Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
Donald Trump has threatened to withdraw US troops from Italy and Spain, a day after saying he was looking at reducing the number deployed in Germany.
Italy’s defence minister, Guido Crosetto, said he did “not understand” Trump’s motives for the threat (10:22) with both prime ministers not offering any immediate response to the US president’s comments (16:19).
In other news,
International Workers’ Day parades took place across Europe (11:09, 13:05, 14:26).
The European Union’s mammoth trade deal with South American bloc Mercosur provisionally enters into force today, despite a pending court ruling on its legality (12:29).
German airline Lufthansa said it had apologised to Russian film-maker Pavel Talankin for losing his Oscar statuette, which has now been found and remains in the airline’s Frankfurt office (11:50, 15:38).
Italian authorities evacuated some 3,500 people in its famed Tuscany region as they try to tame a wildfire there that has been raging for more than 24 hours (14:56).
The European Union marks the 22nd anniversary of the “big bang” enlargement by 10 member states in central, eastern and southern Europe, celebrated by the countries’ leaders (11:29).
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.
Have a great weekend!
No response from Meloni or Sanchez after Trump's threats to pull out US troops
Interestingly, we have not heard from either Italy’s Giorgia Meloni or Spain’s Pedro Sánchez in response to Trump’s threats at all.
They are normally not shy to make their views known, but maybe they have clocked-off for the long weekend instead. And can you really blame them?
Last time I checked, Meloni went to get a pizza from PizzAut in Monza – a social enterprise hiring young people on the autism spectrum – and Sánchez was briefly active online, posting about the 1 May celebrations and the Mercosur agreement.
Oh, and PizzAut’s 1 May special pizza? It has tomato sauce, mozarella fior di latte, meatballs, burratina, extra virgin olive oil, and “dignity, commitment, and love.”
Absolutely brilliant, if you ask me.
