The German government said on Thursday (30 May) it will remove a controversial surcharge on gas passing through the country which EU neighbours said added to the cost of moving away from Russian gas.

As Baku prepares to host COP29, the largest international climate summit, the Azerbaijani government has ramped up its crackdown on the remaining vestiges of its civil society.

Between Thursday 23 May and Tuesday 28 May more than €5.3 billion of funding for French industry was announced by government and commercial investors, boosting the country's drive to revitalise and decarbonise its industrial base.

Hungary's government signed an accord with Belarus to help build Hungary's second nuclear plant, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in a statement in Minsk on Wednesday (29 May).

The United States will boycott a United Nations tribute on Thursday (29 May) to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who was killed earlier this month in a helicopter crash, a US official said.

Washington on Wednesday (29 May) accused China's leadership of supporting Russia's war in Ukraine and warned that Beijing could face further sanctions in response from the United States and other NATO countries.

European Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi met on Wednesday (29 May) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, amid requests by the International Criminal Court's prosecutor for arrest warrants against them over alleged war crimes.

France, Germany and the United Kingdom have circulated a draft resolution against Iran ahead of the UN nuclear watchdog's board meeting next week and appear determined to push it despite opposition from Washington.

In today’s edition of the Capitals, find out more about Bulgaria's far right party pitching a sovereignist alliance to AfD, Spain's VOX ruling out a far right alliance in the EU Parliament, and so much more.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday (29 May) promised steadfast US support to Moldova in areas from energy independence to democracy promotion on a solidarity visit to the pro-Western nation as alarm grows over Russian pressure.

The European Commission officially withdrew the Article 7 procedure against Poland after concluding that the country no longer violates the rule of law, the EU’s executive branch announced on Wednesday.

Bulgaria's pro-Russian far-right party Vazrazhdane is calling on Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD), which was recently kicked out of the Identity for Democracy (ID) group in the EU Parliament, to join it in a "truly conservative and sovereignist" group, the leader of the Bulgarian formation, Kostadin Kostadinov, announced on social media.

How will Europe remove millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to keep on track for its climate commitments – that’s a key question facing the next European Commission and Parliament. Kasia Wilk from Drax explains how the Green Claims Directive can help.

China could arrange a peace conference in which Russia and Ukraine would participate, the RIA news agency cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Thursday (30 May).

Portugal understands the use of weapons by Ukraine for defensive purposes against military targets on Russian territory, Defence Minister Nuno Melo said on Wednesday, adding that his view is personal and in no way commits the government of which he is a member.

Italian opposition parties, the Five Star Movement, the Democratic Party, and the Green and Left Alliance, are putting increasing pressure on the Italian government to follow the lead of Norway, Spain, and Ireland in officially recognising the state of Palestine.

German interior minister Nancy Faeser (SPD, S&D) has extended controversial checks at the border with Czechia, Poland, and Switzerland on Wednesday for the first time since introducing them last year while praising their effectiveness.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called on Thursday (30 May) for a peace conference on the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas as he addressed Arab leaders and diplomats at a forum in Beijing.

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An alliance between the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) group in the European Parliament and Marine Le Pen’s far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) group or the Alternative for Germany (AfD) is “very difficult”, Jorge Buxadé, the leading candidate of the far-right VOX party, said on Wednesday.