The European Commission has asked its Commissioners not to attend informal ministerial meetings during the Hungarian EU presidency in protest at Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s diplomatic solo efforts over Ukraine, a spokesperson for the EU executive confirmed on Monday (15 July).

Animal welfare groups are hoping EU legislation protecting seals is kept above board, while Baltic fishermen are trying to salvage political nets in their fight to ensure adequate fish hauls.

Governments are shifting their priorities away from Sustainable Development Goals, but the EESC’s Peter Schmidt argues for a holistic approach, designing policies that can help farmers and citizens transition to a more sustainable way of producing and consuming.

As the news of shots fired at former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump continues to reverberate across the globe, a few tidbits from the not-so-distant past come to mind.

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas (Reform party, Renew) submitted her resignation to Estonian President Alar Karis on Monday (15 July) after being nominated as the next European Union's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. 

At the latest meeting of the Polish Transplant Council, experts discussed the necessity of establishing a team to thoroughly analyse the risks associated with the introduction of xenotransplantation.

Swedish maternity care is failing to meet expected quality criteria standards. According to an alarming new report, only one of the 45 Swedish maternity units passed all of the health inspectorate's examinations.

Political interference risks the independence of a leading Slovak health institute. Without formal discussion, the Slovak parliament rushed through an amendment changing leadership and funding criteria - the institute's future now depends on the Constitutional Court.

The US Secret Service was under intense scrutiny after a gunman managed to evade its agents and open fire on former President Donald Trump at a political rally, with Republican leaders vowing swift investigations and President Joe Biden calling for an independent review.

China and Russia conducted a joint naval patrol in the northern and western Pacific, Beijing's defence ministry said Sunday (14 July), adding that the exercise was not "targeted" at any other nation.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico comparing Trump's assassination attempt with his own, Bulgarian politicians widely condemning the attack, and so much more.

Albania on Sunday (14 July) authorised a dual Greek national imprisoned on charges of electoral corruption to travel to France to take part in the European Parliament's inaugural session as a Greek MEP, a prison spokesperson said.

Ursula von der Leyen’s speech on Thursday at European Parliament will be crucial to ensure the majority she needs to be reelected as Commission president, but to convince all pro-EU coalition lawmakers, she will have to address some key EU policy issues.

A senior Hamas official said on Sunday (14 July) that the Islamist group has not withdrawn from ceasefire talks with Israel after this weekend's deadly attacks in Gaza that Israel said had targeted the group's military leader Mohammed Deif.

NGO Pesticide Action Network Europe found that a ‘forever chemical’ present in 94% of surface water and 63% of bottled water samples far exceeds limits set in the revised drinking water directive.

Bulgarian politicians from across the political spectrum strongly condemned the attempted assassination of Donald Trump and wished him and the injured a speedy recovery, while the leader of the pro-Russian nationalists blamed liberals and globalists for what he called a wave of violence without offering an argument.

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico (Smer-SD/NI), who recently survived a politically motivated shooting, drew parallels between his experience and the recent assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump, suggesting that their political opponents are inciting public anger and pushing individuals to resort to violence.

The Kremlin said on Sunday (14 July) it did not believe the US administration was responsible for Saturday's assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump, but accused it of creating an atmosphere that provoked the attack.

Polish politicians reacted to Saturday's attack on Donald Trump, with some opposition figures accusing the ruling coalition of fuelling political polarisation and linking Prime Minister Donald Tusk to the assassination attempt. 

VOX leader Santiago Abascal used the assassination attempt on Donald Trump to slam Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's PSOE and the left-wing Sumar platform, saying they are secretly lamenting that he survived the attack.