German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Monday (8 January) the majority of countries in the European Union were not delivering sufficient weapons to Ukraine to help it battle a Russian invasion, calling upon allies to increase their efforts.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk is calling for an anti-hate speech rally in Gdańsk on Saturday in a move to justify his public media policies, which have divided Polish society and raised serious concerns among media freedom organisations.

Fico’s coalition pick and an independent candidate are likely to face off in the upcoming presidential elections, which Slovak parliament speaker Peter Pellegrini announced on Monday will be held in two rounds on 23 March and 6 April.

Italy’s left-wing opposition parties requested Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to take action and even disband the group of far-right militants who on Sunday commemorated the death of three former members and were seen making fascist salutes during a rally in Rome. 

Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, voter suppression in the US, and democracy backsliding in Hungary and Poland all highlight the importance of a robust and healthy democracy, which must never be taken for granted, writes the European Democracy Consulting Stiftung.

Former Finnish EU Commissioner Jutta Urpilainen, who recently left her post to stand as the Social Democratic Party's presidential candidate, is not faring so well with voters, a EuropeElects projection commissioned by Euractiv ahead of the elections at the end of January shows.

People with intellectual disabilities are legally impeded when it comes to voting in seven EU countries, bringing about a de facto lack of access to voting in the European elections in June, the director of Inclusion Europe campaign group told Euractiv in an interview.

Spain’s main opposition force, Partido Popular, has demanded explanations from the government over its recognition of Kosovo passports, claiming it could set a precedent for recognition of Catalan passports in the future.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet Israeli leaders on Tuesday (9 January) in his quest to prevent the Gaza conflict from growing into a regional conflagration, as the Israeli military said its fight against Hamas would continue all year.

Far-right Danish People’s Party leader Morten Messerschmidt insists that Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen should not proclaim the new king on Sunday, as is traditional, and that outgoing Queen Margrethe should make the announcement instead.

Top security actors, including Swedish Civil Defence Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin and the country’s Commander-in-Chief, Micael Bydén, agree that Sweden could soon be facing a war and called for increased resilience, including among the civilian population.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne resigned on Monday evening following a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron that lasted just over an hour, the Elysée Palace announced in a press release on Monday.

As voter dissatisfaction is on the rise in Europe's largest economy, Germany's political landscape is increasingly fractured, with a new political player attempting to win over voters who turn their back on traditional parties.

An urgent submission has been made to the United Nations Committee Against Torture regarding the alleged kidnap and torture of Serbian opposition politician Nikola Sadulovic after he paid respects at the grave of a Kosovo Albanian war hero in early January, while the EU remains silent on the matter.

Fears that Slovakia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal could end up as a stranded investment are reinforced by experts who warn that too much LNG infrastructure is being built as fossil fuels are phased out and that there is likely to be a surplus on the market after 2030.

Israel on Monday (8 January) killed a top Hezbollah commander in a strike on south Lebanon, the Iran-backed group and a security official said, as regional tensions soar amid the Gaza war.

French Energy Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher will be in Prague on Monday and Tuesday to make progress on Franco-Czech nuclear cooperation, particularly on the construction of new reactors.

For the global aviation sector, it has been a tumultuous start to 2024. The first week of the new year has already seen two major aviation incidents, focusing attention on the resilience and safety of aircraft in operation.

A proposed mandatory deposit return scheme for plastic bottles should be scrapped altogether, French local representatives say, rejecting suggestions by EU member states to exempt countries that already achieve a high collection rate for plastic packaging.

The New Year is a time for looking back and attempting to look forward. Unfortunately, we live in times when the power of the strongest – and the craziest – is replacing the international law embodied by the UN, as imperfect as it was.