US Secretary of State Antony Blinken sent a letter over the weekend to the Greek government greenlighting the purchase of up to 40 F-35 fighter jets as well as some “gifts” of military equipment no longer needed by US armed forces.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced the danger of the Ukraine conflict escalating into World War Three, as he pressed his case for support from nations from Germany to the United States in an interview with German state broadcaster ARD on Sunday (28 January).

Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government is sending a specially commissioned envoy to explain the government’s actions in the area of the rule of law to the EU institutions, but the envoy, who in past claimed vaccines against COVID-19 were biological weapons, is sparking controversy.

International ultraconservative organisations influenced the Czech lawmakers’ decision to reject the Istanbul Convention on Wednesday, Czech law analysts warned, adding that the decision was accompanied by a disinformation campaign.

The opposition, who marched on Friday in protest of the election results, is calling to annul last month’s national elections, claiming numerous irregularities, and calling for an independent investigation by relevant authorities.

If Bosnia and Herzegovina does not open accession negotiations in March, not only will it lose the whole of 2024 on the way to the EU, but it may also never get the chance to negotiate membership again, Croatian MEP Željana Zovko warned in an interview with Euractiv.

Household loans may need to be tightened based on this year’s first-quarter results, Bulgarian National Bank Governor Dimitar Radev said on Sunday as his country tries to curb inflation to meet its last remaining condition to join the eurozone in 2025.

The leader of the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS, ECR) party, Jarosław Kaczyński, compared the actions of Donald Tusk’s new government to those of Hitler at a party rally in the central Polish city of Lublin.

The two favourites in the Finnish presidential elections, former centre-right prime minister Alexander Stubbs and former Green foreign minister Pekka Haavisto will go to a second round on 11 February, while EU commissioner Jutta Urpilainen crashed out with just 4.4%, blaming her defeat in part on the European Commission's rules on the candidacy of commissioners.

The EU and its member states can and must jointly do more for animal welfare. This is the clear message the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council wants to convey by organising  a one-day conference dedicated to our treatment of animals, write Stella Kyriakides, Ben Weyt, Celine Tellie and Bernard Clerfay.

A fierce debate is raging in Czechia about whether the country should retain or end the so-called protected distribution channel, which obliges pharmaceutical manufacturers to supply selected suppliers with medicines.

A leaked European Commission paper on “industrial carbon management”, to be published on 6 February, lays the groundwork for captured carbon dioxide to be “recycled” in chemical processes or used as maritime and jet fuel, while accounting for non-emitted CO2 in the bloc’s carbon market.

Italian left-wing opposition party PD will hold a ‘pro-press freedom’ sit-in outside the headquarters of national public broadcaster RAI, announced party leader Elly Schlein, over Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s alleged monopolisation of state TV for campaigning ahead of June’s EU elections.

German, Polish, Romanian, and French farmers were joined in their protests by Belgian farmers on Friday and throughout the weekend, with demands similar to those of their European peers.

The Austrian government has appointed the president of the country’s federal administrative court, a candidate ranked third by an expert selection committee, following 400 days of political back-and-forth.

France’s main farming unions called to blockade the capital and strategic points in the region on Monday, following the prime minister’s latest proposals, which they deemed insufficient, leading to an emergency meeting at the Interior Ministry on Sunday evening to prevent a possible ‘siege of Paris’.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said on Sunday (28 January) that he has proposed the signing of a non-aggression pact to Azerbaijan, pending a comprehensive peace treaty between the arch-foe Caucasus neighbours.

France will freeze all funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) for at least the first half of 2024 after Israel accused some of the organisation’s members of being involved in the 7 October Hamas terrorist attacks, the French Foreign Ministry announced in a press release.

EU leaders are gearing up to push ahead with a €50 billion support package this week, with or without Hungary. But many in Brussels realise the step could come at a higher cost than money and time.

The German liberal FDP and social democrat SPD gathered on Sunday to pass their programmes for the upcoming EU election, as both parties try to mobilise voters against declining poll ratings.