The populist movement of former prime minister Andrej Babiš, ANO (Renew), is set to win the EU elections in Czechia with 23.1% of the vote, while the conservative coalition of Prime Minister Petr Fiala, Spolu (EPP+ECR), is in second place with 21.5%, new polls show.

Mario Draghi, former European Central Bank (ECB) chief, has been mooted as a possible candidate for one of the EU's top jobs after June's elections. While the Commission presidency appears reserved for the Conservatives, a window of opportunity could open up at the European Council.

In a push to counter an expected drop in seats in the new European Parliament, the Greens are banking on extending their demographic and geographical base, their lead candidate Terry Reintke told Euractiv.

More widespread bicycle use requires more investment in safety and more efficient infrastructure, including separate cycle lanes, strict speed limits and better enforcement of traffic rules.

Poland’s far-right Confederation Party, likely to have MEPs for the first time after the upcoming European elections, will either try to join the far-right Identity or Democracy group or form a new faction with AfD and Fidesz, experts say.

Italian President Sergio Mattarella stressed the importance of close ties between Italy and Europe on the 78th anniversary of Italy’s Republic Day on Sunday, prompting Lega, the far-right party of Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, to call for his resignation.

French Economy and Energy Minister Bruno Le Maire claimed to have “saved the French economy” after the COVID pandemic and the war in Ukraine after Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings downgraded the country’s credit rating on Saturday.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens) is considering the possibility of her country participating in an international protection force for Gaza, as previously called for by the Arab League.

Belgium's far-right Flemish nationalist Vlaams Belang party vowed Sunday (2 June) to score a stunning victory in next weekend's elections and become the leading political force in the Dutch-speaking north.

Serbia's ruling nationalist party claimed victory in the capital Belgrade on Sunday (2 June) in a rerun of local elections, nearly six months after allegations of fraud in a previous poll sparked weeks of protests.

The European elections are taking a back seat in Romania, where local elections are being held on the same day, while the far-right AUR party could join the ECR if it can overcome its differences with Viktor Orban's Fidesz.

A draft Italian government's decision to use resources received under the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) to cut public spending risks setting a dangerous precedent for future joint EU public funding policies, an Italian MEP from the Greens and the Left (AVS) group told Euractiv.

With the EU elections just days away, speculations about the EU Commissioners are growing louder.

In this week's edition: Ukraine faces crucial decision weeks, NATO talks strategy and EU looks how to restrain Israel.

Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy met heads of state and legislators in Singapore, seeking security assistance and support for a peace summit after arriving for a surprise visit to the Shangri-La Dialogue.

China landed an uncrewed spacecraft on the far side of the moon on Sunday (1 June), a landmark mission aiming to retrieve the world's first rock and soil samples from the dark lunar hemisphere, China's space agency said.

Ahead of EU elections on 9 June, a deluge of misinformation amplifying the Hungarian government's key talking points on the war in Ukraine has flooded the country's social media platforms.

In the run-up to Bulgaria's parliamentary election and the European elections both on 9 June, Eurosceptic and pro-Kremlin parties have ramped up efforts to win over young Bulgarians, who have limited knowledge about the past.

Germany's Christian Democratic Union (CDU), the country's leading opposition party, has been hit by a major cyberattack and has taken parts of its IT-infrastructure off the grid as a precautionary measure, authorities said on Saturday (1 June).

Environmental groups and farmers called for a transition to a sustainable agri-food system, climate action, and the approval of the stalled nature restoration law during a modest demonstration in Brussels on Saturday (1 June).