EU leaders are in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday for a Special European Council. What’s so special about it? Well, the leaders will (after a trip to see the king of the Belgians) spend Wednesday evening talking about developments in Ukraine and EU-Turkey relations. In the wake of Iran’s drone and missile attacks against Israel, the Middle East will also be discussed. Then on Thursday, the leaders will talk competitiveness and the single market, off the back of a report on the future of the single market drawn up by former Italian PM Enrico Letta. Stay with POLITICO for all the latest ..read more

KYIV — A Russian victory in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Chasiv Yar, currently the target of a sustained military offensive, would jeopardize the security of the remaining Ukrainian-held cities in Donetsk, a senior Ukrainian official told POLITICO on Tuesday. “If the Russian occupiers manage to capture this city, they will have the opportunity to launch an offensive on Kostiantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk,” said Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn, a Ukrainian army spokesperson. “These cities are the last stronghold of Donetsk region, which is under the control of Ukraine,” h ..read more

Martin Selmayr, known as the “monster of the Berlaymont,” has been nominated as the EU ambassador to the Vatican, Order of Malta and U.N. organizations.  EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell announced on Tuesday in Brussels the nominees for the upcoming rotation of EU diplomatic delegations. POLITICO first reported the potential move in March. Known for a harsh leadership approach that resulted in the above nickname, Selmayr caused a stir when he was promoted from then-European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s chief of staff to secretary-general of the Commission in 2018 ..read more

Berlin. For seven years, the complex issue of the further development of the banking union has been a matter of debate. Now, suddenly, things are moving: The common European Deposit Insurance Scheme (EDIS) is back on the European Parliament’s agenda. The European Parliament’s ECON Committee is due to vote on the proposed regulation as early as Thursday. A valid reason for this rush? There is none. However, it aligns with the preceding process. Once again, someone tries to take the second step before the first. In 2015, the European Commission presented a proposal before the revised Deposit Gua ..read more

BRUSSELS — Brexit champion Nigel Farage said Donald Trump dislikes Brussels so much it makes him look like the EU’s best friend in comparison. Farage, a British right-wing politician who successfully spearheaded a yearslong campaign to get the U.K. out of the EU, claimed, “I never really repeat what Trump and I say in private, but I do think there are times when Trump makes me look like a Europhile in terms of what he thinks about Brussels structures.” During his keynote speech at a controversial hard-right event in Brussels, Farage predicted — performing a half-decent impression of the former ..read more

BRUSSELS ― It’s older than the euro and as integral to the EU as being able to cross borders without a passport ― but the single market is failing to deliver while ever-stronger world economies gain the upper hand. Enrico Letta, a former Italian prime minister who will hand his report on the issue to EU leaders at their summit in Brussels on Thursday, told POLITICO the bloc needed to be “less naïve” if Europe was going to be robust enough in the years ahead. “I strongly think that we need to create a single market with teeth,” he said. “This is the key point: a single market with teeth.” The n ..read more

France is “being overwhelmed with propaganda and disinformation” ahead of the EU election, French minister for European affairs Jean-Noël Barrot warned Tuesday. The country’s security authorities are facing waves of disinformation ahead of the European election in June, Barrot told POLITICO’s Tech & AI Summit. He said traditional media and official ministry websites were being spoofed to trick people into believing disinformation, and fake accounts were ramping up activity on social media. “In the past six weeks, there [has] not been one week without a coordinated disinformation campaign a ..read more

Emmanuel Macron praised two Frenchmen who stepped in during a knife attack that left six people dead at a Sydney shopping mall on Saturday. “Two of our compatriots behaved like real heroes,” the French president said Tuesday, adding that he was “very proud and grateful.” In his post on X, formerly Twitter, Macron replied to France’s Ambassador to Australia Pierre-André Imbert, who revealed the names of the two people and thanked them for their bravery. “During last weekend’s horrendous attack in Sydney, two of our countrymen, Silas Despreaux and Damien Guerot showed great courage in trying to ..read more

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz got a slap from Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday over Europe’s turn toward trade protectionism — and little fresh commitment on Ukraine.  Despite the state media’s portrayal of a friendly setting — featuring tea and a walk with the Chinese president — Beijing’s grievances over Europe’s looming war on green tech were obvious during his meeting with the leader of the largest EU economy.  “China’s exports of electric vehicles, lithium batteries and photovoltaic products [solar panels] are a massive contribution to the world’s effort to tackle climate ch ..read more

BRUSSELS — Police in Brussels moved on Tuesday to shut down an ongoing gathering of Europe’s hard-right elite. The National Conservatism Conference was set to welcome Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán and U.K. politician Nigel Farage over the next two days, but law enforcement arrived two hours into the event at the Claridge venue, near the European Quarter, to inform organizers that the event would be terminated. “The authorities decided to shut the event due to possibility of public disorder,” a police officer heard by POLITICO told one of the organizers. The shutters had already come down on th ..read more