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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has slammed Spain's government for refusing to allow the US to use its airspace for the Iran war. In an interview he said that Nato could not be "a one-way street" and announced that the alliance would have to be re-examined. Italy also recently denied US fighter jets the right to land in Sicily. Europe's press sees the alliance in grave danger.

The US-Israeli war against Iran – and the ongoing blockade of the Strait of Hormuz – have caused energy prices to soar. Measures to curb petrol prices are being implemented or discussed in several EU countries. Europe's press takes stock of the situation – with a sense of déjà vu.

According to a leaked audio recording published by investigative media, Hungarian Foreign Affairs Minister Péter Szijjártó promised his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that he would do his utmost to have the sister of a Russian oligarch removed from the EU sanctions list. He also reportedly promised Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin that he would work towards having the sanctions against the Russian shadow fleet lifted.

The Israeli parliament has voted to introduce the death penalty for terrorists. Of 120 members, 62 voted in favour of the legislation initiated by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party. The law applies to deadly attacks deemed acts of terrorism by military courts in the occupied territories – meaning that in practice it applies only to Palestinians. Europe's press is alarmed.

TASR: Ha a Slovnafttól visszakerül a kőolaj az állami tartalékokba, jövő szerdán (4. 8.) megszüntethető Szlovákiában a kőolaj-ellátási válsághelyzet – jelentette ki szerdán, azaz április elsején Robert Fico kormányfő (Smer) a pozsonyi kőolaj-finomítóban tartott tájékoztatón, miután találkozott a MOL Rt. tulajdonában lévő Slovnaft vállalat képviselőivel. A tájékoztatón Denisa Saková (Hlas) gazdasági miniszter is részt vett.

Dimitris Kollias, Research Fellow at ELIAMEP, argues that Artemis II signals the consolidation of a new space age in which the Moon is becoming a strategic, economic, and geopolitical frontier shaped by rival US- and China-led blocs, expanding commercial power, and growing competition over resources, rules, and orbital infrastructure. He contends that Europe remains relevant but structurally constrained by fragmentation and slow institutional adaptation, even as space is increasingly tied to security, competitiveness, and digital sovereignty. For Greece, he argues, this shift creates an opportunity to build selective strategic relevance through Earth observation, secure communications, maritime awareness, civil protection, and the integration of satellite infrastructure with sovereign AI and data-processing capacity.

Read the ELIAMEP Explainer here.