A person appearing to be the former Prince Andrew emailed Ghislaine Maxwell asking if she had any 'new inappropriate friends' for him ahead of an official royal visit to Peru. ft.trib.al/CunAjlw

Far-right German politician Ringo Mühlmann has taken a noteworthy interest in exposing information his political opponents say could be of great interest to Russian intelligence.

NATO SecGen Rutte “We should be grateful to Trump for his leadership”. Curious if founding NATO member Denmark appreciates the leadership just as much. 😒

Weber said Europe would one day use frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine, even though leaders failed to agree to do so at last week’s summit 💪

Two days before the summit, Hungary had signalled to the European Commission that while it was opposed to joint debt for Ukraine, it could agree to borrowing against the budget if Budapest was exempt from repaying it, two officials told the FT

“They [The Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia] don’t have to pay — but we will make them pay for it [politically],” said a senior European official

According to renowned Belgian economist Paul de Grauwe, the Belgian government's reservations about using frozen Russian assets to help Ukraine are greatly exaggerated. The expert stated in the newspaper De Morgen & also on Flemish public TV that the risk that Russia will claim his money… 2/1

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😱 Viktor Orbán is concerned about Hungarian foreign exchange reserves held in Brussels: “What will happen if Brussels decides to take away Hungary’s foreign exchange reserves?”, he told his propagandists on the airplane to Brussels 1/2

A recent poll shows that the Tisza Party of @eppgroup.bsky.social has an 8% point lead over Fidesz among the entire population, and an 11% point lead among those who are likely to vote. According to analysts, this is a difficult lead to overcome before the April elections #21Kutatóközpont

An agreement to rejoin Erasmus – the EU’s student exchange programme – set to be announced on Wednesday as part of UK government’s drive towards closer relations with Brussels👏 www.theguardian.com/world/2025/d...

Over the course of the gala, a club member struck an attendee in the face outside on the sidewalk, President Donald Trump was endorsed for a third term and a protester wearing a Nazi armband and waving a swastika-laden banner popped up from his seat to shout, “I guess we’re all Nazis!”

The European Democratic Party asks @ec.europa.eu to clarify which EU-funded programmes and resources have been used in the areas of juvenile detention or correctional institutions in Hungary, and whether the safeguards currently in place are sufficient in light of the “systemic” nature of the abuses

Despite the intensity of the Trump criticism, the ongoing peace talks in 🇺🇦 have complicated the response given Kyiv’s fate is largely dependent on maintaining a working relationship with the US. It has forced the EU to believe it needs to absorb criticism rather than hit back, for Zelenskyy’s sake

Talks between the US & Ukrainian officials explored the creation of a US-Russia reconstruction fund for Ukraine. Russian sovereign assets would be placed into the fund, with the EU expected to contribute €100 billion. 🇺🇸 and 🇷🇺 would jointly “decide the destiny of Russian assets,” @euractiv.com writes

Just sent out this piece. The whole idea that Trump's sanctions on Russian oil were meant to hurt Putin is collapsing on all fronts. Indian and Chinese purchases are up and there are no secondary sanctions to be found. open.substack.com/pub/phillips...

How much of a dirty word "Viktor Orbán" has become: yesterday, in London, the Belgian prime minister indignantly reproached the international press for calling him a "Russian spy" and "the second Viktor Orbán" because of his opposition to the use of frozen Russian assets 🤦‍♂️ @vrtnws.be

Silicon Valley’s Authoritarian Tech Right is not theorizing this world. They are already building it. The pipelines are operational. The feedback loops are functioning. The sovereignty transfers are completing. A MUST READ 👇

🫡 US backing would also mean that President Donald Trump could order Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who has so far held up Ukraine’s accession process, to drop his veto and allow Kyiv to start progressing through the political approval process

#Hungary: IPI welcomes the launching of legal action by the European Commission against Hungary over its systematic violation of new rules set out in the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), echoing findings of a recent IPI & MJRC report. Full statement👇 buff.ly/vj9nArH

🥇Hungary is first again: The very first infringement case ever launched under the new European Media Act targets Budapest. From press freedom and source protection to public media and state ads, the Commission says Hungary breaks the rules across the board.

Krasznahorkai László

Criminals, when they band together ⛓️

‼️EU countries are to fast-track a decision to indefinitely immobilise up to €210bn in Russian sovereign assets, in an attempt to bypass Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán even before Europe’s leaders meet for a summit next week

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It's hard to decide who is the bigger liar 🤥

Diplomats fear the division of Gaza could become entrenched, as US and Israeli officials entertain a plan for reconstruction in the Israeli-controlled half of the territory, leaving the needs of the vast majority of Gaza’s 2mn inhabitants unaddressed.

If you want to read, watch, or listen to something this week, make it László Krasznahorkai's Nobel Prize Lecture in Stockholm: #hope #angels #dignity #rebellion

‼️ A large business delegation is traveling to Moscow in the coming days, Viktor Orbán announced, adding that Hungary is preparing for the post-war period.

Breaking: After contentious debates and three failed attempts at a vote, a federal vaccine committee decided on Friday to end the decades-long recommendation that all newborns be immunized at birth against hepatitis B. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/05/h...

The new US national strategy lauds the growing political influence of Eurosceptic far-right parties. “America encourages its political allies in Europe to promote this revival of spirit, and the growing influence of patriotic European parties indeed gives cause for great optimism".

Orbán's veto threats are forcing the EU to operate with legal formulas whose outcome is uncertain, as revealed in the FT. But there are limits to legal wrangling. It is becoming increasingly clear that a systemic solution is needed to counter the threats from Orbán & his ilk. Will the EU get there?

Fico stopped short of confirming that his gov’t will join #Hungary in challenging the EU’s plan to phase out🇷🇺gas imports by 2027, despite Budapest’s claim that a joint lawsuit at the @eucourtofjustice.bsky.social is underway. He said only that Bratislava has “sufficient grounds” to sue @euractiv.com

A new Cluster 17 poll across 9 countries — France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium & the Netherlands — shows 69% of respondents believe their country couldn’t defend itself against a Russian attack. In 🇵🇹, 🇮🇹 and 🇧🇪that anxiety breaks through the 80% mark, @politico.eu writes

EU negotiators clinched a landmark deal early on Wednesday to phase out Russian gas by September 2027. The agreement bans Russian LNG from January 2027 and pipeline gas by the end of that September, with spot purchases ending as early as spring 2026, @euractiv.com reports

🎭Hungary’s pro-government media is celebrating the arrest of former EEAS officials as proof of “EU corruption.” Yet the investigation was initiated by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the very body the Orbán government dismisses as useless, as one of its officials recently stated in the EP…

🚨 BREAKING: Former EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and top diplomat Stefano Sannino are in custody after Belgian police launched raids as part of a fraud probe. Read the story: politi.co/4pORFPb

When negotiating from a weakened position, a country often faces a tragic choice: fight on in hopes of a better deal or accept punishing losses now & risk internal turmoil. Leaders often continue fighting long after defeat seems likely hoping to stave off blame at home.

Euroclear warns plan for a Ukraine loan raised from Russian frozen assets “will lead to a sustained increase in European sovereign bond spreads, raising borrowing costs for all member states” in letter to @vonderleyen.ec.europa.eu seen by @bmoens.bsky.social & @lauramdubois.ft.com on.ft.com/3M4lRHg

This has to be 1st ever gov-sponsored campaign in history of EU in which an EUMS gov proactively promotes violation of a @eucourtofjustice.bsky.social ruling & non-payment of a daily penalty payment ordered by the CJEU Time to clawback EU funds & return to the CJEU @michaelmcgratheu.bsky.social

I never thought Witkoff's bumbling idiocy was anything more than its face value, the sign of a mediocre man operating way out of his depth and with a feeling of impunity, but these latest revelations really underline how bad he is. They also prompt the question of who recorded and leaked the call.

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🗳️Again, a 2/3 majority backed the report condemning the Orbán government’s rule-of-law violations in the EP: 415 in favour, 193 against, 28 abstentions. As the abstentions aren’t counted in the tally, the 2/3 majority stands, just as it did 7 years ago with the @judithsargentini.bsky.social report

Even if the US drastically amended the plan to better protect Ukraine’s interests, “Europeans now have the experience that we can’t rely on America, which is new since the end of the Second World War,” said Norbert Röttgen, a senior German MP, adding: “This is now a new world we are living in.”

‼️The EP’s debate on Hungary’s rule of law is about to start with a “perfectly balanced” speaker lineup: 14 from the far right/populists (PfE, ESN + 3 NI linked to Fico’s camp & a LUX radical party) and 14 from the progressive side — even though the far right is nowhere near half of the Parliament 🤭

Do I understand correctly that there is now a dispute within the administration about whether this "peace plan" was written by Russians or Americans?

Ukraine has no choice but to engage with US peace plan on.ft.com/49CcTL8

Interestingly, in the EU Council, the government is trying to wash its hands of the draft law on the so called sovereignty protection, claiming that it was not submitted by the government, but was a motion by an individual representative. Come on! This is standard practice 🫤

The Kyiv ultimatum, coupled with Trump’s comments that Ukraine would “have to like” Washington’s deal, prompted late-night discussions among European leaders gathered for the G20 meeting in Johannesburg about how to intervene “It is time for the Trump whisperers to start shouting” said one official