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  If Brussels accepts this vague hunt for “Muslim Brotherhood networks”, the same logic could later be turned against almost any vocal minority in Europe. https://euobserver.com/241087/centre-rights-muslim-brotherhood-witch-hunt-in-eu-parliament-risks-criminalising-everyday-activism/

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  Norwegian activist Tommy Olsen says he is facing enormous personal and financial costs over Greek allegations that he belongs to a criminal organisation, in a trial that starts on Tuesday in Rhodes. https://euobserver.com/241141/they-want-to-shut-me-up-norwegian-activist-fights-20year-greek-prison-threat-over-asylum-aid/

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  Nuclear sabre-rattling only underlines the fragility of Russia’s grip on its trophy territory. https://euobserver.com/240976/russia-is-losing-its-grip-on-kaliningrad-despite-using-the-exclave-for-anti-nato-scare-stories/

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  The European Commission is expected to present its long-delayed pre-enlargement policy reviews to prepare for the integration of Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova. https://euobserver.com/240837/this-week-eu-trade-chief-heads-to-china-as-brussels-unveils-long-delayed-pre-enlargement-reforms/

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  Jos Leijdekkers was sentenced in the Netherlands in absentia to 24 years in prison for smuggling seven tonnes of cocaine, robbery, and ordering a killing. But he is also the partner of Agnes Bio, the president of Sierra Leone's daughter. https://euobserver.com/240782/from-the-netherlands-to-sierra-leone-eu-aid-a-presidents-daughter-and-europes-mostwanted-cocaine-boss/

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  French political scientist Jacques Rupnik says the economic illiteracy of Marine Le Pen and Mélenchon is astonishing. He anticipates that in the first round of France's presidential election, most voters will back a candidate they believe can stop Le Pen. A Mamdani moment could happen, since people feel that politics has exhausted itself. https://euobserver.com/238893/interview-le-pen-and-melenchon-are-economically-illiterate-and-weaponising-migration-says-french-scholar-ahead-of-2027-race/

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  As Brussels moves to delay its methane rules, nearly 100 US civil society groups are urging EU governments not to cave to oil and gas lobbyists and the White House. https://euobserver.com/240539/us-civil-society-groups-call-on-eu-not-to-delay-methane-rules/

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  Political pressure for allowing EU asylum opt-outs continues to increase, as commission drafts vague new emergency rules in the wake of this summer's Ceuta episode. https://euobserver.com/240238/eus-centre-right-epp-seeks-asylum-opt-outs-as-commission-silent-on-new-crisis-rules/

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  Rebuilding Gaza will require tens of billions of dollars, and the 883.6m package announced by the EU is not nearly enough. https://euobserver.com/239938/listen-how-are-europeans-contributing-to-the-reconstruction-of-gaza/

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  The Americans have secured some 35 deals to deport people, often with no strings attached. The multi-million US dollar business appears to have turned into a race with the Europeans, who are hoping to secure their first deal with the Rwandans. https://euobserver.com/239412/a-global-race-between-europe-and-the-us-to-pay-african-countries-to-host-deportees-is-underway-as-human-commerce-becomes-a-lucrative-business/

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  With ex-ministers facing bribery charges and a motorway concession worth €65bn under fire, the Tisza government’s push for accountability is starting to hit the wallets and freedom of the Orbán-era elite. https://euobserver.com/239469/orban-dominoes-start-falling-hungarys-accountability-drive-reaches-ex-fidesz-ministers-day-135-of-the-tisza-government/

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  The proposal that would let you create a Europe‑wide company from your laptop in two days is also exposing a deeper question: how much national legal sovereignty are governments really prepared to sacrifice for competitiveness? https://euobserver.com/239383/listen-what-would-eu-inc-change-for-european-companies/

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  Two EU citizens have faced years of uninterrupted torture and rights deprivation while battling Bahrain's crackdowns during the Arab Spring. The issue has hardly topped the EU's negotiations with Bahrain on trade and security - which experts think could make-or-break the human rights defenders' potential release. https://euobserver.com/238799/eu-bahrain-talks-move-ahead-even-as-european-political-prisoners-recount-years-of-torture/

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  Mainstream parties might assume that this new age of insecurity will work in their favour. But If Europe’s security environment continues to deteriorate as voters head to the polls in 2027, mainstream leaders should not assume that geopolitics will do the political work of containing the far-right for them. https://euobserver.com/238663/germany-offers-a-warning-for-europe-ahead-of-2027-election-year-the-putin-trump-security-crisis-wont-necessarily-save-the-political-centre/

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  With fuel bills rising again, a group of EU governments including Spain, Germany and Portugal want a common tax on crisis profits to fund relief and green investments - but most of the bloc is pushing back. https://euobserver.com/238591/listen-fuel-price-spike-reignites-push-for-eu-windfall-tax-on-oil-and-gas-profits/

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  Beijing and Brussels have made demands and counter-demands as talks on their myriad trade disputes hot up. But they could be derailed by a US-China summit in Washington next week. https://euobserver.com/238422/beijing-tells-eu-to-weaken-made-in-europe-industrial-bill-ahead-of-october-showdown/

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  EUobserver understands that Ursula von der Leyen did not consult EU governments before making the offer to Canada and there is anxiety in some EU capitals that cosying up to Mark Carney could inflame Donald Trump into re-starting his tariff war with Europe. https://euobserver.com/238167/details-emerge-on-canadas-associate-membership-eu-offer-as-brexit-uk-left-looking-on/

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  Belgium's minister for migration was accused of being "the shame of this government" during a heated debate on Wednesday on the fate of 13 Gazans who won scholarships to Belgian universities but have been denied transport so that they can take up their places. https://euobserver.com/237967/belgian-minister-under-fire-for-denying-evacuation-to-13-gazan-scholarship-students/

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  As the final ballots are counted before an official result on Wednesday, Sweden's outgoing government was one tainted with one of the strongest deportation rates and most stringent migration policies in the EU. https://euobserver.com/237457/sweden-democrats-era-of-deportations-leaves-lasting-mark-across-europe-as-stockholm-forms-new-government/

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  As Ursula von der Leyen gears up to talk up her data centre plans in the State of the Union address next Wednesday (16 September), MEPs must question who will own and benefit from these data centres. https://euobserver.com/236303/von-der-leyens-state-of-the-union-ai-data-centre-dream-will-be-a-nightmare/

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  An investigation by Investigate Europe reveals how Israeli academic organisations and legal allies are fighting to keep research ties with European universities alive — putting human rights, academic freedom and Israel’s future in Horizon Europe at the centre of a growing legal and political battle. https://euobserver.com/235837/revealed-inside-the-israeli-campaign-to-derail-european-university-boycotts/

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  The AfD celebrates its historic win. Saxony-Anhalt’s cultural scene, schools, media and migrant communities are bracing for a future where the far-right decides. https://euobserver.com/235643/afds-electoral-triumph-is-a-watershed-regardless-of-whether-it-gets-to-form-the-saxony-anhalt-government/

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  Sanctions against Itamar Ben-Gvir are long overdue – and finally in reach. But the focus on sanctioning individual ministers must not replace using the EU’s leverage over Israel and the settlements. https://euobserver.com/234525/its-time-for-berlin-to-step-up-to-the-plate-on-israel-sanctions-beyond-ben-gvir/

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  Slovenia undermined Western reaction to Israel's drastic carve-up of the West Bank, signalling that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu had a new EU inside-man. https://euobserver.com/233662/slovenias-jansa-helps-netanyahu-blunt-eu-response-to-west-bank-landgrab/

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  As Russia floods the front with faster Geran drones and more Iskander missiles, Ukrainian commanders warn that this winter’s air war could overwhelm already stretched air defences and critical infrastructure. https://euobserver.com/232010/jet-powered-russian-drone-could-cause-harsh-winter-for-ukraine-ukraine-battlefield-update-day-1629/

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  Creating an institution that cannot, by design, reach the one man it was created for is not accountability. It is expensive symbolism — and it costs Europe exactly the credibility it is trying to project, argues former ICC judge Christine Van den Wyngaert. https://euobserver.com/231739/europe-is-creating-a-new-international-court-for-putin-one-he-may-never-face-while-in-power/

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  As Hungary struggles through an energy crisis, prime minister Péter Magyar is fighting off Fidesz attacks, recovering billions from an Orbán-linked era, and facing controversy over who really controls the country’s public media. https://euobserver.com/231663/hungary-faces-record-heat-nuclear-fears-and-a-public-media-scandal-ahead-of-august-presidential-vote-day-87-of-the-tisza-government/

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  From secret deportations and European-funded projects destroyed in Gaza to EU recovery funds and mining lobbying, these ten investigations expose the widening gap between Europe’s rhetoric and the realities of its policies and actions. https://euobserver.com/231715/10-euobserver-investigations-from-2026-so-far-you-shouldnt-miss/

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  After loudly demanding more oversight of the EU’s €300bn Global Gateway scheme, national ministers are now skipping its own board meetings. “It's a major part of the budget, but it's not really understood,” said the Irish liberal MEP Barry Andrews, who chairs the parliament’s development committee. https://euobserver.com/231683/eu-ministers-leave-global-gateway-board-seats-empty-despite-transparency-complaints/

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  With turbines winding down at Paks, bridges in darkness and freight trains halted at peak hours, Hungarians are suddenly feeling how a shrinking Danube can upend daily life and the wider economy. https://euobserver.com/231254/paks-nuclear-plant-winds-down-amid-historic-danube-low-as-far-right-urges-hungarians-to-defy-calls-for-energy-saving/