Euobserver.com

The Kremlin attacked Ukraine because it believed it could afford to. It perceived nuclear deterrence between Russia and the West as reciprocal, and therefore almost a non-issue. It also saw, in military terms, Europe is disappearing from the world map.

Viktor Orbán delivered the opening address at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas, where he was met with a "heroic welcome".

Russian president Vladimir Putin would be more likely to wage war against Nato if he won in Ukraine, Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg has warned.

Nato members are discussing with defence companies boosting weapons supplies to Ukraine, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday. "We're now working closely with the defence industry to produce more and to deliver more of different types of ammunition, weapons and capabilities," he said. Stoltenberg added the war in Ukraine was the most dangerous period for Europe since World War II and Russia must not be allowed to win.

Some Spanish supermarkets are experiencing ice shortages and limiting the number of bags sold to consumers as demand soars amid the third heatwave of the summer. High energy prices are being blamed for the lack of supplies, and, as a result, the price of ice bags is also increasing. "The increased demand due to the high temperatures is leading to hoarding," Spain's biggest retailer Mercadona spokesperson told Reuters.

Estonian foreign minister Urmas Reinsalu has called on the EU to impose a ban on travel visas for Russian citizens in order to further isolate Russia, Bloomberg reported. He raised the issue during a three-day trip to Ukraine when he met with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. The EU-wide visa ban should be part of the sixth round of sanctions imposed on Moscow over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Reinsalu said.

EU member states are expected to have their gas-storage facilities filled at 80 percent of capacity by 1 November, as the bloc prepares for possible further disruptions and peak demand during the winter, Reuters reported. European gas storage facilities were 70.54 percent full earlier this week, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe released on Thursday. This level was higher than the five-year average of 70.32 per cent.

Russian president Vladimir Putin's ex-wife, Lyudmila Ocheretnaya, and her husband have a house in Biarritz, France, two flats in Malaga, Spain, and one apartment in Davos, Switzerland, according to associates of the jailed Alexei Navalny, Polish media reported. The villa in France was bought for €5.3m in 2013. One flat in Malaga cost her €790,000 and the other one €1.4m. The flat in Davos was purchased for €3.6m in 2014.

Three ships, carrying 58,041 tonnes of corn, are due to leave Ukrainian ports on Friday under the safe passage agreement reached to unblock grain exports, Reuters reported. The Joint Coordination Centre in Istanbul, which monitors the compliance with the deal, said two vessels will leave from Chornomorsk and one from Odessa. On Monday, the first ship was allowed to leave Ukraine's Odessa port since the war began.

Dr Ming-Yen Tsai, head of the Taipei Representative Office in the EU and Belgium, responds to EUobserver op-ed on Taiwan by the Chinese ambassador to Belgium. "Taiwan is an 'island of resilience'. That will continue to be the case."

With the prolonged lack of rain and high temperatures, fears have emerged over water shortages and droughts decreasing crop yields — prompting calls to use less water and reuse urban wastewater for agricultural irrigation.

Lawmakers in France, Italy, and the US have voted to let Finland and Sweden join Nato.

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is recommending Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine carry a warning of the possibility of two types of heart inflammation, Reuters reported. The heart conditions — myocarditis and pericarditis — should be listed as new side effects for the vaccine, Nuvaxovid, based on a small number of reported cases. Novavaxsaid no concerns about heart inflammations were raised during the clinical trials and that more data would be gathered.

German chancellor Olaf Scholz also rejected Moscow's argument that gas flows were reduced due to a missing turbine, saying it was Russia that refused to take the delivery of the turbine.

China's ambassador to Belgium, Cao Zhongming, says the US has been distorting, obscuring and hollowing out the 'one-China' principle and unscrupulously undermining China's core interests. This is sheer double standards and a shameful act of bad faith.

French health authorities said Tuesday that 2,171 monkeypox cases have so far been confirmed in France, more than half of them in the Paris region. French authorities have opened the capital's first vaccination centre administering the smallpox vaccine, also effective against monkeypox, to targeted groups. Health minister Francois Braun said France has delivered 42,000 doses so far.

Moldova's pro-Russian opposition leader called for snap presidential and parliamentary elections on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Igor Dodon also told the pro-Western government to go to Moscow to negotiate cheaper natural gas from Russia as prices soar. Dodon is under house arrest on treason and corruption charges he denies. Moldova's gas company said the gas price had risen 47 percent in August.

The escalation of the war in Ukraine has forced more than 10 million people from Ukraine to cross the border into neighbouring countries since late February, the UN reported.

Mark Rutte became the longest-serving prime minister in Dutch history on Tuesday. The shrewd, centre-right political survivor spent 12 years in office. On Tuesday he notched up his 4,310th day in office, a day longer than Ruud Lubbers, who served as premier in the 1980s and early '90s. "I feel like I'm getting to the halfway point," Rutte, 55, quipped at a July news conference before leaving for summer vacation.

Spain is introducing new energy-saving measures in a week in an effort to reduce its energy consumption. Air-conditioning should not be set below 27C and heating should not be set above 19C in public buildings, shopping centres, cinemas, theatres, rail stations and airports. Doors will need to be closed so as not to waste energy, and lights in shop windows must be switched off after 10pm.