La Roja rises again: But first, Spain has knocked favourites France out of the FIFA World Cup with a convincing 2-0 victory in Dallas, Texas last night. The Spanish side will now face either Argentina or England in the final on Sunday. If you missed it, Christina Thykjaer has this post-match review from Madrid.
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Just in: Cyprus’ EU affairs minister Marilena Raouna has just weighed in on the dispute over the EU’s naming of Raffaele Fitto as special representative for Cyprus, an appointment which has been rejected by the Turkish Cypriot administration in the occupied north. “Reunifying the last divided member state of the EU will not only be transformative for Cyprus, it will also be transformative for the region of the eastern Mediterranean, sending a resounding message for peace and stability when we desperately need it,” she just told Europe Today. Watch.
‘The tide is turning’: Meanwhile, Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Kyiv to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, my colleague Jorge Liboreiro, who’s travelling with the European Commission president, writes in to report.
The situation has drastically changed since von der Leyen’s last visit in late February. Back then, the situation was truly bleak. Ukraine was going through a horrific winter of widespread blackouts caused by Russian attacks. The EU’s €90 billion support loan was firmly blocked by Hungary, and Ukraine’s accession was completely paralysed, with no solution in sight.
Things look vastly different today. Ukraine is launching long-range strikes against Russia’s oil refineries, triggering a painful fuel crisis that’s turning the heat on the war economy. The €90 billion loan is up and running, and the accession process is gaining traction. Just yesterday, Kyiv opened another cluster of negotiations.
“Ukraine has built a strong military momentum. The tide is turning,” von der Leyen said upon arrival. “The EU is fully playing its part, with our €90 billion loan.”
Discussions between the Commission chief and Zelenskyy will have a heavy focus on drones, the unmanned aerial vehicles that dominate the battle in the skies. Zelenskyy has for weeks teased an imminent “drone deal” between Ukraine and the EU, details of which are expected to be revealed on Wednesday. We hear that a key novelty will be the possibility of building and storing drones inside EU territory to then transfer them to Ukraine.
The two leaders will sell it as a win-win: Ukraine will benefit from Europe’s industrial scale, and Europe will tap into Ukraine’s technological ingenuity.
While in Kyiv, von der Leyen will also receive the newly created Order of Europe from Zelenskyy. The award recognises those who work to defend Ukraine’s right as a sovereign nation and advance its path to EU membership.
Keep an eye out on any comments about enlargement as the Commission prepares reforms to make sure the new wave of member states becomes a reality.
Ukraine wartime reshuffle: The visit also comes as Ukraine’s government reshuffle sees Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko removed after just a year in post, dissolving her cabinet and setting off a fresh search for a replacement, my colleague Sasha Vakulina reports. The most politically sensitive decision now is whether Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov is left in place or is also let go barely six months into his tenure.
The prospect of Fedorov’s removal is already drawing critical reactions. Despite not being a very public figure, Fedorov is widely praised within the military and among civil society for his reform‑minded, low‑profile management style. Questions are being raised about who could credibly replace him at a moment when Ukrainian forces have intensified their successful campaign to isolate Crimea from Russian control and ground lines of communication. Ukrainian troops have hit more than 100 Russian vessels in the Sea of Azov in eight days, opening up a new front in the campaign to choke Moscow’s logistics in the Ukrainian peninsula.
Meanwhile, in Brussels: ambassadors will meet again this morning for yet another attempt to agree on the 21st package of sanctions against Russia, pushing the talks to the very wire before the oil price cap is automatically revised upward. Zelenskyy has warned that “every day of delay in sanctions decisions” gives Moscow more time to prepare for deadly airstrikes.
Gibraltar border fence to disappear: An agreement between the EU and UK on Gibraltar, signed in Brussels on Tuesday, paves the way for the border fence that has separated Gibraltar from Spain for more than a hundred years to be demolished, and border checks that have become a regular feature of citizens’ lives to be removed.
The arrangements for the British Overseas Territory became uncertain after Brexit, which a staggering 96% of Gibraltar’s population voted against. Negotiations between the EU, the UK, Gibraltar and Spain finally yielded results in April with a new pact that governs the movement of people and goods. That agreement enters into force provisionally today, pending final approval by the European and UK parliaments.
Speaking to journalists in Brussels on Tuesday, Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said the deal opens “a new period in the bilateral relationship between Spain and the United Kingdom” and provides the “last missing peace” to close Brexit – adding that it also paves the way towards a new era in EU-UK relations.
But he also added that the pact doesn’t change Spain’s claim to sovereignty over Gibraltar “a single bit”. “We guarantee and protect our claim to sovereignty (over Gibraltar),” he said.
In response, Gibraltar’s Chief Minister Fabián Picardo instead called for the focus to be on “all of the other issues that we agree on”, saying the new agreement will benefit citizens and ensure that “where there was a fence, there is now fluidity”.
Taliban talks: My colleague Vincenzo Genovese also reports that European Commissioner for Home Affairs Magnus Brunner privately revealed details of a visit by a Taliban delegation to Brussels last month. In a closed-door meeting with EU lawmakers, Brunner revealed that Commission officials met the Taliban representatives in the area of Zaventem, close to Brussels airport, and that the Taliban had asked for the reopening of consular services in Europe in return for accepting irregular Afghan migrants.
Hungary risks missing early Erasmus+ return despite EU promises
Hungary is running out of time to secure its students’ participation in the EU’s Erasmus+ exchange programme, despite earlier assurances from Prime Minister Péter Magyar and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen that the process would be completed on schedule, our correspondent Sandor Zsiros reports.
Following Magyar’s election victory in April, both the new Hungarian government and the Commission signalled their willingness to readmit Hungarian students to the scheme from the start of the next academic year in September. But without immediate administrative action from Budapest, the Commission will not be able to lift the suspension in time.
“As early as the next academic year – good news – Hungarian students can also be part of the Erasmus community again,” von der Leyen said in May, when striking a political deal with Magyar to unblock €16.4 billion in previously frozen EU funds for Hungary.
A large share of Hungarian universities was excluded from the programme in 2022 after Brussels suspended funding for 21 institutions run by government-linked public interest trusts, citing rule-of-law and transparency concerns.
Read Sandor’s full story.
More from our newsrooms
Spanish PM’s brother banned from public office for nine years for misconduct. David Sánchez, a composer and orchestra director whose career has included training and stops in Saint Petersburg, Toulouse, Tokyo and Madrid, was tried with 10 other defendants. Cristian Caraballo and Gavin Blackburn have the details.
Euronews explains: can Hungary’s PM Magyar really remove president Sulyok from office? Hungary’s parliament has approved a constitutional amendment to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office, with Prime Minister Péter Magyar accusing him of being Orbán’s puppet. But he refuses to resign and argues the move is unconstitutional. What happens next? Our correspondent Sándor Zsiros explains.
National sovereignty equals ‘sending gifts to US and China’, former Italian PM Letta tells Euronews. The former Italian prime minister tells Euronews that, to be able to compete with Washington and Beijing, the EU must keep a united front, adding that “the true battle is for European sovereignty”. Watch the full interview.
Several reported dead after fire in lift shaft of Brussels construction site. Local media reports say firefighters initially brought the blaze under control, but flames spread into a lift shaft, sparking a second fire and trapping people inside. Simon Ormiston and Evelyn Ann-Marie Dom have more.
We’re also keeping an eye on
- EU-India trade and technology council takes place in Brussels
- NATO deputy secretary-general to brief MEPs on the Ankara summit at 14.30.
- EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas travels to Ethiopia.
- European Commission Executive Vice-President Teresa Ribera attends the EU Day for Victims of the Global Climate Crisis Monument Commemoration in Brussels at 18.30.
That’s it for today. Jorge Liboreiro, Angela Skujins, Sasha Vakulina and VIncenzo Genovese contributed to this newsletter.
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