The Krelim is hoping for a high voter turnout and a convincing United Russia win, expert Filip Scherf explains.
Trump’s joke Greenland deal offers hope for US-EU diplomacyAre there still grown ups in the State Department and White House who not only know the right thing to do, but also how to sell it to the creepy man-baby in the Oval Office?
The Antarctic ozone hole is dissapearing, but scientists warn of risks presented by rising UV levels and patchy monitoring.
The talks will resume on Monday, but the EU-27 agreed there would be no more deadline extensions. “It’s turned into a game of chicken [with France],” an EU diplomat said.
Beijing and Brussels have made demands and counter-demands as talks on their myriad trade disputes hot up. But they could be derailed by a US-China summit in Washington next week.
Polish leader Tusk exposes classified figures on sky-high Ukrainian casualties (Ukraine Battlefield update, Day 1,667)With tens of thousands of Ukrainians reportedly killed or wounded each month, the coming autumn and winter campaign could stretch Ukraine’s manpower, air defences, and battered cities to breaking point.
Brazilian leader Lula da Silva will give the opening speech at the UN in New York on Tuesday morning, in which he will “personally” warn Donald Trump not to interfere in Brazilian elections, before Trump takes the floor.
![Volodymyr Zelensky and Ursula von der Leyen met in Brussels this summer. It is thought that Ukraine spends around $190m [€165m] per day on its military
Source: Dati Bendo / European Commission](https://static.euobserver.com/2026/05/Volodymyr-Zelenskyj-a-Ursula-von-der-Leyen-17-srpna-v-Bruselu-Foto-Dati-Bendo-EC-EU-2400x1600.jpg)
As von der Leyen rushes through billions in new funding for Ukrainian drones, EU diplomats are privately questioning Kyiv’s spiralling deficit, while Belgium continues to block the use of frozen Russian assets — intensifying pressure on Europe to find a way to plug Ukraine’s widening funding gap.
European law gives EU citizens the right to vote in municipal elections, but this does not extend to state or national elections, for which Germany reserves voting rights to German citizens. This results in an odd discrepancy even within a single member state.
While Estonia has prison cells to spare, Sweden’s prisons are full. Stockholm will pay €30.6m annually for the first 300 prisoners it sends to a Tartu prison. The deal has been criticised by both countries.
The EU Kids Act promises to wean children off endless scrolling and late‑night gaming, but privacy advocates and parts of the tech industry warn the EU’s own age‑verification system could open the door to new risks.
Europe is trying to ‘replicate’ Silicon Valley. Is it China that offers the better lesson?The EU wants Europe’s future in European hands, but its flagship scale-up fund leaves the investment strategy to private equity, while China’s more targeted venture capital system may offer some better lessons.
As Romania does not recognise same-sex partnerships, having a partner there is not a basis for residency, according to a European Court of Justice opinion on Thursday.
The revelation of the West Bank expansion plan came the same day European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen condemned the original, smaller scheme in her State of the Union speech in Strasbourg.
A revolution in tech, or another Brussels-bred measure that will fall flat on enforcement? Such has been the debate surrounding the EU’s new social media ban for teens, though it is still pending review by law-making bodies.
EUobserver understands that Ursula von der Leyen did not consult EU governments before making the offer to Canada and there is anxiety in some EU capitals that cosying up to Mark Carney could inflame Donald Trump into re-starting his tariff war with Europe.
Russians trying to capture Dobropillia, before the leaves fall from the trees (Ukraine Battlefield update, Day 1,666)By concentrating three combined-arms armies and key drone units near Dobropillia, Moscow is gambling on a southern encirclement route that could threaten the Kramatorsk–Sloviansk stronghold without launching a frontal assault.
Prime minister Péter Magyar tackles the child protection law, moving to strip the Orban-era conflation of homosexuality with paedophilia from Hungary’s laws.
Just as European courts and regulators are beginning to expose the consequences of a system of algorithmic social scoring, Brussels, with its Digital Omnibus, is considering weakening key safeguards against such automated decision-making on citizens.
With far-right and far-left forces poised to take votes from the Christian Democrats, pressure is building on German chancellor Friedrich Merz. Sunday’s state elections in Berlin and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania could make or break the leader’s prospects of political survival.
