POLITICO Europe

🚨 BREAKING: Friedrich Merz will be German chancellor after winning a second vote in the Bundestag. Read the story: https://ow.ly/2Or450VNMav

🚨 BREAKING: TikTok has been hit with a €530 million fine after illegally sending the personal data of European users to China. Read the story: https://ow.ly/16Yh50VLQ9I

Channel photo updated

Russia is continuing its attack on Ukrainian civilian areas, hitting Kharkiv’s residential district with new types of cluster-filled ballistic missiles in the early hours of this morning. Here's the story: https://ow.ly/4ab750VCXtb

The Suwałki Gap is a crucial choke point along the border with Poland that's seen as one of likeliest areas for any future Russian attack on the EU and NATO. Lithuania is making moves to upgrade and fortify a second route through the zone. Read the full story.

Italy is set to reach NATO's defense spending target of 2 percent of its GDP this year, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said. Full story.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told French President Emmanuel Macron today that recognizing Palestine as a state would be a victory for Hamas and Iran. Read the full story.

Britain and the EU are closing in on a new defense pact, which they hope to sign next month. But it all depends on fish. Here's why: https://ow.ly/uQaX50VAAWG

A Russian billionaire with ties to President Vladimir Putin wields immense influence over one of the world’s most prestigious sports — despite EU and US sanctions against him. Here's the story: https://ow.ly/1LlZ50VABiq

The European Commission signaled openness to new ways of funding defense support for Eastern Europe, as pressure mounts to reinforce NATO's border with Russia. Here's the story: https://ow.ly/if9n50VAfGf

US President Donald Trump described Russia’s double ballistic missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Sumy that killed 35 and wounded 117 as a “mistake” by the Russians. But it’s no such thing. Here's the story: https://ow.ly/3kWf50VAeVc

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused US Vice President JD Vance of “somehow justifying” Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, his most critical comments about the top American politician since their heated Oval Office exchange in February. Here's the story: https://ow.ly/wNnY50VA0Lw

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited Donald Trump to visit his war-ravaged country and witness the destruction wrought by Russia, after a ballistic missile attack killed at least 34 people yesterday. Full story.

Hungary announced today it would officially withdraw from the International Criminal Court. The announcement comes shortly after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was hit with an ICC arrest warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, arrived in Budapest for a state visit. Read the story: https://ow.ly/XIML50VtICK

When US Secretary of State Marco Rubio joins NATO allies in Brussels today, both sides will do their best to smile for the cameras. But behind the scenes, a storm is brewing. Here's the story: https://ow.ly/2K7I50VtFPI

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is laying out Kyiv's requests for what the military forces of countries in the so-called coalition of the willing can do in any peacekeeping deployment to Ukraine. Read more.

Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced a military expansion further into Gaza to capture “extensive territory” and turn it into Israeli-controlled buffer zones. Read the full story.

Germany officially launched its first permanent foreign troop deployment since World War II today — a 5,000-strong armored brigade in Lithuania — as Berlin moves to bolster NATO’s eastern flank in response to Russia’s war against Ukraine. Here's the story: https://ow.ly/oK1c50Vs8Ef

OPINION: As the international dialogue on Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine enters a new chapter, so too must our thinking on how to support the country. There are many thorny issues to address here. And chief among them is what to do with the immobilized Russian Central Bank assets. Read the op-ed: https://ow.ly/Km7J50Vs4Sk

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered another 160,000 Russian citizens be called up to serve in the military, Russian news agency Interfax reported today. Here's the story: https://ow.ly/wbup50VrIHz