Prime Minister Viktor Orban ordered extra security at critical energy infrastructure sites after accusing Ukraine of trying to disrupt Hungary's energy system. In a video posted to social media on Wednesday, Orban, who maintains the closest relationship with the Kremlin of any European Union leader, said the Ukrainian government is using an oil blockade to exert pressure on Hungary.
02/23/2026February 23, 2026 German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's party wants to end the option of employees getting a sick note by phone. Its coalition partner, however, opposes the proposal. DW has the latest. Merz has criticized the average of 14.5 sick days taken by employees in GermanyImage: Thilo Schmuelgen/REUTERS Skip next section
Several of Russia's most prominent TV personalities, including Pavel Zarubin, a state TV reporter known for fawning reporting on -- and nearly unfettered access to -- President Vladimir Putin, were targeted in the European Union's newest package of sanctions. The proposed measures were adopted by the European Council -- the bloc's executive body -- on January 28 at a meeting of EU ambassadors. EU members that have typically been wary of provoking Moscow -- Hungary and Slovakia -- did not block the measures.
The European Union is expected to indefinitely freeze hundreds of billions of Russian funds held in Europe in line with a plan to use the cash to support Ukraine. The bloc's members were expected to approve the plan on Friday to immobilise 210 billion euros ($246bn) worth of Russian sovereign assets for as long as necessary, through a qualified majority vote, instead of voting every six months on extending the asset freeze.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin on Friday, once again shunning efforts by his European Union partners to isolate Moscow over its invasion of neighboring Ukraine nearly four years ago. The trip to Moscow is the second since last year for Orban, who is widely considered Putin's closest partner among all EU leaders.
He said that the new sanctions "will introduce new and comprehensive measures on oil and gas, the shadow fleet and Russia's financial sector." A new system for limiting the movement of Russian diplomats within the 27-nation EU will also be introduced. The move comes a day after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration announced new sanctions against Russia's oil industry that are aimed at moving Russian President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table and ending Moscow's war on Ukraine.
Two former senior EU officials, speaking separately, criticised the decision not to move forward with sanctions. Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff, a former EU representative to the Palestinian territories, told the Guardian that Kallas missed the point on legal accountability. Sanctions are not just a measure to induce or coerce a third party to change or adjust its behaviour. Restrictive measures are part of the tools the EU has given itself to react to breaches of both European and international law, he said.
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The conservative German chancellor insisted that Germany stood "firmly" with Israel but described its military response in Gaza as "disproportionate". "Criticism of the Israeli government must be possible, but we must never allow it to be used to incite hatred against Jews," he said, adding that he and Sanchez agreed on this point. But unlike Sanchez, Merz avoided calling the Israeli offensive in Gaza a "genocide" and made clear that Germany currently had no plans to recognise a Palestinian state, as Spain has done.
Germany will reach a decision on whether to back European Union sanctions against Israel before a European Union meeting in Copenhagen in October, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on a visit to Madrid on Thursday. Speaking alongside Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Merz said Israel's actions in Gaza were not proportional to its stated goals, but said Germany did not share the view that the actions amounted to genocide. He added that for Germany, the recognition of Palestinian statehood was not currently up for debate.
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
GPS jamming involves transmission of radio waves in the same frequencies used by GPS satellites. As those sats are around 20,000kms above Earth, the signals they send are quite weak. A terrestrial transmitter can overwhelm GPS info. It's also possible to spoof info from GPS satellites in an effort to lead those who rely on satnav astray. Neither Podestà nor Itkonen described the exact nature of this jamming incident, or how the presidential plane addressed it.
