The new European Commission has entered its first week in office for a five-year mandate until 2029. From geopolitical tensions to internal challenges such as economic weakness, declining competitiveness and tackling illegal immigration, the EU executive’s new leadership team will have to navigate a tough road ahead.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius visited Moldova on Friday against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine. Moldova has been a candidate for EU membership since June 2022. However, Russia still has considerable influence in the country.
More than two years into Moscow’s war against its neighbour, Ukraine, Kiev’s troops are struggling to hold back the Russian army as Western deliveries of weapons have faltered.
A photomontage claiming to be a recruitment poster for the Polish army has been circulating on social media in several languages, including in Polish. It says that “Poland is the shield of Europe” and uses an image of Yevgeny Prigozhin — the late leader of the Russian mercenary group Wagner — to invite Poles to “protect Europe from Russia’s folly”. But AFP was able to locate the original photo, which in fact shows a bank advertisement on a tram stop in the southern Polish city of Krakow. Poland’s defence ministry, the city’s public transportation authority and the advertising company involved all denied the existence of a Prigozhin recruitment poster.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urges EU member states and their people to stand united. Police chiefs from 24 European capitals pull together to discuss organised- and cybercrime. Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob and European Commissioner Thierry Breton agree on the importance of nuclear energy in the green transition.