Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
Hungarian election winner Péter Magyar has signalled Hungary would seek a political agreement on reforms needed to unfreeze EU funds after Orbán years as the new government faces a August cliff to agree on spending or lose money (16:02).
Magyar called the talks with the EU “constructive” and joked that he would urge officials to take short holidays this summer as the new government will have just under three months to get the EU money flowing again (12:16, 16:25, 16:38).
The incoming prime minister also confirmed he would drop Hungary’s veto over the €90bn Ukraine loan as soon as oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline are restarted, urging Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy to do it as quickly as possible (16:22).
The issue is expected to formally be discussed at the EU level on Wednesday (17:15), with France’s Emmanuel Macron saying he is “reasonably optimistic” that the loan will finally be paid out (17:12).
Magyar also named first ministers in his incoming government (14:55), and repeated his warning to Orbán-era officials, urging them to step down by end of May or face removal by the new parliamentary majority as he seeks a break from the past (15:22).
Separately, Poland’s Donald Tusk has confirmed that Magyar asked Poland to help with repairing the relations with the EU (17:01), as we reported over the weekend.
Separately,
Spain’s Pedro Sánchez has led the calls for the EU to suspend its association agreement with Israel, as the issue is expected to return to the EU forum on Tuesday (17:45).
EU and Nato leaders congratulated Bulgaria’s former president Rumen Radev on winning the country’s parliamentary election on Sunday (12:30, 13:33, 13:41), amid some concerns over his future government’s stance towards Russia and Ukraine after the Kremlin praised his call for “pragmatic” relations with Moscow (11:49).
Romania and Slovenia could soon also experience political problems after difficulties were reported in their ability to form stable governments (11:37).
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45 Ukrainian children forcibly moved to Russia tracked down by Europol
Some 45 children forcibly removed from Ukraine have been tracked down by Europol in an initiative also involving the International Criminal Court and experts from around the EU and the US.
Over two days, experts from 18 countries including the UK and the US, used open source intelligence including information on military units assisting deportation of children from Russian occupied territory, platforms showing photos of alleged deported children and information on individuals who received children to track them down.
It was the third event of its kind and is aimed at assisting Ukrainian authorities at repatriating the children and building evidence of potential war crimes.
Two years ago the International Criminal Court with the backing of the EU and the US established the International Centre for the Prosecution of the Crime of Aggression (ICPCA) in bid to systemically build evidence for potential trials after the war.
The number of children tracked is a tiny fraction of the 19,500 Ukrainians have estimated have been deported or forcibly removed from occupied territories during the four year war.
Participating countries were: Austria, Belgium, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Netherlands (co-organiser), Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States.
Organisations involved were the International Criminal Court - Office of the Prosecutor, Mnemonic, Global Rights Compliance, Osint for Ukraine and Truth Hounds.
