Chancellor Scholz did not officially reply to the request, but promised to keep lobbying on behalf of Romania’s Schengen accession by the end of the year.
“I could never complain about those who defend their national interests,” Italian PM Giorgia Meloni said in Warsaw, signaling support for Poland and Hungary’s sovereigntist position after vetoing the Migration Pact last week.
The Ukrainian advocacy group B4Ukraine revealed Western companies’ underlying hypocrisy, with some continuing to make billions even after pledging to leave—while most don’t even intend to—“further enabling Russia’s war of aggression.”
Despite the name, the new international body will not be able to prosecute the crime of aggression but is viewed as the first step toward creating another, Nuremberg-like war tribunal to put the entire Kremlin on the stand.
Spain’s EU Council Presidency was officially launched in Madrid, where both PM Sánchez and Commission President von der Leyen said they’d push through the Migration Pact regardless of Central European objections.
“There can be no sovereignty if you’re a colony,” Republika Srpska President Milorad Dodik said, calling Bosnia’s western supervision illegitimate and announcing a possible referendum on the region’s future, which could rip the country apart.
The rebellious mercenary chief lost six news sites and a $1 billion worth of catering business over the weekend. But even without Wagner, “there is no threat of decreased combat potential” on the front, Moscow claims.
Illegal migrants are getting bolder and more aggressive at the border, but Polish authorities also brace for possible destabilization attempts coming from the 8,000 Wagner fighters relocated in the neighboring Belarus.
The debate lasted all night and the next morning, but despite personal pleas and pressure from leaders of influential member states, Morawiecki and Orbán could not budge on vetoing migrant relocations.
After the objections of Austria, Ireland, and Cyprus, the final text was watered down to respect member states’ neutrality when deciding on EU-wide defense commitments to Ukraine.
The Spanish-Belgian-Hungarian plan for the EU’s next 1.5 years is ambitious but vague, leaving much wriggle room for each of these very different countries’ unique legislative priorities. The long-term direction seems unchanged: more EU in everything.
Poland promises to veto the migrant relocations, Hungary questions Brussels’s extra-budgetary requests, and others keep worrying about the possibility of a resurgent Wagner coming out of Belarus. All in one day.
