Euractiv.com

Poland, Germany, France and Italy signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday to develop ground-launched cruise missiles with a range of more than 500 kilometres as they gathered on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington.

US intelligence discovered that Russia planned to assassinate the chief executive of German arms manufacturer Rheinmetall, which has been producing artillery shells and military vehicles for Ukraine, CNN and the New York Times reported on Thursday (11 July).

Cracks are appearing in the newly formed far-right Patriots for Europe group, with France’s Rassemblement National opposing Italy’s Lega’s proposal for the vice presidency of the group.

Smer-SD (NI) will not join Viktor Orban's new Patriots for Europe group, said party leader and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, citing a lack of alignment with left-wing or social-democratic principles while criticising the European Socialists for rejecting Smer's re-entry.

The centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) remains optimistic about its candidate Ursula von der Leyen reaching the necessary EU Parliament majority next week to get re-elected at the EU Commission’s helm; However, work is being done to convince the suspected deviants as “nothing can be taken for granted”.

Spain's far-right VOX party has broken off its coalition agreements with the centre-right Partido Popular (PP/EPP) in five regions, VOX leader Santiago Abascal said on Thursday, after the PP agreed to the government's proposed measure to take in hundreds of unaccompanied minors, despite VOX previously saying it would not accept it.

Opposition protesters pelted Albania's government building and a mayor's office with petrol bombs late on Thursday (11 July), accusing Prime Minister Edi Rama of corruption and demanding his resignation.

European Movement International (EMI) will send a new letter to European Commission Vice-President Věra Jourová, along with several other European and journalist organisations, requesting an investigation into the state of press freedom in Italy, Euractiv has learnt.

Northern and Eastern EU countries will not send any minister to Hungary during the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU in protest with Viktor Orban’s rogue trip to Moscow.

The Brussels Court of Appeal has rejected Belgian lobbyist Frédéric Baldan's attempt to block Ursula von der Leyen from getting a second term as Commission president.

As EU Socialists urge Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to stick to the 2035 ban on new petrol cars, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing warned that refusing to reverse the ban would be a "gigantic electoral fraud".

China has rebuked the European Union over a statement about the South China Sea, saying the latter ignored historical and objective facts of the testy issue and "blatantly endorses" what it called the Philippines' violation of its sovereignty.

As leaders of political groups negotiate the composition of committees in the new European Parliament, Euractiv has identified eleven MEPs focused on energy and environment who are worth keeping an eye on.

While NATO leaders hailed this week's summit in Washington as successful, they aimed to brush off concerns over the alliance's future following the outcome of the November US presidential elections.

Finland's parliament is set to vote on a bill on Friday (12 July) granting border guards the power to turn back asylum seekers crossing from Russia, after more than 1,300 people arrived in the country forcing Helsinki to close its border.

The European Parliament, the biggest democratic institution in the world, now features three far-right groups. Two of them, Patriots for Europe and Europe of Sovereign Nations, emerged only this week, from the ashes of failed alliance negotiations.

The European Commission has urged private creditors to “swiftly” reach an agreement with the Ukrainian government to avoid Kyiv defaulting on billions of dollars in debt at the start of next month.

With the French legislative elections having created uncertainty about the shape of the next government, President Emmanuel Macron assured NATO allies and Ukraine behind closed doors in Washington that Paris remains committed to Europe's security.

The transfer of oversight of military supplies, training and reform of Ukraine's armed forces into NATO hands is to be completed "in the coming months" as leaders rush to protect the support from governments that may criticise it in the future.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is expected to meet with former US president Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida after a NATO summit on Thursday (11 July), according to people familiar with the plans.