17sqer0 mxxezy" style="font-size:18px;line-height:30px">The United States and Ukraine are on the brink of concluding a minerals agreement worth hundreds of billions of dollars in a move that could make Ukraine a critical part of the international supply chain for critical materials. </div><a href="/eu-and-the-world/ar79f9f307"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Read it</span></a></div></div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:16px;width:auto;align-items:center;justify-content:end;margin-top:24px;padding-left:26px;padding-right:26px" class="_138zml0"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:30px;width:30px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;cursor:pointer"><div 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stroke-width="2"></path></svg></span></div></button></div><a href="/eu-and-the-world/ar382a781f"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" style="color:var(--black)">EU dropping the ball on sanctions enforcement </h3></a><div class="j bp bq k"><div class="j k s dr j7 cb j8 j9 ja" style="border:1px solid var(--orange);margin-top:-4px"><span class="d0 d1 d8" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:black;text-decoration:none">Free Article</span></div><a href="/section/5002452f20"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EU & the World</span></a><a href="/article-type/80e452251d"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Investigation</span></a></div></div></li><li class="bh bi bj bk m j _1ksthn4 _1mdfdhv" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds _1i4ywnf _11vc6zm jkjuzg" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--black);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-top:50px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(90deg);transition:0.2s"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></div></button><div class="j b2 r bm bn _9ntyv0"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:0;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between" class="_2nllxi"><div class="j b2 r j6"><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq _1lwklq9" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none"><a href="/bio/eu83cf6ae2" style="margin-left:4px;margin-right:11px"><span class="z3410u">by Elena Sánchez Nicolás</span></a></div><div 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href="/article-type/803b7f3d61"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EUobserved</span></a></div></div></li><li class="bh bi bj bk m j _1ksthn4 _1mdfdhv" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds _1i4ywnf _11vc6zm jkjuzg" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--black);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-top:50px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(90deg);transition:0.2s"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></div></button><div class="j b2 r bm bn _9ntyv0"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:0;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between" class="_2nllxi"><div class="j b2 r j6"><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq _1lwklq9" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none"><a href="/bio/eud6dc869c" style="margin-left:4px;margin-right:11px"><span class="z3410u">by Wester van Gaal</span></a></div><div class="cu"></div></div></div><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds c0vzui _5yrser _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);height:30px;width:30px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;display:none;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><span class="cz d8 dj dk _1j3zqid"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(90deg);transition:0.2s"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="var(--grey)" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></span></div></button></div><a href="/green-economy/ar7aff2577"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" 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bn _9ntyv0"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:0;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between" class="_2nllxi"><div class="j b2 r j6"><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq _1lwklq9" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none"><a href="/search/Benjamin%20Fox%20and%20Elena%20S%C3%A1nchez%20Nicol%C3%A1s" style="margin-left:4px;margin-right:11px"><span class="z3410u">by Benjamin Fox and Elena Sánchez Nicolás</span></a></div><div class="cu"></div></div></div><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds c0vzui _5yrser _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);height:30px;width:30px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;display:none;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><span class="cz d8 dj dk _1j3zqid"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" 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width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(90deg);transition:0.2s"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></div></button><div class="j b2 r bm bn _9ntyv0"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:0;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between" class="_2nllxi"><div class="j b2 r j6"><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq _1lwklq9" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none"><a href="/bio/eu7c6b1824" style="margin-left:4px;margin-right:11px"><span class="z3410u">by Benjamin Fox</span></a></div><div class="cu"></div></div></div><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds c0vzui _5yrser _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);height:30px;width:30px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;display:none;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><span class="cz d8 dj dk _1j3zqid"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(90deg);transition:0.2s"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="var(--grey)" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></span></div></button></div><a href="/eu-and-the-world/arbf01c44a"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" style="color:var(--black)">Gutting EU due diligence law 'robbed' victims of corporate abuse</h3></a><div class="j bp bq k"><a href="/section/5002452f20"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EU & the World</span></a><a href="/article-type/80d5f984c1"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Interview</span></a></div></div></li><li class="bh bi bj bk m j _1ksthn4 _1mdfdhv" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds _1i4ywnf _11vc6zm jkjuzg" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--black);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-top:50px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(90deg);transition:0.2s"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></div></button><div class="j b2 r bm bn _9ntyv0"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:0;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between" class="_2nllxi"><div class="j b2 r j6"><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq _1lwklq9" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none"><a href="/search/Mary%20Robinson%20and%20Phil%20Bloomer" style="margin-left:4px;margin-right:11px"><span class="z3410u">by Mary Robinson and Phil 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style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:black;text-decoration:none">Free Article</span></div><a href="/section/506324822d"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EU Political</span></a><a href="/article-type/806f303338"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Opinion</span></a></div></div></li><li class="bh bi bj bk m j _1ksthn4 _1mdfdhv" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds _1i4ywnf _11vc6zm jkjuzg" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--black);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-top:50px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(90deg);transition:0.2s"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></div></button><div class="j b2 r bm bn _9ntyv0"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:0;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between" class="_2nllxi"><div class="j b2 r j6"><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq _1lwklq9" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none"><a href="/bio/eu09e46885" style="margin-left:4px;margin-right:11px"><span class="z3410u">by Nikolaj Nielsen</span></a></div><div class="cu"></div></div></div><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds c0vzui _5yrser _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);height:30px;width:30px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;display:none;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><span class="cz d8 dj dk _1j3zqid"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(90deg);transition:0.2s"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="var(--grey)" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></span></div></button></div><a href="/eu-and-the-world/arec2ca46d"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" style="color:var(--black)">'We are indirectly financing Putin's war', admits EU Commission</h3></a><div class="j bp bq k"><a href="/section/5002452f20"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EU & the World</span></a></div></div></li><li class="bh bi bj bk m j _1ksthn4 _1mdfdhv" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds _1i4ywnf _11vc6zm jkjuzg" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--black);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-top:50px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(90deg);transition:0.2s"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></div></button><div class="j b2 r bm bn _9ntyv0"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:0;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between" class="_2nllxi"><div class="j b2 r j6"><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq _1lwklq9" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none"><a href="/bio/eud6dc869c" style="margin-left:4px;margin-right:11px"><span class="z3410u">by Wester van Gaal</span></a></div><div class="cu"></div></div></div><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds c0vzui _5yrser _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);height:30px;width:30px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;display:none;cursor:pointer"><div 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hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:30px;width:30px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><span class="cz d8 dj dk _1j3zqid"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(180deg)"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></span></div></button><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:30px;width:30px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><span class="cz d8 dj dk _1j3zqid"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></span></div></button></div></div><div class="cc cd c6 m ce cf cg c4 _11d7t56 jkjuzg"><span class="d0 d1 d8" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none;position:absolute;right:16px;bottom:16px;z-index:0">Ad</span><div id="dfp-homepage_premium"></div></div><div style="padding:20px;display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:42px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:space-between" class="_11z0sh9"><div class="bg jkjuzg"><div class="ch c6 ci c4 mxeqxb"><span class="d0 d1 d8" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none;position:absolute;left:16px;top:16px;z-index:0">Ad</span><div id="dfp-half-page"></div></div></div><div class="m bd"><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r" style="color:var(--black);margin-bottom:16px">Ticker</h2><ul class="m j r"><a class="e1 m j" href="" target="_blank"><li class="k fh bk m j _1ksthn4 _10m8r96" style="border-top:2px solid black"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-left:19px;min-width:21px;min-height:21px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="13" height="10" viewBox="0 0 13 10" fill="currentColor"><path d="M12.068 5.45962C12.3219 5.20578 12.3219 4.79422 12.068 4.54038L7.93144 0.403806C7.6776 0.149965 7.26605 0.149965 7.0122 0.403806C6.75836 0.657647 6.75836 1.0692 7.0122 1.32304L10.6892 5L7.0122 8.67696C6.75836 8.9308 6.75836 9.34235 7.0122 9.59619C7.26605 9.85003 7.6776 9.85003 7.93144 9.59619L12.068 5.45962ZM0.608398 5.65L11.6084 5.65V4.35L0.608398 4.35L0.608398 5.65Z"></path></svg></div></button><div class="fi cp j r bm vywzsv"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" style="color:var(--black);margin-bottom:4px">This is a headline</h3><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none"></div><div class="cu"></div></div><div class="j bp bq k"></div></div></li></a><a class="e1 m j" href="https://www.ft.com/content/65fe3cc4-c8e7-4337-aae8-11ee602e5a60" target="_blank"><li class="k fh bk m j _1ksthn4 _10m8r96" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-left:19px;min-width:21px;min-height:21px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="13" height="10" viewBox="0 0 13 10" fill="currentColor"><path d="M12.068 5.45962C12.3219 5.20578 12.3219 4.79422 12.068 4.54038L7.93144 0.403806C7.6776 0.149965 7.26605 0.149965 7.0122 0.403806C6.75836 0.657647 6.75836 1.0692 7.0122 1.32304L10.6892 5L7.0122 8.67696C6.75836 8.9308 6.75836 9.34235 7.0122 9.59619C7.26605 9.85003 7.6776 9.85003 7.93144 9.59619L12.068 5.45962ZM0.608398 5.65L11.6084 5.65V4.35L0.608398 4.35L0.608398 5.65Z"></path></svg></div></button><div class="fi cp j r bm vywzsv"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" style="color:var(--black);margin-bottom:4px">Italy sells almost all its stake in world’s oldest bank</h3><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">https://www.ft.com/content/65fe3cc4-c8e7-4337-aae8-1...</div><div class="cu"></div></div><div class="j bp bq k"></div></div></li></a><a class="e1 m j" href="https://www.liberation.fr/sports/football/match-france-israel-au-stade-de-france-une-rencontre-sous-haute-securite-20241113_VVLG4PNJEZGKTE5AVNHGVMGYZ4/" target="_blank"><li class="k fh bk m j _1ksthn4 _10m8r96" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-left:19px;min-width:21px;min-height:21px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="13" height="10" viewBox="0 0 13 10" fill="currentColor"><path d="M12.068 5.45962C12.3219 5.20578 12.3219 4.79422 12.068 4.54038L7.93144 0.403806C7.6776 0.149965 7.26605 0.149965 7.0122 0.403806C6.75836 0.657647 6.75836 1.0692 7.0122 1.32304L10.6892 5L7.0122 8.67696C6.75836 8.9308 6.75836 9.34235 7.0122 9.59619C7.26605 9.85003 7.6776 9.85003 7.93144 9.59619L12.068 5.45962ZM0.608398 5.65L11.6084 5.65V4.35L0.608398 4.35L0.608398 5.65Z"></path></svg></div></button><div class="fi cp j r bm vywzsv"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" style="color:var(--black);margin-bottom:4px">Au-delà du foot Match France-Israël ce jeudi soir au Stade de France : une rencontre sous haute sécurité</h3><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">https://www.liberation.fr/sports/football/match-fran...</div><div class="cu"></div></div><div class="j bp bq k"></div></div></li></a><a class="e1 m j" href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62lvvqezn2o" target="_blank"><li class="k fh bk m j _1ksthn4 _10m8r96" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-left:19px;min-width:21px;min-height:21px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="13" height="10" viewBox="0 0 13 10" fill="currentColor"><path d="M12.068 5.45962C12.3219 5.20578 12.3219 4.79422 12.068 4.54038L7.93144 0.403806C7.6776 0.149965 7.26605 0.149965 7.0122 0.403806C6.75836 0.657647 6.75836 1.0692 7.0122 1.32304L10.6892 5L7.0122 8.67696C6.75836 8.9308 6.75836 9.34235 7.0122 9.59619C7.26605 9.85003 7.6776 9.85003 7.93144 9.59619L12.068 5.45962ZM0.608398 5.65L11.6084 5.65V4.35L0.608398 4.35L0.608398 5.65Z"></path></svg></div></button><div class="fi cp j r bm vywzsv"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" style="color:var(--black);margin-bottom:4px">US official charged over leak of Israel plan to attack Iran</h3><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c62lvvqezn2o</div><div class="cu"></div></div><div class="j bp bq k"></div></div></li></a><a class="e1 m j" href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/11/13/far-right-fake-jobs-trial-french-prosecutors-request-marine-le-pen-be-banned-from-election-to-office_6732729_7.html" target="_blank"><li class="k fh bk m j _1ksthn4 _10m8r96" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-left:19px;min-width:21px;min-height:21px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="13" height="10" viewBox="0 0 13 10" fill="currentColor"><path d="M12.068 5.45962C12.3219 5.20578 12.3219 4.79422 12.068 4.54038L7.93144 0.403806C7.6776 0.149965 7.26605 0.149965 7.0122 0.403806C6.75836 0.657647 6.75836 1.0692 7.0122 1.32304L10.6892 5L7.0122 8.67696C6.75836 8.9308 6.75836 9.34235 7.0122 9.59619C7.26605 9.85003 7.6776 9.85003 7.93144 9.59619L12.068 5.45962ZM0.608398 5.65L11.6084 5.65V4.35L0.608398 4.35L0.608398 5.65Z"></path></svg></div></button><div class="fi cp j r bm vywzsv"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" style="color:var(--black);margin-bottom:4px">Far-right fake jobs trial: French prosecutors request Marine Le Pen be banned from running for public office</h3><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/11/13/...</div><div class="cu"></div></div><div class="j bp bq k"></div></div></li></a><a class="e1 m j" href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/italy-albania-asylum-deal-complete-failure-giorgia-meloni" target="_blank"><li class="k fh bk m j _1ksthn4 _10m8r96" style="border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,0.12)"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:21px;width:21px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-left:19px;min-width:21px;min-height:21px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="13" height="10" viewBox="0 0 13 10" fill="currentColor"><path d="M12.068 5.45962C12.3219 5.20578 12.3219 4.79422 12.068 4.54038L7.93144 0.403806C7.6776 0.149965 7.26605 0.149965 7.0122 0.403806C6.75836 0.657647 6.75836 1.0692 7.0122 1.32304L10.6892 5L7.0122 8.67696C6.75836 8.9308 6.75836 9.34235 7.0122 9.59619C7.26605 9.85003 7.6776 9.85003 7.93144 9.59619L12.068 5.45962ZM0.608398 5.65L11.6084 5.65V4.35L0.608398 4.35L0.608398 5.65Z"></path></svg></div></button><div class="fi cp j r bm vywzsv"><h3 class="cj cv cw cm" style="color:var(--black);margin-bottom:4px">Italy’s Albania asylum deal has become a political disaster for Giorgia Meloni</h3><div class="j"><div class="d0 d1 d8 d9 cn c5 co cp cq" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/14/italy-...</div><div class="cu"></div></div><div class="j bp bq k"></div></div></li></a></ul><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds _1i4ywnf _11vc6zm" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--black);padding:0px 18px;height:30px;border-radius:20px;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;margin-left:auto;margin-top:42px;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><span 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class="ir"></div><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);display:block;margin-bottom:24px"><a href="/rule-of-law/arb7fe6688">Rule 241: the EU’s hidden ‘bombshell’ against anti-democratic forces</a></h2><span class="d0 d1 d8" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">4 months ago</span><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:12px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;margin-top:8px;margin-bottom:20px"><a href="/section/5019a5cd48"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Rule of Law</span></a><a href="/article-type/8088e5421e"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Feature</span></a></div><div class="cj d8 dl _150jpfw v3ktue _8mu7lq _1p9mi6m _1v5npaz _1h8xwyr yz64aj _18qfyyg tq69qt shy7gc _18qgrsu _143c5sd _17sqer0 mxxezy" style="font-size:18px;line-height:30px">Legal scholars have dubbed it a "sleeping beauty" — a potent yet practically unused EU Parliament instrument akin to the EU's own Article 7, designed to safeguard the rule of law and the integrity of its institutions.</div><a href="/rule-of-law/arb7fe6688"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Read it</span></a></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:64px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;min-width:100%" class="ssvjh9"><div class="in io aj ip iq ds c4 dct6ml kowbca" style="background-position:center;background-image:url(https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=1582/fi99c2bdac/c3d7967f-1bf2-4c02-9e01-0e033c648251-088a7676-b4d2-4f8a-b7d9-d7b96eb92682-08e3ac69-7c3a-4241-9724-f4d13d5ba373.jpeg)"></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:0;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:space-between;max-width:40%;padding-right:26px" class="_8sp753"><div class="ir"></div><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);display:block;margin-bottom:24px"><a href="/eu-and-the-world/ar1eb43d53">Why EU leaders should get off Musk's X</a></h2><span class="d0 d1 d8" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">5 months ago</span><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:12px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;margin-top:8px;margin-bottom:20px"><a href="/section/5002452f20"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EU & the World</span></a><a href="/article-type/803b7f3d61"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EUobserved</span></a></div><div class="cj d8 dl _150jpfw v3ktue _8mu7lq _1p9mi6m _1v5npaz _1h8xwyr yz64aj _18qfyyg tq69qt shy7gc _18qgrsu _143c5sd _17sqer0 mxxezy" style="font-size:18px;line-height:30px">Leaders should ask themselves - is X really what I want my brand to be associated with? </div><a href="/eu-and-the-world/ar1eb43d53"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Read it</span></a></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:64px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;min-width:100%" class="ssvjh9"><div class="in io aj ip iq ds c4 dct6ml kowbca" style="background-position:center;background-image:url(https://files-production-saulx-eu-observer-production-en-ci-hyp-xx0.based.dev/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,w=1582/fi185363cc/44d9cc64-21c1-475f-804b-e406fe5617c3-256d7390-5d79-4a3c-bfd9-de33636a99df-5dc35cf6-666d-4e3a-820a-64705a1b9251.png)"></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:0;flex-wrap:wrap;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:space-between;max-width:40%;padding-right:26px" class="_8sp753"><div class="ir"></div><h2 class="cj cr cs ct oz3u7r _1ti8vjs" style="color:var(--black);display:block;margin-bottom:24px"><a href="/eu-political/arc4a9656f">EUobserver's Top 10 stories of 2024</a></h2><span class="d0 d1 d8" style="font-family:GeistRegular;color:var(--grey);text-decoration:none">2 months ago</span><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:12px;width:100%;align-items:start;justify-content:start;margin-top:8px;margin-bottom:20px"><a href="/section/506324822d"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">EU Political</span></a><a href="/article-type/8088e5421e"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Feature</span></a></div><div class="cj d8 dl _150jpfw v3ktue _8mu7lq _1p9mi6m _1v5npaz _1h8xwyr yz64aj _18qfyyg tq69qt shy7gc _18qgrsu _143c5sd _17sqer0 mxxezy" style="font-size:18px;line-height:30px">Allow us at EUobserver to blow our own trumpet as 2024 draws to a close, with a look back at the best of the journalistic path we follow — less frothy personality-driven politics, more policy, research and investigations.</div><a href="/eu-political/arc4a9656f"><span class="dh dt cy cl du dv ds _17svc6y" style="font-family:GeistRegular;font-weight:400">Read it</span></a></div></div></div></div><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:16px;width:auto;align-items:center;justify-content:end;margin-top:24px;padding-left:26px;padding-right:26px" class="_138zml0"><button class="cu s k c4 hb j hc ds j55797 _1316jf6" style="color:var(--white);background-color:var(--orange);height:30px;width:30px;border-radius:50%;user-select:none;-ms-user-select:none;-moz-user-select:none;-webkit-user-select:none;cursor:pointer"><div style="display:flex;flex-direction:row;gap:8px;width:100%;align-items:center;justify-content:center"><span class="cz d8 dj dk _1j3zqid"><svg width="8" height="11" viewBox="0 0 8 11" fill="none" style="transform:rotate(180deg)"><path d="M1.5 10L6 5.30435L1.5 1" stroke="currentColor" stroke-width="2"></path></svg></span></div></button><button class="cu s k c4 hb j 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