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Europe
Romania
31.03.2026 Romania’s American military bases could be at risk amid rising tensions between the US and Iran, a former Romanian chief of staff, retired Gen. Danila warned today. 'I wouldn't say that Romania doesn't have a problem, because there are American bases in Romania, and the Iranians said from the beginning that the American bases are the object - or identify these bases as targets for them', he said. The warning follows a message from Iran indicating it would respond politically and legally if Romania allows the US to use its bases for operations against Tehran. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
European Commission
31/03/2026 - 20:58 GMT+2 If Viktor Orbán is re-elected and maintains his veto on the €90 billion loan for Ukraine, 'the EU should take a second look at the idea of using the Russian assets', Kallas said today while visiting Kyiv. Hungarian PM Orbán has blocked the financial lifeline over a dispute with Kyiv regarding the Druzhba oil pipeline, which has been non-operational since late January. His veto has featured prominently in his bruising re-election campaign. Plan A was the use of frozen assets, Kallas said in Kyiv. But Belgium resisted the proposal, warning of legal pitfalls, financial repercussions and reputation damage for the eurozone. Germany, Poland, the Nordics and the Baltics 'enthusiastically backed the plan'. France, Italy, Malta and Bulgaria also voiced strong concerns. The political debate stretched from September until December last year and ultimately collapsed. As an alternative, EU leaders agreed to provide Ukraine with a €90 billion loan based on common borrowing. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic secured an opt-out from the scheme. The €90 billion loan was on the verge of its final approval in February when Orbán abruptly vetoed the deal, demanding an immediate resumption of oil supplies through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline as a non-negotiable condition. "No oil, no money," Orbán said earlier this month. The European Commission has offered to organise an inspection of Druzhba and pay for repairs with EU funds. But 'the experts have been waiting for over two weeks to visit the site'. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
31/03/2026 - 14:05 GMT+2 In May last year, a broad coalition of nations endorsed the creation of a special tribunal to prosecute the crime of aggression, which targets the political representatives ultimately responsible for launching the full-scale invasion. The tribunal has been designed under the auspices of the Council of Europe, the human rights organisation based in Strasbourg. About ten countries have expressed their intention to join the agreement that underpins the initiative, with Ukraine, Estonia, Lithuania and Luxembourg having completed the parliamentary procedures. In November, a 28-point plan was drafted by US and Russian officials that envisioned a blanket amnesty for war criminals. The draft has since then been turned into a 20-point plan. Negotiations remain stuck over territorial questions. Last week, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, a vice-president of the European Commission, Kallas ’urged Washington to avoid falling into the trap of the Russian playbook’. Kallas now 'gathered some of the bloc's foreign ministers in Kyiv', ’except Hungary’, to commemorate four years of the Bucha massacre. Russia must be held accountable for what it has done to Ukraine, Kallas said while visiting the memorial site. The ’exclusion’ of Hungary comes amid a bitter dispute between Budapest and Ukraine over the paralysed Druzhba oil pipeline. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
European Union
March 31, 2026 11:58 CET Two things those in Brussels have known for years: The EU capital is known as the leaky city for a reason; There are - and always have been - limits to what diplomats will share among the 27 member states. Much of the chatter around Brussels in recent days has been about Hungary. First came a piece in The Washington Post that claimed the country's combative foreign minister, Szijjártó, made regular phone calls to his Russian counterpart, Lavrov, during the breaks of the EU's monthly EU Foreign Affairs Council. Then private phone conversations between a Politico journalist and an EU official were leaked online. The discussions centered on Hungarian-Ukrainian relations and the Hungarian ’investigative journalist’ Panyi, who has often broken stories about links between the ruling Fidesz party and Moscow. Last week, the Hungarian government charged Panyi with spying on behalf of Ukraine. Hungary's foreign minister then confirmed that he not only speaks to Russian colleagues before and after EU meetings but also to counterparts from Israel, Serbia, Turkey, and the United States. National ministers from the member states attend various council meetings in Brussels, and sometimes Luxembourg, on a monthly basis - in Szijjártó's case, it was the Foreign Affairs Council. All the ministers are usually in the room with a small team of aides from their capitals, along with a few of their country's officials based in Brussels. There are also officials from the EU's councils and European Commission. Then there are several translators. All in all, including the ministers, there could be around 100 people in the room, all with cell phones. It shouldn't, therefore, come as a surprise that some of these people are in touch with others outside the meeting room, often in their own capitals. It also shouldn't come as a surprise that some of these meeting attendees are in touch with foreign capitals and scoop-hungry journalists. With so many people in the room, most ministers are briefed beforehand and told to be selective about what they share. Often, they resort to simply reading pre-agreed lines and only veer off-script if absolutely necessary. In Brussels, the unwritten rule is to exchange sensitive information during bilateral meetings with trusted counterparts on the sidelines, rather than committing anything important to paper. After all, documents in the EU capital have a habit of ending up in the hands of the media - or worse. The European officials were a little shocked at the brazenness of doing passing on information to Moscow ’directly from a council meeting’. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's post on X confirmed that, for years, he had limited himself from speaking too much at meetings in Brussels. The EU summits between heads of government - the likes of which Tusk has attended many times in his years as prime minister and president of the European Council - are far less leaky and more secretive than ministerial meetings. There, the leaders tend not to bring their phones into the meeting room. And there are usually a few council officials who relay sanitized information from the room to national delegations. In turn, these leak versions that suit them best in their home countries. This is the Brussels version of the Telephone game. So what about all the documents? Legislative proposals are shared widely as all capitals need to decide on them at some point in the process. Many of these files are publicly available, so there are no secrets to truly pass on. Some documents, though, are far more restricted - for example, sanctions packages targeting countries such as Belarus, Russia, and Iran. These files shouldn't be liberally passed around, but they often end up in the hands of journalists, lobbyists, and others within hours of the European Commission sharing the documents with EU capitals. It is the way Brussels operates: The system is leaky and many hands are involved, so blame is always passed around, but no one is rarely found out. There are regular discussions on an ambassadorial level about leaks, but, in the end, ’there is usually an acceptance that a system in which documents must circulate among many people - including in the member states themselves - can never be completely leak-proof.’ Most politicians and officials are well aware of how a tactical, well-timed leak can sometimes benefit them. More of a concern is when internal briefing notes are passed around - documents drawn up from closed-door meetings at various levels, usually by diplomats from member states and often containing sensitive political and security information. Diplomats usually write these briefing notes for their colleagues back home. It's more than possible the leaks are coming from the various capitals rather than Brussels. Not everything is shared with everyone in the EU. On issues involving Turkey, for example, Greece and Cyprus are sometimes not briefed by member states; on military matters, which are mostly handled by NATO, some of the neutral states do not participate. In fact, the truly sensitive stuff in Brussels is just shared in various informal groupings of like-minded states that shift from topic to topic. None of that is going to change with the latest revelations about the leaks. Much of the focus in Brussels this week will be on how to combat energy prices as the Iran conflict rumbles on. EU energy ministers will have an informal meeting online today, and a day later the European Commission will present certain emergency measures member states can take such as subsidizing electricity bills and allowing more flexibility for state aid rules to help energy companies. (Source: RFERL - U.S.)
by Jozwiak, the Europe editor for RFE/RL in Prague, focusing on coverage of the European Union and NATO. He previously worked as RFE/RL’s Brussels correspondent. He has reported from most European capitals, as well as Central Asia.
Norway
31 March 2026 - 11:49 When Russia revised its Marine Doctrine in 2022, it included the possible use of civilian fishing vessels in wartime scenarios. The manoeuvres of Russian fishing vessels in northern Norwegian waters are blurring the line between seeking shelter from bad weather and potential intelligence-gathering. Russian vessels have sought shelter in Norwegian fjords more than 230 times since 2022 until March this year. Ten vessels remained sheltered for between five and ten days - longer than the duration of the adverse weather. Of the 222 permissions granted during the four-year period, 51 were issued between 26 February and 21 March 2022. Most were in waters around Akkarfjord and Hammerfest, though some were also granted in fjords stretching from Lyngen in the west to Porsanger in the east. This came only weeks after the Russian Northern Fleet had closed off a huge area across the Barents Sea for a surprise drill involving the strategic nuclear forces. It is a well-known fact that Russia, in case of a escalating global conflict, may want to conduct sea denial and maritime interdiction operations for the entire Barents Sea including west of the maritime border with Norway. “We clearly see that some Russian vessels, including fishing vessels, have the capacity to map subsea activity,” Øksenvåg, head of the fisheries section of the Norwegian Coast Guard said. Despite these concerns and warnings, nearly all - if not all - Russian vessels that request shelter are approved. 115 Russian fishing vessels were granted permission to operate in Norwegian waters in 2026. Military officials emphasise that all vessels seeking shelter are thoroughly background-checked and that any area granted for shelter is pre-cleared. Less than two weeks ago, a group of trawlers from northern Russia lined up in Lyngen, north of Tromsø, during a period of strong winds - coinciding with the withdrawal of troops following NATO’s Cold Response exercise. Further north, in the Fisheries Protection Zone around Svalbard, EU and Norwegian sanctions do not apply, companies such as Murman Seafood are therefore still 'permitted' to fish. This winter, one of the company’s trawlers - Melkart-5 - showed highly unusual navigation practices in the immediate vicinity of a subsea cable in the Norwegian North Sea, in Isfjorden, crossing one of two fibre-optic links connecting Svalbard to mainland Norway multiple times, immediately before it was severely damaged. (Source: The Barents Observer - Norway)
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