Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has stepped up his opposition to Ukraine joining the European Union, claiming the bloc was looking to admit the wartorn country in 2027 to help it benefit from the next seven-year financial budget (13:26).
His comments come after Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeated his target to join the EU in 2027, despite some scepticism in the bloc about the accelerated process that would be required (9:58).
Orbán’s comments will likely be seen as part of an increasingly fierce campaign ahead of this April’s critical parliamentary election in Hungary, which could see him ousted after 16 years in office (13:55).
Separately,
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy has said there were no Russian strikes on energy infrastructure overnight, after US president Donald Trump claimed he discussed a form of brief ceasefire with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin (10:37, 12:13).
The Kremlin confirmed that Putin received a “personal request” from Trump on this issue, without clarifying what his answer was (11:26).
The exchange comes as there is a growing question mark over whether this weekend’s trilateral talks between Ukraine, Russia and the US will even take place amid growing tensions between the US and Iran (10:11).
And that’s all from me, Jakub Krupa, for today.
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.
EU faced 'very threatening' messages from Trump on Greenland, but unity prevailed, EU's Ribera says
In her AFP interview, Ribera also spoke about the EU-US relations, including president Donald Trump’s threats on tariffs and Greenland.
“We received this very harsh and very threatening message” on Greenland, Ribera said, which showed “how important it is to react in a clear and united way.”
Greenland “was also a clear incentive to take note of how clear and united we need to be on issues that can be considered unjustified threats,” she said.
Ribera is also the EU’s most senior antitrust official, and despite US threats of retaliation, she has insisted Brussels will not be swayed from acting against American Big Tech where necessary.
