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Europol also noted a growing cooperation between organised crime groups and foreign actors aiming to destabilise the EU. As a result, monetary gains from the crimes are no longer their only incentive. 'Destabilisation is not only about getting money anymore. It's also about helping ideologically oriented states to reach their goals,' said De Bolle.
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The EU's latest challenge in its dispute with Russia is trying to balance targetting Russian fertiliser imports while avoiding serious negative repercussions for European agriculture.
At the end of last week, EU member states adopted a European Commission proposal to impose additional customs duties on imports of agricultural products from Russia and Belarus.
The Commission argues that as things stand, member states would be in a vulnerable position if Moscow were to introduce coercive measures against them. In other words, European food security is at stake.
But the measure is worrying the EU's farming community. Copa-Cogeca, the organisation which represents the interests of the sector in Brussels, points out that the industry is heavily dependent on Russian fertilisers.
"Already today, we import from other third countries, but increased demand will generate more pressure in terms of logistics, and therefore higher costs. These cost increases will generate agricultural inflation, which will have repercussions in terms of lower incomes for agricultural producers and reduced competitiveness," insists Dominique Dejonckheere, energy policy adviser at Copa-Cogeca.
Russian fertilisers account for around 25% of EU imports. According to the Commission, additional customs duties per tonne of fertiliser could gradually rise from €40 or €45 to €315 or €430 over three years.
Copa-Cogeca points out that fertiliser purchases "account on average for 10% of a farm's variable costs. But for some sectors, notably field crops, cereals and oilseeds, fertiliser expenditure represents around 30% of variable costs," explained Dejonckheere.
At the European Parliament, the text's rapporteur, MEP Inese Vaidere (EPP), acknowledges that all parties will have to take a step towards each other.
"I would say that this is a balanced proposal. There are always a lot of interests at stake. And if you make a legislative proposal or even a legislative act, you can't say that everyone concerned will be 100% satisfied. That's not the case," says the Latvian MEP.
But she believes that Europe needs to act and think strategically. "Russia has managed to produce fertilisers from cheap Russian gas and sell them on the European market at very low prices. This means that if we buy these Russian fertilisers, we continue to feed the Russian war machine. Is that acceptable? No, it's not acceptable."
"So my personal opinion is that this proposal could or should have been put forward three years ago," she adds.
The Commission believes that its proposal will increase domestic production of fertilisers and strengthen the industry through these additional taxes.
The sector has suffered from the energy crisis and the sanctions against Russia, as the manufacturing of nitrogen fertilisers requires natural gas to produce ammonia for use in fertilisers.
"Yes, there is still sufficient production capacity in Europe. But the issue for us is not so much availability as it is price. We need fertilisers at affordable prices, and on this issue we have no guarantees from the industry. The industry's problem is that energy costs are too high," says Dejonckheere.
To provide greater visibility and ensure affordable prices, the Commission proposes diversifying supplies from various other countries.
"In the event of a shortage, we have partners all over the world and this is also a means of supply. And I don't think this should seriously affect our production of agricultural products," says Inese Vaidere.
EU member states are in agreement on principle, with the exception of Hungary, and are keen to move forward. However, they regret the absence of an impact study and will therefore want regular monitoring of the situation.
The European Parliament will formally take up the issue at the beginning of next month. Once its position has been adopted, MEPs will have to reach agreement with the member states on a joint text.
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Euronews
18 minutes ago
- Euronews
At least five killed in Russian missile and drone attacks on Ukraine
The European Union has roundly deplored the United States for sanctioning four judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), including one citizen from the bloc, Slovenia's Beti Hohler, further deepening the divide between transatlantic allies. The sanctions, which also target nationals from Benin, Uganda and Peru, were announced on Thursday by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the decision was based on the court's "baseless and politicised" investigations of war crimes allegedly committed by US forces in Afghanistan and Israel in the Gaza Strip. The second probe led to arrest warrants on Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Natayanhu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. Judge Hohler ruled in favour of the orders. As a result of the measures, the four judges will be unable to access their property and assets on US soil and will be blocked from making transactions with American entities. The bans risk hindering the magistrates' ability to perform their day-to-day work. "We call on our allies to stand with us against this disgraceful attack," Rubio said. Rubio's call was met with the opposite reaction: emphatic support for the Hague-based tribunal and forceful rejection of the sanctions. "The ICC holds perpetrators of the world's gravest crimes to account & gives victims a voice. It must be free to act without pressure," said Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission. "We will always stand for global justice & the respect of international law." António Costa, the president of the European Council, voiced a similar message. "The EU strongly supports the International Criminal Court, a cornerstone of international justice," Costa wrote on social media. The ICC "does not stand against nations—it stands against impunity. We must protect its independence and integrity. The rule of law must prevail over the rule of power." High Representative Kaja Kallas stressed the ICC "must remain free from pressure and true to its principles." The Netherlands, which serves as the host country for the ICC, also expressed strong condemnation, stressing the tribunal's work must remain "as unhindered as possible". "The Netherlands disapproves of the new sanctions against officials of the International Criminal Court," said Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp. "Independent international courts and tribunals must be able to carry out their work without hindrance. We stand firmly behind the Court." Rejecting outside "pressure on judicial institutions", the Slovenian government said it would provide Judge Beti Hohler with "all necessary support in the performance of her mandate in the current situation". The country called on Brussels to immediately activate the so-called blocking statute, a decades-long regulation meant to protect EU individuals and companies from the extraterritorial application of sanctions by non-EU countries. The law was introduced in reaction to the sanctions that Washington introduced in 1996 against Cuba, Iran and Libya, which had ripple effects on European operators that engaged in legitimate trade with the three countries, particularly Cuba. The blocking statute came back to the fore in 2018, when the first Donald Trump administration withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal, reintroduced sanctions that had been previously lifted and threatened to punish companies for doing business with Tehran, regardless of their geographic location or ownership. Although Brussels tried to mitigate the damaging impact of these secondary sanctions, many European companies voluntarily cut off relations with Iran out of fear of losing access to America's highly profitable, dollar-based market. A Commission spokesperson said the executive would "closely monitor the implications before we decide on any next steps", such as the activation of the blocking statute, which is the Commission's prerogative but depends on a qualified majority among member states. "We have to take one step at a time," the spokesperson said. In a statement, the ICC insisted it would "continue its work undeterred, in strict accordance with the Rome Statute and the principles of fairness and due process". "Targeting those working for accountability does nothing to help civilians trapped in conflict. It only emboldens those who believe they can act with impunity," it said. "These sanctions are not only directed at designated individuals, they also target all those who support the Court, including nationals and corporate entities of States Parties. They are aimed against innocent victims in all situations before the Court." The US, which is not a party to the 1998 Rome Statute, has long had tense relations with the ICC, viewing with suspicion its ability to conduct probes into nationals around the world. The arrest warrant against Netanyahu was met with bipartisan condemnation in Washington and prompted a renewed assault by the Trump administration. Earlier this year, Hungary openly defied the ICC by ignoring the warrant and inviting Netanyahu to Budapest. Hungary later announced its intention to withdraw from the Rome Statute, becoming the first member state to do so. This article has been updated with more reactions. Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Ukrainian cities overnight on Friday, killing at least five people and injuring more than 70. According to Ukraine's Air Force spokesperson Yuri Ihnat, Kyiv forces intercepted 368 out of 407 drones and shot down 36 out of 45 missiles, including four out of six ballistic Iskander missiles launched by Russia. Ukraine's Air Forces activated the air raid alerts in all Ukrainian regions last night, warning people that multiple Russian bombers had taken off for the attack. Many people proceeded to bomb shelters with the warning. Ukraine's capital Kyiv was hit the hardest. The city Mayor Vitali Klitschko said search and rescue operations were under way at several locations. Multiple explosions were heard in Kyiv overnight, where falling debris sparked fires across several districts as air defence systems attempted to intercept incoming targets, said Tymur Tkachenko, head of the Kyiv City Administration. 'Our air defence crews are doing everything possible. But we must protect one another — stay safe,' Tkachenko wrote on Telegram. Authorities reported damage in several districts, and rescue workers were responding at multiple locations. They urged residents to seek shelter. In Solomyanskyi district, a fire broke out on the 11th floor of a 16-story residential building. 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Trump spoke as he met with Germany's new Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who appealed to him as the 'key person in the world' who could halt the bloodshed by pressuring Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump this week spoke on the phone with Putin, who vowed to respond "very strongly" to Ukraine's daring drone attacks on Russian military airfields that had taken place on Sunday. In February 2024, 23-year-old pregnant mother Teodora Marcu was shot dead in front of her three-year old daughter and other children on a street in Romania by her ex-partner. The killer, 49-year-old Robert Lupu, had a documented history of abuse: Marcu had filed multiple complaints against him. She died on the sidewalk, alone and unheard, although she had 'screamed' about the problem in vain for months. Marcu's story is not an exception—it is a brutal reminder of a crisis that knows no borders. Across Europe, domestic violence continues to claim lives and ruin futures. Despite years of awareness campaigns, legislative efforts, and protest movements, recent data show that domestic violence remains stubbornly pervasive - and in some countries, it's getting worse and cases – much more brutal. In Germany, new figures released in June 2024 by the Federal Criminal Police Office mark a disturbing high: 256,276 people were victims of domestic violence last year, a 6.5% increase from 2022. Of those, 70.5% were women, and in cases of intimate partner violence, nearly four out of five victims were female. Most chillingly: 155 women were killed by their current or former partners in 2023. Despite Germany's strong legal frameworks, the data signal systemic failure. 'The rising numbers mean more women are stepping forward,' said a spokesperson from a Berlin-based crisis centre. 'But it also means we're not stopping the violence. We're only counting it.' In Greece, police data for 2023 show the number of domestic violence incidents remained nearly unchanged from 2022—but still double the figure recorded in 2020. Of the 9,886 women who contacted police, the vast majority were in relationships with their abuser. 59.6% of incidents occurred within romantic partnerships, 29.7% of perpetrators were spouses, and 13.8% were live-in partners. Greece also saw 12 femicides, most committed by a male family member. A digital 'panic button' app was rolled out in 2023 to help women discreetly alert police during violent episodes. In 2024, the app was expanded nationwide and opened to male victims. Whether police response times and follow-through match the urgency remains an open question. In Portugal, domestic violence is also on the rise, at least in terms of awareness. From 2021 to 2024, the number of victims seeking help from the Portuguese Association for Victim Support (APAV) jumped by 29.3%, totalling 43,110 cases. 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Euronews
2 hours ago
- Euronews
Ukraine war: Kharkiv targeted by massive Russian attack
A large Russian attack with drones and missiles has hit Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv on Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring 21, local officials said. The barrage — the latest in near daily widescale attacks — included aerial glide bombs that have become part of a fierce Russian onslaught in the three-year-war . The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal anytime soon days — especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprise drone attack on military air bases deep inside Russia. According to Ukraine's Air Force, Russia struck with 215 missiles and drones overnight, and Ukrainian air defenses shot down and neutralized 87 drones and seven missiles. Several other areas in Ukraine were also hit, including the regions of Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa, and the city of Ternopil, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post on X. 'To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine,' he said. Kharkiv's mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack also damaged 18 apartment buildings and 13 private homes. Terekhov said it was 'the most powerful attack' on the city since the full-scale invasion in 2022. Kharkiv's regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said two districts in the city were struck with three missiles, five aerial glide bombs and 48 drones. Among the injured were two children, a month and a half year old baby boy and a 14-year old girl, he added. The attack on Kharkiv comes one day after Russia launched one of the fiercest missile and drone barrages on Ukraine, striking six Ukrainian territories and killing at least killing at least six people and injuring about 80. Among the dead were three emergency responders in Kyiv, one person in Lutsk and two people in Chernihiv. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force said it shot down a Russian Su-35 fighter jet on the Kursk front inside Russia, the Ukrainian daily Ukrainskaia Pravda reported. No more details were given immediately. U.S. President Donald Trump said this week that his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Russian military airfields last Sunday with "Operation Spiderweb" In a new statement bound to cause offense in Kyiv and amongst its allies, Trump told journalists on board Air Force One on Friday evening local time when asked about "Operation Spiderweb": "They gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. That's the thing I didn't like about it. When I saw it I said 'Here we go, now it's going to be a strike'." The European Union is readying a new round of sanctions against Russia to pile extra pressure on the Kremlin and pressure it to agree to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, a step that Western allies consider indispensable for serious peace negotiations. Ursula von der Leyen has already provided an outline of what that package, the 18th since February 2022, is supposed to target: Russia's financial sector, the "shadow fleet" and the Nord Stream pipelines, which are currently non-operational. On top of that, the president of the European Commission has pitched a downward revision of the price cap on Russian oil to further squeeze profits from worldwide sales, a crucial cash flow to sustain the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. "We need a real ceasefire, we need Russia at the negotiating table, and we need to end this war. Pressure works, as the Kremlin understands nothing else," von der Leyen said earlier this week after meeting with US Senator Lindsey Graham. But there's a catch: unlike other sanctions the bloc has imposed on Russia, such as the multiple export and import bans, the price cap has a political and practical dimension that exceeds the institutional sphere of Brussels and stretches across the ocean. More specifically, to Washington, DC. The price cap on Russian oil was introduced in December 2022 by the Group of Seven (G7) under the initiative of the Joe Biden administration. It was hailed as an ingenious, ground-breaking mechanism to mobilise the collective power of Western allies and cripple Russia's high-intensity war machine. As part of the plan, the G7, together with Australia, passed laws prohibiting their domestic companies from providing services, such as insurance, financing and flagging, to Russian tankers that sold seaborne crude oil above a predetermined price. The secret lay in market power: for decades, Western firms, particularly British ones, have dominated the sector of Protection and Indemnity (P&I), a type of insurance that gives shipowners broad protection and allows them to cover potentially huge costs from any accidental harm caused to the crew, their property or the environment. Due to the inherent risks of moving oil in high waters, P&I is today considered the norm in maritime trade and a must-have to be accepted in a foreign port. By leveraging their leading firms, the G7 intended to create an extraterritorial effect that would cap the price of Russian oil not only within their jurisdictions but all around the world. Following intense behind-the-scenes talks, the cap was set at $60 per barrel, a compromise between hard-line and cautious member states. The strategy only worked up to a point however. Although the price of Russian Urals oil gradually decreased, it consistently remained above the $60 mark, often exceeding the $70 threshold. The blatant circumvention was attributed to the "shadow fleet" that Russia deployed at high sea. These tankers are so old and poorly kept that they fall outside P&I standards and rely on alternative, obscure insurance systems that escape G7 surveillance. By the time the cap entered into force, Moscow "had spent months building a 'shadow fleet' of tankers, finding new buyers like India and China, and creating new payment systems, to the point that its oil does not need to be greatly discounted to sell," Luis Caricano, a professor at the London School of Economics, wrote in a recent analysis. "What should have been a blow became a manageable problem," Caricano said. With few sectors in the Russian economy left to sanction, Brussels has turned its sight to the cap as a means to tighten the screws on the Kremlin and secure a ceasefire in Ukraine. The Commission has reportedly pitched a revision between $50 and $45 per barrel, which the UK and Canada are believed to support. However, the US has so far refrained from endorsing a lower price cap, raising the stakes ahead of crunch talks at the G7 summit in Alberta, scheduled for mid-June. Now, a tough question emerges: Can the EU dare, and afford, to go it alone? In the strictest legalistic sense, the EU could, indeed, establish a lower price cap on its own. After all, the G7, as an organisation, lacks regulatory powers: each ally amends its laws individually to fulfil a collective mission. In this case, the EU introduced new legislation to prohibit EU companies – rather than, say, American or British companies – from servicing Russian tankers that bypassed the $60-per-barrel cap. Similarly, the bloc could now change the text to adjust that prohibition to a tighter price without waiting for other allies to reciprocate. Here appears the first roadblock: any change to sanctions must be approved by a unanimous vote among member states. It is highly unlikely that all 27 countries would choose to move forward with a lower cap without having an explicit guarantee that Washington will follow suit. Hungary, in particular, has fully aligned itself with the Trump administration and could veto any proposal opposed by the White House. Even if the bloc managed to overcome internal differences and agreed to a lower cap on its own, more formidable obstacles could impede its success. The bloc's revised cap would have to co-exist with America's existing cap. This means that one side of the Atlantic Ocean would apply a $50-per-barrel limit while the other side would apply a $60-per-barrel limit, creating a cacophony for all actors involved. "Different price caps across G7 countries could confuse maritime service providers and weaken overall enforcement," Petras Katinas, an energy analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), told Euronews. "A solo move by the EU could cause friction within the Price Cap Coalition, damaging trust and coordination, both of which are crucial for keeping pressure on Russian oil revenues," Katinas added, warning the project could be rendered "largely symbolic". The legislative chaos would immediately benefit the Kremlin, which has long sought to exploit loopholes to evade and undermine international sanctions. Moscow, though, would also face hurdles: the continued crackdown on "shadow fleet" vessels has forced the country to increase its reliance on G7 insurance, which, in theory, could make it easier for the EU to apply the revised measure. "If the EU alone decides to tighten the screws on the cap, it's an additional constraint on Russia's oil exports but not as tight as with a whole of G7 approach," said Elisabetta Cornago, a senior researcher at the Centre for European Reform (CER). Besides practical snags and legal matters, there is geopolitics to consider. One of the reasons why the G7 initiative has fallen short of expectations is that, as the name suggests, it has remained a G7-exclusive plan. Countries in Asia, Latin America and Africa have refused to play along and join the coalition. China and India openly buy Russian crude oil, sometimes to refine it and resell it under a different label. Having the EU and the US go separate ways would further destabilise the Western alliance and create the impression of a transatlantic break-up. But for many, that is already a reality: the "Coalition of the Willing", born after Donald Trump unilaterally launched negotiations with Vladimir Putin, bears testament to the political divide. "The price cap was a G7 + EU initiative, and so in its current form, I do not see any pathway in which the EU could adjust the cap without the support of the broader coalition, including the US," said Ben McWilliams, an affiliate fellow with Bruegel. "That said, the EU is free to implement whatever measures it wants on its own domestic ships and insurance companies, which it could likely encourage the UK to join," McWilliams added. "So the EU can still move ahead – it would just need to be under a different institutional format than currently exists."
LeMonde
2 hours ago
- LeMonde
Russia launches major strikes in retaliation against Ukraine, Kharkiv hit by 'most powerful attack' since start of war
Russia unleashed a barrage of missiles, drones and bombs across Ukraine early Saturday, June 7, killing at least five people as it retaliated for a brazen attack by Kyiv on air bases days earlier. The Kremlin has accelerated its attacks on Ukraine in recent weeks, as direct negotiations have failed to broker an end to the three-year war or even a temporary truce. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga called for Kyiv's western allies to punish Russia for refusing to halt its invasion. "To put an end to Russia's killing and destruction, more pressure on Moscow is required, as are more steps to strengthen Ukraine," he said on social media. Tens of thousands have been killed since Moscow invaded in February 2022, triggering Europe's largest conflict since World War II, destroying cities and villages across eastern Ukraine and forcing millions to flee their homes. The attacks come ahead of an expected prisoner swap, set to take place this weekend – the only concrete agreement to come out of peace talks between the two sides. The Ukrainian air force said Russia had fired 206 drones and nine missiles in the overnight barrage. Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv came under "the most powerful attack since the beginning of the full-scale war," Mayor Igor Terekhov said. The northeastern city was home to 1.4 million people before the war and lies around 30 kilometres from the border with Russia. Unprecedented attack The Russian strikes pummelled homes and apartment blocks there, killing at least three people and wounding 17 more, the mayor said. Kharkiv region Governor Oleg Synegubov said the wounded included two children. In the southern city of Kherson, Russian shelling killed a couple and damaged two high-rise buildings, regional Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said. Attacks were also recorded on the Dnipropetrovsk, Odesa and Ternopil regions. Rescuers in the western city of Lutsk, near the Polish border, meanwhile discovered a second fatality from strikes a day earlier, describing the victim as a woman in her 20s. The aerial bombardments come days after Ukraine launched a brazen attack well beyond the frontlines, damaging nuclear-capable military planes at Russian air bases and prompting vows of revenge from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia's defense ministry meanwhile said Saturday that its forces had downed 36 Ukrainian drones fired at its territory. Ukraine has been pushing for an unconditional and immediate 30-day truce, issuing its latest proposal during peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. But Russia, which now controls around one-fifth of Ukraine's territory, has repeatedly rejected calls to end its three-year war. The Kremlin said Friday the Ukraine war was "existential" for Russia.
