The closer a country is to Russia, the more likely its people are to see the Kremlin as a top threat to Europe. However, that doesn't mean the EU is viewed as a savior. That's the takeaway from a new multi-country survey conducted by YouGov in seven EU countries. /1

Former PM Andrej Babiš wants to cancel Prague’s ammunition initiative. He claims it costs too much taxpayer money. However, Prague’s government and experts argue that canceling the program would harm 🇨🇿’s reputation – and jeopardize supplies for Kyiv. Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/czec...

“Why are we interested in what Russia thinks about Ukraine?” Mark Rutte asked at IISS Prague Defence Summit. The NATO Sec Gen added it’s not up to Russia to decide if Western troops can be sent to Ukraine as part of any peace deal ending the war. Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/nato...

Donald Trump said he got “very angry” after Ukraine damaged a Russian oil pipeline that supplies his friend, Hungary's PM Orbán. “Viktor — I do not like hearing this," Trump wrote to Orbán. “You are my great friend.” Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/dona...

Although Slovak PM Robert Fico promised “not a single bullet” to Ukraine, Slovakia’s weapons industry is sending arms to the frontline en masse. In 2024, Slovakia's arms exports grew to €1.15 billion – 10x the amount before 2022. Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/slov...

European countries are lining up for NATO's new program that pays the U.S. for weapons to be sent to Ukraine. On Monday, the Netherlands pledged €500 million, and then today, Denmark, Sweden and Norway announced a joint package of similar value. Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/neth...

More than 70 MEPs will attend Budapest Pride on Saturday, despite the 🇭🇺 govt's claim that the event is illegal. However, organizers found a legal loophole, rendering PM Viktor Orbán's efforts to ban the LGBTQ event ineffective. Read here w/ @maxgriera.bsky.social : www.politico.eu/article/orba...

Canada signed a major defense deal with the EU, with the aim to shift Canada's security relationship away from the U.S. and to allow Ottawa to take part in new European defense spending programs. Our reporting with Yurii Stasiuk and @jacopobarigazzi.bsky.social: www.politico.eu/article/cana...

Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz submitted a bill to parliament on Wednesday, which would start to blacklist organizations receiving foreign funding, including from EU grants, if it deems them a “threat” to national sovereignty. Read @elenagiordano.bsky.social ’s reporting: www.politico.eu/article/vikt...

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy is traveling to Turkey to negotiate with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, his chief of staff said at #cds2025 Andriy Yermak added that if Putin refuses to come, it will be "the last signal" that Russia "doesn't want to end the war": www.politico.eu/article/ukra...

Checking in from Denmark, where I'll be reporting with my colleagues from the Copenhagen Democracy Summit. Let me know if you're in the area to catch up - and follow @politico.eu for our coverage!

Ukrainian security services arrested two Ukrainian nationals it said were working for Hungarian military intel near the 🇭🇺–🇺🇦 border. “Agents were also searching for weak spots in land and air defense” in western Ukraine, security services allege: www.politico.eu/article/ukra...

Military spending surged last year in ways unseen since the Cold War, and Germany is by far the largest defense spender in Western Europe, @sipri.org study says. But even Berlin's spending boost falls short of what Russia is pouring into its military. Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/germ...

Budapest has opened the door to using AI facial recognition to identify LGBTQ+ protestors. Now, the EU is looking into whether Hungary’s plan is illegal. Read more in our story with Pieter here:

After nine months on the Breaking News desk, I joined @politico.eu’s Defense team this week. Follow us with @laukaya.bsky.social and @jacopobarigazzi.bsky.social for the latest scoops in this booming field!

Viktor Orbán's Hungary is now the first country in the EU to ban Pride marches. His party says they want to keep children safe from LGBTQ+ agenda, opponents say it's just a 'dog’s toy' – but organizers fear whether Hungary is still a democracy. Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/orba...

Brussels reacted warmly to the results of a poll showing interest among Canadians in joining the European Union — before clarifying that the idea is a nonstarter.

Today at 17:30 CET, Andrew Tate and his brother arrived in Florida after being released from Romania. Florida Governor DeSantis and President Trump said they didn’t know about the release of the Tate brothers - despite earlier press reports claiming the US pressured Bucharest on the case:

In 1997, Hungary was the first country in the former Eastern Bloc where a Pride march was held, marking the country's pioneering role in LGBTQ+ rights. Now, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán wants Hungary to be the first EU country to ban Pride in public. Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/hung...

🚨 BREAKING: Romania’s pro-Russia presidential election front-runner Călin Georgescu has been taken in by police for questioning. Read the developing story: ow.ly/1CgL50V6MXb

French far-right leader Jordan Bardella cancels speech on CPAC in Washington after Steve Bannon gave a gesture resembling a Nazi salute. Bannon’s quick response: Bardella is “a little boy, not a man”, and he’s unworthy of leading France. Read here: www.politico.eu/article/fran...

Russia wants to declare “victory” in its war against Ukraine — even against NATO — on Feb. 24, Kyiv’s military intelligence claims. They say the Kremlin instructed its propagandists to discredit 🇺🇦’s EU partners aiming to help Kyiv as “enemies of peace.” Read here: www.politico.eu/article/war-...

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the military to carry out an “intensive operation” in the West Bank after explosions on buses near Tel Aviv yesterday.

Germany’s Federal Court of Justice ruled today that German shoe maker Birkenstock’s world-famous sandals can’t be considered “works of art” that enjoy copyright protection.

Former Spanish football chief Luis Rubiales has been found guilty of a crime of sexual assault after forcibly kissing footballer Jenni Hermoso.

“Your Excellency, @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu, I don’t mean to be impolite, but I’ll say this to you: The issue of reparations for the enslavement of African peoples is an issue we will take up with you,” outgoing chairman of Caribbean Community said. Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/cari...

Europeans can barely find words to respond to Donald Trump, who blames Ukraine for the war Russia is waging against it. One British government aide simply said: "Jesus." Read more here w/ @elenagiordano.bsky.social @noahkeate.bsky.social @stefanboscia.bsky.social : www.politico.eu/article/dona...

The bilateral talks between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov "went well," according to Vladimir Putin's top aide: "There was a very serious conversation on all the issues we wanted to raise," including the war in Ukraine. Read more here:

Ukraine has a sovereign right to join the EU, but this “sovereignty” does not apply to military alliances, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said.

“That’s what we’ve been waiting for,” Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán comments on talks between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. “If I were to comment on it in one word, I would say ‘Hallelujah.’” Read more here:

Political crisis in Austria🇦🇹 deepens as the far right FPÖ didn't get what it wanted: securing the key posts of interior and finance in a coalition with ÖVP. Mainstream parties may try again to come together, after their first attempt failed miserably. Read more here: www.politico.eu/article/aust...

"Everything the AfD represents today would be very good for Hungary," PM Viktor Orbán said after meeting Alice Weidel in Budapest. The AfD leader wants to join forces with Orbán to dismantle EU from within, and build her reputation. Reporting with Nette Nöstlinger: www.politico.eu/article/alte...

Top minister in charge of Viktor Orbán's office said Hungary could withdraw from @who.int — "If the most powerful country in the world decides to leave an international organization, then I think the Hungarian govt should also consider taking such a step." Read more: www.politico.eu/article/hung...

Sniff! Colombia's president says cocaine is being used as a scapegoat, even though it is "no worse than whiskey." Moreover, coke should be legalized and "sold like wine" — to combat drug trafficking crime. Read here: www.politico.eu/article/colo...

Hungary's PM Viktor Orbán on sanctions against Russia: * if EU imposes them = 👿 * if Trump threatens to impose them = 😇 Beside that, he also made a performative threat about lifting sanctions if @ec.europa.eu fails to fulfill their energy security guarantees. Read: www.politico.eu/article/hung...

Senior NATO official James Appathurai tells European Parliament about Kremlin threats to Europe — and confirms on the record that there was a plot to kill the CEO of Rheinmetall. Appathurai echoed NATO Sec Gen Mark Rutte that it's time to shift to a “wartime mindset”: www.politico.eu/article/nato...

József Szájer, standing in front of his relic. The ex-MEP was in the limelight for 30 years, but resigned in 2020 due to a lockdown-busting party described as an “orgy”. He escaped the scene through a window – why? He explained to @politico.eu : www.politico.eu/article/lock...

József Szájer, a Hungarian ex-MEP, disappeared from the spotlight for four years after a scandal the Belgian press described as a lockdown-busting orgy of naked men and drugs. Now he’s back — and wants to clear a few things up. 🔗 www.politico.eu/article/lock...

József Szájer, the Hungarian ex-MEP who fled a 2020 party described by the Belgian press as a lockdown orgy of naked men and drugs, has given me an interview now published on @politico.eu. Szájer was one of the founders & key members of Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party. /1

🚨 Meta announces huge changes to its content moderation approach — but they told us those WON'T be rolled out in the EU immediately. Company will review its EU content moderation obligations in the EU before making changes. More here, w/ @krmcsngr.bsky.social www.politico.eu/article/mark...

Polish PM @donald-tusk.bsky.social compares Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to Aleksandr Lukashenko, as 🇭🇺 grants political asylum to former Polish Deputy Justice Minister. Warsaw’s FM summoned Hungary’s ambassador, calling the step a hostile insult. Read all about it here: www.politico.eu/article/vikt...

Recently, reports circulated that Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán's associates, accompanied by a Czech partner, would take over Poland's most-watched TV station, TVN, from the debt-ridden Warner Bros. Discovery. Two names were heard: one was József Vida, owner of Hungary's TV2. 1/7

🚨 SCOOP: European lawmakers have written to FIFA President Gianni Infantino to express their "grave concerns" about Saudi Arabia being awarded the 2034 football World Cup. Read the letter here ⬇️

Scrapping an election between two rounds of voting is a massive step to take, but Romania’s Constitutional Court decided it was essential to protect democracy from foreign attack.

🚨 BREAKING: Romania’s top constitutional court has annulled the country’s presidential election, after security services warned the vote had been distorted by a mass Russian influence campaign to favor a far-right candidate.

Update: A spokesperson for the EU’s anti-fraud office — which Hungary’s spy agency allegedly surveilled — told POLITICO it must be able to carry out its work “unimpeded.” “We remain committed to carrying out our mission, with our operational partners.” www.politico.eu/article/hung...

🕵️‍♂️ Searching hotel rooms. Hacking laptops. Wiretapping phones. Hungary’s CIA spied on EU officials visiting the country, an investigation by Direkt36 and De Tijd found. “We are not dealing with fake news reports,” Viktor Orbán’s office told @krmcsngr.bsky.social. www.politico.eu/article/hung...

Two things are certain: death and that Fidesz leads in the polls. That was the formula until this year – but the economic crisis and a pardon issued in a high-profile pedophile scandal have eroded the popularity of Viktor Orbán's party. In the discontent, Péter Magyar has exploded like a bomb.

I'm now in Cluj-Napoca/Kolozsvár for the weekend to follow the turmoil of the elections in #Romania as the electorate will vote on the next parliament tomorrow. Keep an eye on @politico.eu for coverage, and if you're here in the unofficial capital of Transylvania, drop me a line!

Oh hey @politico.eu has a starter pack of reporters and editors to follow to stay up on news involving the European Union and the U.K. (Shameless self-promotion: I'm on here, too.) bsky.app/starter-pack...