Putin gives his account of post-mutiny Prigozhin meeting, insists ‘PMC Wagner does not exist’ (www.politico.eu)
Finnish PM: Deputy’s apology for racist slurs is enough (www.politico.eu)
Why Europeans don’t have Threads yet (www.politico.eu)
Russia illegally used facial recognition to arrest protestor, human rights court rules (www.politico.eu)
Super crops are coming: Is Europe ready for a new generation of gene-edited plants? (www.politico.eu)
EU to boycott Hungary’s foreign affairs summit (www.politico.eu)
Increasingly exasperated by Viktor Orbán’s obstruction of EU foreign policy, Brussels is contemplating an unprecedented step to boycott Hungary’s foreign affairs summit next month....
Ukrainian authorities face accusations of using the draft as a political weapon (www.politico.eu)
France and Italy denounced by European Commission for overspending (www.politico.eu)
Scotland’s independence warriors could be the UK election’s biggest losers (www.politico.eu)
US unveils $1.5B in new energy, humanitarian aid for Ukraine (www.politico.eu)
France will send Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine, Macron says (www.politico.eu)
President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that France would send Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine, in what would appear to be a significant increase in his country’s direct military support to Kyiv....
Spain to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel (www.politico.eu)
The EU has largely remained silent on the case before the International Court of Justice....
A $50B US-EU deal for Ukraine is in sight (www.politico.eu)
G7 nations are coalescing around a plan to use frozen Russian assets to secure an enormous loan....
Georgia president vetoes ‘foreign agent’ law (www.politico.eu)
Governing Georgian Dream party can still force the controversial legislation through parliament....
‘We can be on the path to the EU or to Belarus’: Political thug culture grips Georgia (www.politico.eu)
Intimidation is becoming a feature of daily life, even before a controversial new Kremlin-style law takes effect....
Georgia defies EU and backs law targeting ‘foreign agents’ (www.politico.eu)
Brussels warns new curbs on civil society flout “European values” as protests grow in Tbilisi....
EU prosecutors threaten to sue Commission in spending spat (www.politico.eu)
European Public Prosecutor’s Office says budget move means it may no longer be able to focus on its investigative operations....
UK announces £75B defense boost — and challenges Europe to follow suit (www.politico.eu)
Move will see Britain spend 2.5 percent of GDP on defense by end of the decade as Downing Street urges ‘other major European NATO economies to follow.’...
Iran’s imprisonment of EU diplomat reveals new era of hostage diplomacy (www.politico.eu)
Johan Floderus, an EU diplomat, has spent two years in an Iranian prison....
Brussels venue withdraws from Orbán conference (www.politico.eu)
Concert Noble will no longer host NatCon conference next week....
EU gears up to sue Germany if it doesn’t change divisive gas tax (www.politico.eu)
Germany’s neighbors say the measure is harming EU unity and hindering their efforts to ditch Russian energy....
Russia’s migrants and ethnic minorities shiver at new Putin terror crackdown (www.politico.eu)
After deadly Moscow terror attack, authorities have targeted vulnerable scapegoats....
Protests begin in Georgia against ‘Russian law’ (www.politico.eu)
The demonstrations come amid a growing row between Georgia and the EU over its proposed “foreign agent” bill....
Intensive pig farming hogs scarce water in drought-hit Catalonia (www.politico.eu)
Europe’s top pork-producing region is ground zero for intensive systems that devour scarce water and cause nitrate pollution....