Who is Karen Malayan: Russia’s top diplomat in Brussels, or yet another spy?
Vladimir Putin’s envoy to the EU had a strange career path, a spy-linked uncle, spy friends, and allegedly played a role in pre-Brexit dirty tricks in the UK.
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How Pakistan’s slave‑like cotton labour still feeds EU fashion despite new rules
Pakistani women and children pick cotton in bonded labour for a few euros a day while Europe’s biggest fashion brands exploit legal loopholes to keep their clothes and their consciences officially clean.
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Chinese Mission to the EU and Europe Jacques Delors jointly hold seminar on China-EU cooperation on Green transition
Under the theme of “A Sustainable and Just Transition to a Zero-Carbon Economy: EU-China Cooperation and Innovation in Maritime Transport,” the seminar focused on in-depth discussions on advancing China-EU green transition cooperation.
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From Trojan Horse in Brussels to executive for China’s BYD – Hungary’s Szijjártó makes classic ‘revolving doors’ moveWith Chinese electric car giant BYD already under fire over allegations of forced labour and huge state subsidy that is destroying Europe’s domestic car industry, Hungarian former foreign minister Péter Szijjártó’s latest move exposes just how easily powerful insiders can cross the line between public office and private corporate interests.
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EU offers India the keys to Horizon, months after signing ‘mother of all trade deals’ with Delhi
India is set to join the EU’s Horizon programme in October, the latest incentive offered by Brussels as it aims to boost trade ties with Delhi.
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Russia is running out of missiles, had to skimp on defence of a nuclear‑submarine base (Ukraine Battlefield update: Day 1,603)Russia’s scramble to plug holes in its air defences is now exposing key bases, as Ukraine claws back ground in the south and steps up drone and naval strikes.
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EU’s top court is the hard-right’s next target – and MEP Weimers’ report just pulled the trigger
Presented as a transparency exercise, a draft European Parliament report would curb the Court of Justice’s power to defend judicial independence across the Union and with it the legal infrastructure on which the EU’s citizens, companies and rights depend, warns Alberto Alemanno.
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EU home affairs Brunner branded ‘completely lost’ in secret Brussels meeting on Taliban deportations
The European Commission and MEPs held a closed-door meeting to discuss the Taliban. Magnus Brunner, the EU home affairs commissioner, was speaking at the meeting and appeared “completely lost” on the subject, said one EU source.
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Kushner‑backed luxury project in Albania becomes a litmus test for EU accession green standards
As Albania’s EU membership momentum hits full steam, Brussels’ institutions and Albanian civil society speak out about what accession with current environmental scandals could mean for the EU’s credibility
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The farming lobby is in bed with the pesticide industry – against the interests of farmers themselves
The lobbyists’ goal is to convince MEPs to radically dismantle the existing EU rules on pesticide authorisation and use, rules meant to keep too toxic products off the market.
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Listen: Can Europe remain prosperous with a rapidly ageing population?
As EU leaders talk tough on cutting immigration, their own data shows that without more foreign workers Europe’s pension systems, hospitals and care homes could buckle under the weight of its ageing citizens.
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Le Pen and Farage – the far-right always play the ‘victim’ card
Whether it’s Nigel Farage’s secret multi-million pound crypto donations, or Marine Le Pen’s corruption conviction, anything that catches the far-right out is, by default, against the will of the people.
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Exclusive: Frontex returned almost 50 people to Afghanistan this year with help from NGO fronted by UK security veterans
The little-known Irara NGO was the largest non-state recipient of Frontex funding last year, receiving some €39m in 2025. The NGO is headed by UK security veterans and operates in 36 countries, including Afghanistan.
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EU-banned facial-recognition cameras made in Spain now watch millions of Indians
From Delhi to Jaipur, India is rolling out facial-recognition technology to monitor millions of its citizens. Investigate Europe has found that behind much of the software is Spanish company Herta Security – but critics argue the government promise of public safety is not the main aim.
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EU governments can’t kick their fossil fuels addiction, even when they want toEven if public authorities sometimes have the right idea of where the energy transition needs to go, they still can’t bring themselves to do what’s needed to phase out fossil fuels.
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EU official signals ‘unilateral’ trade curbs on Chinese exports, saying dialogue alone will not be enough
The EU Commission has set up a series of ‘work streams’ on trade policy with China, but says that ‘dialogue will not suffice’ and is still planning to take a series of measures to control its trade deficit with Beijing.
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![As birthrates decline and the workforce empties out, “in some countries, [people] are obliged to retire,”](/googleai/decoding-https-static.euobserver.com/2005/04/677e4ac7c530bd9e00eb0ac007326e19.jpg)
EU warns of worker shortage as population ages – and says migration is now a ‘necessity’
The EU’s population is set to both shrink, age, and thus be short of workers, according to a new demographics study on Thursday.
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Russian oil industry set back 20 years by Ukrainian strikes (Ukraine Battlefield update: Day 1,602)With refinery output crashing to 20-year lows, tens of millions of Russians now face soaring fuel and food prices, rolling shortages and a budget hole the Kremlin can no longer hide.
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EU still in talks on new Russia sanctions, as two sanctioned ‘shadow fleet’ tankers sail through European waters
As the EU finalises its 21st sanctions package, two sanctioned vessels carrying critical oil and gas infrastructure are sailing towards Russia. Europe still has time to act.
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EU’s new ‘Made in Europe’ push is a costly patchwork: one label, four policies, no design
Public procurement is quietly becoming one of EU’s industrial policy tools of choice. We are not the first to try this, and the evidence is sobering, warns Judith Arnal.
