37 h. ago Germany boosts Nato’s eastern flank with new Baltic brigade amid threat from Russia – Europe live

Friedrich Merz visits Lithuania to mark the official formation of Germany’s first permanent overseas military unit since the second world warPortugal wants European energy regulators’ agency ACER to lead an independent investigation into the causes of the huge power outage that brought most of Spain and Portugal to a standstill last month, its acting energy minister told Reuters.Maria da Graça Carvalho said prime minister Luís Montenegro wants an independent investigation led by the European Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators to complement the technical report being prepared by the European network of transmission system operators ENTSO-E. Continue reading...

Events

44 h. ago Polish City dubbed 'Venice of Eastern Europe' is one of the cheapest holiday spots for Brits with £30 return flights

A Polish city known as the 'Venice of Eastern Europe' is one of the cheapest holiday destinations for a break this summer.

Economics

3 d. ago EU to provide emergency funds to help keep Radio Free Europe afloat

The European Union plans to provide emergency funds to help keep Radio Free Europe afloat after the Trump administration stopped grants to the pro-democracy media outlet

Politics

4 d. ago The USSR occupied eastern Europe, calling it ‘liberation’ – Russia is repeating the crime in Ukraine | Sergei Lebedev

In the post-Soviet states, statues can be removed and street names changed. But achieving sovereignty of memory is far harderWe often hear that it is Russia’s inability or unwillingness to deal with the crimes of its past that has led to the restoration of tyranny and the military aggression that we see now. Such a narrative usually focuses only on internal Soviet deeds: forced collectivisation, the Great Terror of the 1930s, the Gulag system and so on. Some of these things were nominally recognised as crimes, but no attempt was made to hold the perpetrators to account. Russia’s perestroika democrats were generally opposed to transitional justice.However, the most politically sensitive Soviet crime is nearly always left out of the discussion. And Russia’s failure to address this particular crime is far more dangerous and affects the fate of many nations. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Will we ever see despots like Putin in court? It’s unlikely – and that’s the west’s fault too | Simon Tisdall

The US, UK and others routinely flout international law. That’s why there’s scant hope for a new tribunal on crimes against UkraineIt’s tempting to hope the establishment last week of a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, to give its full name, will lead to the speedy trial and indefinite incarceration of Vladimir Putin and senior Russian leaders. After all, the new court is backed by about 40 countries, including the UK, plus the EU and Council of Europe. And only fools like Donald Trump are confused about who the aggressor is in this conflict.Sadly, this appealing notion has scant basis in reality. Ducking peace talks and dodging responsibility for the war he started, a smirking Putin manspreads smugly in the safety of the Kremlin. He also hides behind the outdated convention that serving heads of state enjoy legal immunity. The bottom line is unchanging: Russia will ignore the new tribunal, just as it ignores arrest warrants for Putin over alleged war cr...

Politics

7 d. ago Keir Starmer fire accused appears in London court charged with arson with intent to endanger life

Roman Lavrynovych, of Sydenham, appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Friday

Events

7 d. ago Mapped: Frontline in Ukraine as Kyiv and Moscow set to begin first direct talks since 2022

Russia has rejected Ukraine’s repeated offer of a comprehensive, unconditional 30-day ceasefire which Mr Zelensky says would allow for proper peace negotiations to take place

Politics

7 d. ago Ukrainian man, 21, charged with arson over fires on Keir Starmer

Roman Lavrynovych, of Sydenham, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday

Events

8 d. ago Mapped: State of play in Ukraine as Kyiv and Moscow set to begin first direct talks since 2022

Russia has rejected Ukraine’s repeated offer of a comprehensive, unconditional 30-day ceasefire which Mr Zelensky says would allow for proper peace negotiations to take place

Politics

8 d. ago British teenager facing years in Georgia jail accused of 'smuggling cannabis’ claims she is pregnant

Bella May Culley, 18, who reportedly vanished while on holiday in Thailand, allegedly carried 13 kilos of drugs into Eastern Europe

Events

9 d. ago Pope vows every effort to work for peace in regions where Christians persecuted, forced to flee

Pope Leo XIV is vowing to actively promote and protect the spirituality and traditions of the eastern rite churches, those Catholic communities with origins in the Middle East and North Africa that have been decimated by conflict and persecution

Politics

9 d. ago British teenager faces years in 'hellhole' jail in Georgia after being arrested ‘for smuggling cannabis’

Bella May Culley, 18, who reportedly vanished while on holiday in Thailand, allegedly carried 13 kilos of drugs into Eastern Europe

Events

1 week ago Family swap UK for abandoned home bought unseen in eastern European country

Maxwell, 38, and Leah Jones, 29, have always dreamt of living self-sufficiently and didn't want to spend the next 25 years paying off a mortgage in the UK before moving to Bulgaria

Society

1 week ago Spies for Russia embedded in the UK jailed for more than 50 years over operations for Putin

Six spies have been jailed over espionage activities

Politics

2 w. ago Mike Pence rebukes Trump over tariffs and ‘wavering’ support for Ukraine

Former vice-president says tariffs ‘not a win for the American people’ and predicts public pressure will growDonald Trump’s tariffs policy will trigger a “price shock” and possible shortages, and lead to public pressure on him to change his approach, the former vice-president Mike Pence has said.In one of his most wide-ranging critiques yet on the policies of the president he used to serve, Pence, speaking to CNN, derided the White House’s “wavering” support for Ukraine and declared – in direct contradiction of repeated assurances from Trump – that President Vladimir Putin of Russia “doesn’t want peace”. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Sabotage and secret identities: Russia’s spy network – podcast

Shaun Walker reports on the history of Russia’s ‘Illegals’ programme and what it looks like todayShaun Walker is the Guardian’s central and eastern Europe correspondent and author of The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West.He tells Helen Pidd about the history of Russia’s ‘Illegals’ programme, and how Russian intelligence operates in western countries today. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Terrorists and criminals misusing ‘dark’ drones could cause carnage, expert warns

As Ukraine and Russia develop technology resistant to being jammed, pilot calls for world leaders to step up defences

Events

3 w. ago Jobs report defies expectations and hiring remains steady despite concerns over Trump’s tariffs

The report gives the first glimpse of how the economy has fared after Trump’s so-called ‘Liberation Day’ when he introduced sweeping tariffs that plunged the stock market into chaos

Politics

3 w. ago 'I visited Croatia's beautiful beaches but there's one thing you must pack'

Croatia is one of Europe's most beautiful beach destinations but there's one thing tourists need to remember to pack for a holiday in the eastern European country

Politics

3 w. ago Ukrainian officials say Kyiv 'ready to sign minerals deal' with US today

Ukraine and the US are said to be close to agreeing a landmark rare earth minerals deal which will allow the Americans to plunder the eastern European nation's mines

Politics