World News by Wild Rose

EU leaders locked horns on Thursday over the bloc’s next long-term budget as they kicked off talks in Brussels under pressure to seal a deal before several high-stakes elections next year, most crucially in France. The 27-nation European Union wants an agreement by Christmas, worried that any future deal-making will be derailed by potential Eurosceptic wins across the bloc, including in France where the far-right’s Marine Le Pen is favoured in opinion polls. “We are facing very, very difficult...

European Union leaders ⁠will clash on Thursday ​over the size of bloc's next long-term budget, its sources of revenue and spending priorities, with no immediate deal ​in sight. The budget also covers help for Kyiv. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky will be joining the meeting on Friday in a bid to rally support amid fresh tension with US President Donald Trump. FRANCE 24's Europe Editor Armen Georgian reports from Brussels, Belgium.

EU leaders on Thursday head for their biggest clash yet over the bloc's next long-term budget, as they race to lock in a deal before next year's French presidential election. The 27-nation European Union wants an agreement by Christmas, worried that any future dealmaking will be derailed by potential eurosceptic wins in polls taking place across the bloc -- most crucially in key power France. FRANCE 24's Dave Keating reports from Brussels, Belgium.

EU leaders head to a summit on Thursday seeking a deal on the bloc’s nearly €2 trillion budget for 2028-2034 by Christmas amid deep divisions over spending and fears that upcoming elections, particularly in France, could strengthen eurosceptic forces.

EU leaders head to a summit on Thursday seeking a deal on the bloc’s nearly €2 trillion budget for 2028-2034 by Christmas, amid deep divisions over spending and fears that upcoming elections, particularly in France, could strengthen eurosceptic forces.

European Union bank bosses watching Wall Street rivals reap the benefits of US President Donald Trump’s deregulation drive can expect the EU to find ways to deliver some rule relief as soon as next year, according to the head of the bloc’s banking regulator.

The European Union will on Tuesday open new negotiation chapters with Ukraine, an essential step in Kyiv’s long path to join the bloc. Ukrainian lawmakers on Monday passed legislation protecting the rights of national minorities, which removes a major hurdle in Kyiv’s bid for membership. The status of the Hungarian-speaking minority in western Ukraine had long caused tensions with Budapest and Hungary had blocked Ukraine’s EU membership bid, officially submitted days after Russia’s full-scale...

The EU also announced that it officially added almost 1,600 new sanctions on Russia's military industrial complex.

Claim marks the first time a UK prime minister has publicly acknowledged Russia's interference in the vote to leave EU.

Britain’s Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said the UK is “clear” there was Russian interference in the Brexit referendum. He said that when he entered No 10 Downing Street a few months ago, he had asked whether Moscow interfered in the 2016 vote on whether to leave the EU and was given “the clear answer that yes there was”. The prime minister said he believes it is important to put this “clearly on the record” to help voters in Germany and France understand that “some of this politics is...

Another day, another hardline statement from the European Union. This week, the European Parliament voted by a landslide for a significantly tougher China position, despite long-standing Beijing lobbying. The report labels China a “decisive enabler” of Russia, calls for a “continuous” European naval presence and joint exercises in and around the Taiwan Strait, and describes Beijing’s industrial policy as an “existential threat to the EU”. “[T]his parliament can send a clear message: no more...

Bosnian Serb nationalist politician Milorad Dodik has declared victory for his party in an election in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday that was shaped by economic pressures, the prospect of the Balkan nation joining the European Union and ethnic tensions that have divided the country since its brutal 1992–95 war. Dodik is a staunchly pro-Russia politician who, despite not appearing on the ballot, has dominated the campaign and inflamed divisions with separatist rhetoric that have sparked fears...

The European Union on Friday pushed back against a US threat to ban any diesel exports unless the 28-member bloc releases more of its fuel stocks, “fully” rejecting the move, an EU official said.  

EU migration pact improvements face criticism for insufficient tools to manage large-scale migration emergencies.

Amid global tumult, the two countries alliance is not the only unlikely pairing.

The EU said Wednesday it was up to London to chart a way forward for Britain's relations with the bloc, after Prime Minister Andy Burnham put the idea of rejoining on the table. Burnham reopened the divisive Brexit debate Wednesday by saying his centre-left Labour government could go "all the way" and propose membership of the bloc, once it has weighed the "pros and cons" of different possible relationships with Europe. For the European perspective, FRANCE 24's Dave Keating reports from Brussels.

Andy Burnham put the idea of Britain rejoining the EU on the table Wednesday, breaking a taboo for a UK prime minister and reopening the divisive Brexit debate. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Monte Francis, Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Law at the University of Cambridge, says that Burnham "is sending the message that actually it's been pretty cold being on the outside of the EU so we're now looking at the alternatives".

Andy Burnham put the idea of Britain rejoining the EU on the table Wednesday, breaking a taboo for a UK prime minister and reopening the divisive Brexit debate. Speaking with FRANCE 24's Monte Francis, Catherine Barnard, Professor of European Law at the University of Cambridge, says that Burnham "is sending the message that actually it's been pretty cold being on the outside of the EU so we're now looking at the alternatives".

The European Union would embrace the UK if it ever decided to rejoin the bloc, the leaders of Spain and France said shortly after new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham floated the possibility. “Welcome back,” French President Emmanuel Macron quipped in English, speaking Wednesday in Madrid alongside Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who is hosting the leader on a two-day visit. “This prime minister is moving in that direction,” Macron added. “I think it’s very good news both for his country and for the...

If you want to understand how Washington exercises power in the world, watch what it does when its closest allies try to deepen ties with each other. When EU chief Ursula von der Leyen proposed making Canada the European Union’s first-ever “associate member”, US President Donald Trump’s response was swift and blunt: “If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe, on many things.” He called the idea “laughable” and Canada –...

The European Union on Friday said it will pursue a €120 million fine against the X social network after the US Justice Department said it supported the efforts of X owner Elon Musk to have the case annulled. The bloc fined the platform in 2025 for breaching EU online transparency rules, notably with its pay-to-play blue "verification" checkmark. 

The EU has gone through seven waves of enlargement since 1973, but there has not been one since Croatia joined in 2013. Indeed, there are not likely to be any new members in the club before 2028 – some 15 years after Croatia entered. But 2026 undeniably has momentum, and is on track to be a record year in terms of opening and closing new chapters for existing applicants. That is why our guest, EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, sees this as "the year of the enlargement."

European Union member countries ⁠have agreed a ⁠deal to release €6.6 billion (US$7.5 billion) in EU funds linked to military aid for Ukraine, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Friday. The money will ‌come from the European Peace Facility, a fund used by EU members to finance military aid to countries outside the bloc. It also refunds EU governments for military aid they have provided. Of the released funds, €900 million will ⁠go to the EU’s military assistance mission for Ukraine and...

The move comes after the EU lifts sanctions on oligarchs following what diplomats described as pressure from Baku.

The Hong Kong government has rejected an annual European Union report alleging that the administration is undermining the city’s fundamental freedoms, calling its claims “unfounded and biased”. The more than 4,500-word statement, issued early on Wednesday morning, followed the publication on Tuesday of the EU’s 2025 annual report on Hong Kong. The report was jointly issued by the European Commission and the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas. It...

EU countries failed Monday to finalise a deal that involved lifting sanctions on Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, Multiple diplomats said earlier that member states had reached a provisional agreement to take the pair off the EU's blacklist as part of a compromise to extend sanctions on almost 3,000 other individuals and entities over the Ukraine war. France 24's Dave Keating has more from Brussels.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Germany to help steer the European Union away from protectionist measures against China, saying that Beijing and Brussels should not engage in trade wars just days before President Xi Jinping’s high-stakes US visit. “China and the EU are comprehensive strategic partners, and a trade war should not be fought between them,” Wang told his German counterpart Johann Wadephul in a phone call on Monday. According to a statement from China’s foreign ministry,...

EU countries failed Monday to reach a final deal that would remove Russian billionaires Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the bloc's sanctions list, with diplomats set to resume talks Tuesday.

Leaders of the EU, Brazil, Canada and Kenya launched a forum with a joint call for UN reform, collective action amidst conflicts

Announcement comes as Canada seeks a closer relationship with the EU amid a trade war with the US.