Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
Danish prime minister Mette Frederiksen has announced general election on 24 March proposing wealth tax to fund schools, promising to secure the future of the commonwealth and pledging to hold Europe together (12:49, 12:58).
The move is seen as an attempt to capitalise on recent poll gains after Frederiksen succeeded in rallying European allies in defence of Greenland amid continuing interest from US president Donald Trump (13:22, 13:57).
In other news,
US and Ukrainian negotiators held another round of talks in Geneva about the proposed “prosperity deal” designed to help with the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine in case of a peace settlement with Russia (9:47, 11:20, 14:30).
Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orbán has urged the European Union to form a “fact-finding mission” to inspect the Druzhba pipeline amid escalating tension with Ukraine (11:48).
Swedish and Nordic energy infrastructure operators were told step up their readiness in case of any possible acts of sabotage or disruption in response to a recent incident in Poland (11:37, 12:03, 14:21).
A post-Brexit treaty permitting free movement between the British enclave of Gibraltar and Spain is set to be signed next month and come into force in April (16:55).
Norway’s 89-year-old King Harald who fell ill while on holiday in Spain was expected to be discharged from hospital today (14:07).
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.
Hundreds of film-makers back Berlinale director in row over winners’ Gaza comments
in Berlin
Prominent directors and actors have rallied in support of the American head of the Berlin film festival in response to reports she could be sacked over comments by award-winners criticising the war in Gaza and the German government’s support for Israel.
Germany’s federal government commissioner for culture and media, Wolfram Weimer, convened a crisis meeting on Thursday on the “future direction of the Berlinale”, which is among Europe’s top three cinema showcases with Cannes and Venice.
Weimer’s office said after the talks that “discussions about the direction of the Berlinale will continue in the coming days” between the festival chief, Tricia Tuttle, and the event’s supervisory board.
The newspaper Bild had reported that Thursday’s meeting could result in the firing of Tuttle, the US director of the festival since 2024, after controversy over pro-Palestinian speeches at Saturday’s closing gala, one of which criticised Germany as “partners in the genocide”.
Bild cited sources close to Weimer as saying that the acceptance speech by the Syrian-Palestinian director Abdallah al-Khatib, who won the best first feature award for his drama Chronicles From the Siege, and a picture taken a week earlier that showed Tuttle with al-Khatib’s film team had caused particular offence.
The photograph showed several members of al-Khatib’s team wearing keffiyeh scarves and one holding a Palestinian flag.
The Berlinale director commonly takes pictures with the film crews during the festival.
