‘West as we knew it no longer exists,’ warns von der Leyen – Europe dwell

Finland has prolonged its resolution to shut border crossings with Russia “until further notice” because it stays involved about “the risk of instrumentalised migration continuing from Russia.”

In a press assertion, printed in the previous couple of minutes, the federal government reminded that the crossings have been closed since December 2023.

Explaining the choice, it stated that “instrumentalised migration is one way that Russia can put pressure on and affect the security and social stability of Finland and the EU.”

“Based on information available to the Finnish authorities, the risk that instrumentalised migration will resume and expand as seen previously remains likely. If the phenomenon were to continue, it would pose a serious threat to Finland’s national security and public order,” it added.

The European Fee has once more warned Slovak prime minister Robert Fico in opposition to collaborating within the Russian victory parade on 9 Could in Moscow, saying “it is important not to lend legitimacy” to the occasion given Russia’s persevering with conflict of aggression in opposition to Ukraine.

Earlier this week, Fico publicly clashed with EU’s overseas coverage chief Kaja Kallas after the previous Estonian prime minister stated on Monday that “any participation in the 9 May parades or celebrations in Moscow … will not be taken lightly on the European side, considering that Russia is really waging a full scale war in Europe.”

Fico stated her feedback had been “disrespectful,” and accused her of trying to “blackmail” him.

“Is it a warning that I will be punished after returning from Moscow? I don’t know, but I know that it’s 2025, not 1939,” he stated in a submit on Fb.

He harassed that “no one can tell me where I should or should not travel.”

“I will go to Moscow to pay my respects to the thousands of Red Army soldiers who died liberating the Slovak Republic, and to the millions of other victims of the Nazis,” he stated, “just as I paid my respects to the victims of the Normandy landings, in the Pacific, or as I will go to pay my respects to the RAF pilots.”

Requested if there could be any penalties for Fico ought to he ignore the warning, a fee spokesperson stated “it’s really not for the commission to punish heads of state and government.”

Alongside Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, who declined to participate within the parade, Fico is seen as one of the vital pro-Russian leaders in Europe. He final visited Moscow in December, triggering a wave of protests in opposition to his authorities’s overseas coverage.

France reported extra assaults on vehicles and prisons amenities in a single day with the nation’s justice minister blaming attackers for “trying to destabilise the state by intimidating it.”

“They are doing it because we are taking measures against the permissiveness that existed until now in jails,” Gérald Darmanin stated.

AFP reported that early on Wednesday, assailants set hearth to 3 vehicles – together with one belonging to a jail guard – within the southern city of Tarascon, its prosecutor stated.

The automotive of one other guard working at a jail exterior Aix-en-Provence, additionally within the south, was torched exterior his house, a consultant from a jail employee union stated.

Within the Seine-et-Marne area close to Paris, the letters “DDPF” – standing for “Rights of French Prisoners” – had been scrawled within the entrance of a constructing the place a girl jail guard lives, a police supply stated.

Earlier than that, 21 autos had been graffitied and or set on hearth since Sunday evening, a police supply stated late on Tuesday.

A lot of the incidents – largely torched vehicles but additionally a automated rifle volleys fired at a jail entrance close to the southern metropolis of Toulon – had been recorded in a single day Monday to Tuesday.

Darmanin is main what he calls a “prison revolution” that goals to lock up 200 of France’s 700 most harmful drug traffickers in two top-security prisons from this summer season, AFP famous.

The United States has eliminated sanctions on a detailed aide of the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, the state division stated, including that the punitive measures had been “inconsistent with US foreign policy interests”.

Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, spoke on Tuesday along with his Hungarian counterpart, the overseas minister, Péter Szijjártó, and knowledgeable him of the transfer, state division spokesperson Tammy Bruce stated in a press release.

“The Secretary informed foreign minister Szijjártó of senior Hungarian official Antal Rogán’s removal from the US Department of the Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, noting that continued designation was inconsistent with US foreign policy interests,” Bruce stated.

The 2 additionally mentioned strengthening US-Hungary alignment on essential points and alternatives for financial cooperation, Bruce stated.

Rogán is a detailed aide of Orbán and has run his cupboard workplace since 2015.

Irregular migrant crossings into Europe fall 30% in first quarter of 2025

Ashifa Kassam

Irregular crossings at Europe’s borders have fallen by 30% within the first quarter of the 12 months in contrast with the identical interval final 12 months, in a lower that rights teams partly attributed to EU insurance policies which have emphasised deterrence whereas seemingly turning a blind eye to the danger of rights abuses.

The decline was seen throughout all the most important migratory routes into Europe, the EU’s border company Frontex stated in a press release, amounting to just about 33,600 fewer arrivals within the first three months of the 12 months.

The biggest lower, at 64%, was alongside the routes that cross Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and North Macedonia, whereas crossings into the UK had been down 4%.

Whereas migration patterns are influenced by a mixture of elements that vary from climate to battle, the info seems to counsel a continuation of the downward development seen in 2024, when irregular border crossings into Europe dropped by 38% in contrast with the earlier 12 months, stated Judith Sunderland of Human Rights Watch.

Ukraine’s parliament voted to increase martial legislation till 6 August, a senior lawmaker stated, as Russia’s full-scale invasion of the nation continues.

Reuters reported that an awesome majority of 357 deputies supported the extension, which permits the nation to proceed mobilizing troops and suspends the election cycle.

One lawmaker voted in opposition to the invoice.

A bunch of Serbian college students accomplished their epic 1,300km journey from Novi Unhappy to Strasbourg, France final evening, getting a crimson carpet welcome as they bought there.

The marketing campaign sought to draw the EU’s consideration to on-going mass protests in Serbia in opposition to alleged corruption after 15 folks died and a number of other had been significantly injured when the concrete cover of the newly renovated prepare station in Novi Unhappy, Serbia’s second largest metropolis, collapsed.

You may see a clip of their (actually emotional) arrival to Strasbourg right here, as reported by TV N1 Beograd.

Morning opening: ‘The West as we knew it now not exists’

Jakub Krupa

European Fee president Ursula von der Leyen informed the German weekly Die Zeit that “the West as we knew it no longer exist,” as she spoke of “historic” adjustments happening because of Donald Trump’s presidency within the US.

In a wide-ranging interview, she defended the EU’s place on regulating US digital companies even within the face of threats of eradicating US nuclear umbrella, as she pointedly stated “we don’t have bros or oligarchs making the rules.”

Placing a fragile stability, she nonetheless sung praises for the US and the EU-US relationship, whereas urging nations to provide and purchase extra in Europe, significantly relating to more and more essential defence provides.

On European safety, von der Leyen additionally warned that “while Putin may pause every so often, there is no limit to his imperial ambitions,” highlighting the existential dangers going through the EU.

What’s notable is that the interview – initially carried out in German – was translated for the newspaper by von der Leyen’s workplace – as if she and her crew needed it to be extra broadly learn throughout Europe (and past; whats up Donald and JD.)

Both method, her feedback come a day after the EU seemed to be rising pissed off with the dearth of engagement on the US aspect relating to resolving the tariffs standoff, with fee spokesperson telling reporters that the bloc wanted “an additional level of engagement from the US to keep the ball rolling forward.”

Additional talks will likely be happening within the background because the 90-day pause continues.

Let’s see what the day brings right now.

It’s Wednesday, 16 April 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa right here, and that is Europe Stay.

Good morning.