Three months ahead of the EU elections and just two weeks before their grand electoral launch, the EU’s liberals are lagging behind the other political forces and struggling to find their common leaders. Who is in the running?

The proposed reform of the Schengen Borders Code will legalise and expand targeted checks on racialized communities, giving carte blanche to member states to potentially use violence when larger groups of people try crossing their borders, writes Michele LeVoy.

Hungary's government cannot support Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte to become NATO's next secretary-general, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Tuesday (5 March).

French President Emmanuel Macron reiterated on Tuesday (5 March) that all options should be on the table in fighting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, warning, however, that being too transparent on the EU's next steps could hinder hopes for Ukraine’s victory.

Ahead of the EU parliament election in early June, it's currently party congress season.

The European Commission tabled a modest fund on Tuesday (5 March) to start up its first defence production programme and strategy, to increase industrial output, give the sector more visibility, and prepare for potential shortages in crisis times.

EU negotiators reached a deal on Tuesday morning (5 March) on a new regulation aiming to ban products linked to forced labour from the bloc’s market, with potential implications for agricultural and food commodities produced in and outside the bloc. 

EU co-legislators sealed a provisional deal in the early hours of Tuesday (5 March) on rules that will ban forced labour products from the bloc's import and export markets, overturning expectations that the law would fail to pass within the current legislative mandate after months of stalling progress. 

Nuclear technologies should benefit from all types of EU funding, such as the European Investment Bank (EIB) and innovation funds, the French-led nuclear alliance, which now has 12 EU member states, said at its meeting on Monday.

The controversial overhaul of the EU’s packaging waste rules was agreed in Brussels on Monday, paving the way for a 15% reduction in waste, banning plastic sauce cachets and EU-wide bottle deposit schemes.

France, Estonia and Poland are calling on the European Commission and other EU member states to pledge larger sums to Europe's defence industry as the EU executive is set to propose a re-industrialisation strategy for the sector.

Ukrainian sea drones damaged a Russian Black Sea Fleet patrol ship off occupied Crimea, Ukrainian military intelligence said on Tuesday (5 March).

The Council of Europe's press freedom report, released on Tuesday (5 March), underscores the absence of international spyware regulation, disputes over the draft law on online child sexual abuse material, and more.

The European Union has reached a provisional deal on a new law to cut packaging waste and ban single-use plastics, such as supermarket bags for fruit and mini hotel shampoo bottles in hotels, albeit with exemptions for certain sectors.

Israeli forces raided the Palestinian administrative capital of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank overnight, killing a 16-year-old in a refugee camp during their biggest such operation into the city in years, Palestinian sources said on Monday (4 March).

Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council and an ally of President Vladimir Putin, described Ukraine on Monday (4 March) as part of Russia and said what he called historical parts of Russia needed to "come home."

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Finland’s top military official saying European NATO countries must go beyond their 2% pledge, the Kucova NATO airbase officially opening in Albania, and so much more.

France has become the first country in the world to enshrine the right of women to have an abortion in the constitution, following a vote from MPs and senators who met in Congress at the Château de Versailles on Monday.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suffered his first defeats over his legislation to send asylum seekers to Rwanda after the upper house of parliament demanded greater protections to be introduced before deportation flights can take off.

NATO’s Kucova air base in Albania was officially opened on Monday in the presence of key government officials, including Prime Minister Edi Rama, who described it as an important security element for the Western Balkans and the wider region.