Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
Finland’s president Alexander Stubb insisted the war in Iran “is not a Nato matter” (16:03) after US president Donald Trump lashed out against allies and said the US would “never forget” their unwillingness to get involved in the conflict (11:19).
His comments come as a number of countries rush to pass emergency packages to soften the impact of the war on their economies, including Poland (14:27) and Spain (17:35).
Meanwhile, Nato’s secretary general Mark Rutte and EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas against losing focus on Ukraine as a result of the war in the Middle East, stressing the two conflicts are interlinked and calling for continued support for Ukraine (13:09, 13:27, 13:35, 14:50).
Presenting Nato’s 2025 annual report, Rutte also said that European allies have increased their defence spending by 20% over the last year (13:08), repeatedly praising Trump for putting more pressure on leaders to act after years of warnings (13:14).
Separately,
The European parliament has voted to advance the EU-US trade deal but with conditions aimed at preventing Donald Trump’s administration from riding roughshod over Europe (11:53).
The European Commission has accused four pornographic platforms of allowing children to access adult content in breach of digital rules, putting the companies at risk of large fines (12:29). It also opened a separate probe into Snapchat (16:38).
Denmark’s acting prime minister Mette Frederiksen is about to begin the exploratory talks on forming the next Danish government tomorrow, meeting with a broad group of parties that could be interested in forming the next administration (15:39).
The Hungarian government has said it would file charges against Hungary’s leading investigative journalist, Szabolcs Panyi, for alleged espionage amid the fallout from media reports claiming Hungary’s foreign minister regularly consulted with Russia (13:30).
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at [email protected].
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Spain's congress approved economic package to mitigate economic effects of Iran war
in Madrid
Spain’s congress has just approved a package of measures intended to mitigate the effects of the Iran war on Spanish consumers and businesses.
Last week, Pedro Sánchez, the country’s socialist prime minister – who has fiercely criticised the US and Israeli offensive – proposed a €5bn package to help with the economic impact of the Middle East war.
Among its 80 measures is a reduction of value-added tax on electricity bills to 10%, cutting fuel prices by up to 30 cents per litre and granting a fuel subsidy of 20 cents per litre for the farming and transport sectors.
The decree was approved this afternoon in the country’s 350-seat lower house, with 175 votes in favour, 33 against and 141 abstentions.
The far-right Vox was the only party to vote against the measures, while the conservative People’s party and Sánchez’s former partners in the leftwing Podemos party abstained.
