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German spending package passed by Bundestag
The proposed package of spending, debt break reforms has cleared the Bundestag, with 513 votes in favour, more than the 489 required for two-thirds majority.
207 votes were against.
Key events
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Trump-Putin phone call on Ukraine ‘going well’
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German spending package passed by Bundestag
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Europe will always stand for sovereignty, territorial integrity, von der Leyen tells Denmark
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Hungary passes law against Budapest Pride march
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Ten EU countries offer ‘readiness’ to seek alternative funding for Radio Free Europe after US cuts
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France to buy more Rafale warplanes than planned, Macron says
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Estonia wants to raise defence spending to ‘at least’ 5% GDP in 2026
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Irish challenge seeking clarity on secret agreement with UK RAF cleared by court
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German Bundestag voting on debt break, spending proposals
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UK prime minister Starmer spoke with Trump on Ukraine last night
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What to expect from Trump-Putin call? – analysis
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Pope Francis reiterates call for peace, disarmament in letter from hospital
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German needs changes to face ‘one of, if not the, greatest security policy challenge in history,’ defence minister says
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Russia wants to fly to Mars with US and Musk
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Ukraine at the centre of argument for German reforms
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German reforms needed because of ‘Putin’s war against Europe,’ Merz says
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Fiery start to Bundestag debate on Merz’s spending plans
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Poland and the Baltics intend to withdraw from antipersonnel land mine ban convention
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Putin-Trump call scheduled for afternoon, Kremlin confirms
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Trump’s plan is for Ukraine to ‘surrender’ to Russia, former head of US forces in Europe warns
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Germany set to vote on Merz’s plans to unlock record level of state borrowing
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Morning opening: Waiting for the call
Trump-Putin phone call on Ukraine ‘going well’
White House deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino posted a social media update on the call, confirming it’s under way:
Happening Now—President Trump is currently in the Oval Office speaking with President Vladimir Putin of Russia since 10:00am EDT. The call is going well, and still in progress.
Worth noting that 10am EDT is 2pm GMT or 3pm CET – meaning the call had been going on for almost an hour at the time Scavino posted his updated.
German spending package passed by Bundestag
The proposed package of spending, debt break reforms has cleared the Bundestag, with 513 votes in favour, more than the 489 required for two-thirds majority.
207 votes were against.
Europe will always stand for sovereignty, territorial integrity, von der Leyen tells Denmark
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has been speaking at the Royal Danish Military Academy in Copenhagen in the last few minutes.
In a wide-ranging speech on defence, she praised the country’s plans to increase its defence spending, and sought to reassure Denmark that it had the backing of the EU institution in its escalating conflict with US president Donald Trump over Greenland.
She said:
To all the people of Greenland and of Denmark as a whole: I want to be very clear that Europe will always stand For sovereignty and territorial integrity.
And it is against this complex backdrop that I salute the prime minister’s decision to increase defense spending to 3% of GDP in the next two years.
Von der Leyen also said that “if Europe wants to avoid war, Europe must get ready to war,” as she repeatedly warned against Russia’s growing imperial ambitions.
She said that “the idea of the peace dividend” that Europe focused on over the last 30 years “is long gone,” as “the security architecture that we relied on can no longer be taken for granted.”
She accused Moscow of using its defence spending to “fuel its war of aggression in Ukraine, while preparing for future confrontation with European democracies.”
“And just as these threats increase, we see our oldest partner, the United States, move their focus to the Indo-Pacific,” she said.
“The point is that we must see the world as it is, and we must act immediately to face up to it, because a new international order will be formed,” she said, saying that Europe “is ready to step up.”
Alongside praising Denmark, she also specifically referenced her native Germany, saying that is was “deciding today” on “both historic and necessary” moves to rearm.
Von der Leyen was Germany’s defence minister between 2013-2019.
Hungary passes law against Budapest Pride march
Meanwhile, Hungarian lawmakers passed a bill aimed at banning Budapest’s annual Pride march, which critics say curtails fundamental rights and continues the crackdown on the EU country’s LGBTQ community, AFP reported.
Prime minister Viktor Orbán’s government says it has never supported the parade. In recent years it has been gradually rolling back on LGBTQ rights in the name of “child protection”.
The legislation – drafted by Orbán’s governing Fidesz-KDNP coalition – aims to ban the Pride march on the basis that it infringes on Hungary’s much-criticised “child protection” law, making it possible to fine those who attend the event.
AFP explained the law stipulates that it is “forbidden to hold an assembly in violation of” a 2021 law that bans the “promotion and display” of homosexuality to minors.
The law governing the rights of assembly is also amended, saying that only events “respecting the right of children to proper physical, mental and moral development may take place”.
Organisers or participants of a banned event could risk fines of up to 500 euros ($545), with police being allowed to use facial recognition tools to identify potential offenders, AFP noted.
The bill – submitted on Monday morning and fast-tracked under an exceptional procedure – passed the 199-seat National Assembly with 136 voting in favour and 27 against.
Deputies of the right-wing Jobbik and the far-right Our Homeland party also supported the measure.
Opposition politicians from the liberal Momentum disrupted the vote by shouting, lighting flares and playing the old Soviet Union anthem, AFP reported. Reuters added that also scattered in the assembly hall manipulated photos depicting Orbán and Russian President Vladimir Putin kissing as the voting progressed.
Pjotr Sauer
Russian affairs reporter
Before his high-stakes call, Vladimir Putin appeared determined to exude confidence.
He met with top Russian business leaders in Moscow at the time his press secretary had earlier stated the call would begin.
When asked if he might be late, he simply laughed and brushed off the question.
FT’s Max Seddon posted a clip capturing the moment.
Jakub Krupa
If you are wondering what’s the latest on that Putin-Trump call…
We have not had a formal confirmation from either side that the call was under way, but we did have a bit of a signal from the Russian side as to how they approach the chat…
Ten EU countries offer ‘readiness’ to seek alternative funding for Radio Free Europe after US cuts
Ten EU countries have offered their support to the Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, affected by US spending cuts by the Trump administration.
The US Agency for Global Media stopped grants over the weekend to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), which was founded during the cold war and broadcasts to 23 countries, including Belarus, Russia, Ukraine, Iran and Afghanistan.
Elon Musk, the tech billionaire tasked by Donald Trump with slashing the US federal government, called for the media group to be shut down last month, describing it as “just radical left crazy people talking to themselves”.
In the last hour, the Czech Europe minister Martin Dvořák posted a joint statement signed by representatives of 10 EU countries – Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden – registering their “deep concern” over the broadcaster’s situation.
The Czech government has been most vocal on the issue as RFE/RL’s offices are based in Prague.
The letter read:
We express our deep concern over the financial challenges currently faced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), as reported in recent news.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has played a vital role in providing independent, unbiased, and fact-based information to citizens, particularly in regions where freedom of the press is under threat. Throughout the Cold War, it served as a crucial source of trustworthy news for audiences behind the Iron Curtain, playing a key role in many of our countries’ histories.
Today, RFE/RL continues to provide trusted, independent news to tens of millions in regions where free press is restricted or absent.
In doing so, it helps to promote democratic values and strengthens our collective response to disinformation and authoritarian propaganda. This vital work builds on its historic role as a force for democracy, human rights, and freedom of expression – values at the core of the European Union. By countering foreign malign influence and reinforcing democratic resilience, RFE/RL contributes to safeguarding European security and its elimination would be a gift to Europe’s adversaries.
In light of this situation, we declare our readiness to work together to find and secure appropriate financial resources that will allow RFE/RL to continue its important mission. European funding would ensure the stability of this key media institution and enable it to carry on providing critical and independent reporting.
We call on the relevant European institutions and member states to join forces in establishing sustainable financial support for RFE/RL and other independent media, thereby safeguarding media freedom and democracy in Europe and beyond.
On Monday, the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, who was born in the Soviet Union, said Radio Free Europe “has been a beacon of democracy”, alluding to it as a source of information in her younger years.
“Now the question for us is, can we come in with our funding to fill the void that the US is leaving? The answer to that question is … not automatically,” she said adding that the EU would “see what we can do”.
France to buy more Rafale warplanes than planned, Macron says
France will buy more Dassault-made Rafale warplanes than planned, president Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday during a speech held on a military base in the east of the country, Reuters reported.
“We are going to increase and accelerate our orders for Rafales,” he said.
Later today, Macron will travel to Berlin where he is due to meet with the outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and then eat dinner with the presumed next chancellor, Friedrich Merz.
If the Bundestag vote goes the way we expect it to go, they will have plenty to talk about when it comes to defence spending.
Unusually, can I also draw your attention to the caption on the photo above: I feel nothing but deep respect for the photographer who thought it was necessary to help us identify which one is Macron (left), and which one is a fighter aircraft (right).
Estonia wants to raise defence spending to ‘at least’ 5% GDP in 2026
Estonia has confirmed its plans to raise defence spending to “at least” 5% of GDP from 2026 in response to increasingly aggressive Russia.
The government said in a press release (in Estonian) that it would push for changes to be implemented next year, recording a major jump from 3.43% GDP in the last Nato figures for 2024.
“Russia’s strategic goals have not changed in any way. The aggression of its eastern neighbour threatens all countries around it in Europe and Nato included,” the country’s prime minister Kristen Michal was quoted as saying.
In a separate social media post, he added the aim was “clear – to make any aggression against us unfeasible.”
Irish challenge seeking clarity on secret agreement with UK RAF cleared by court
Lisa O’Carroll
in Dublin
A court case to establish whether Ireland does or does not have a secret agreement with the British government to allow the Royal Air Force enter Irish airspace in the event of a hostile attack, can proceed, Ireland’s court of appeal has ruled.
The Irish senator, Gerard Craughwell, who brought the case, has been trying to force the government to reveal whether or not it relies on a foreign nation for air defence for the past three years amid rumours that an ad hoc arrangement was entered into following the 9/11 attack on New York.
On Tuesday the court of appeal threw out the Irish government’s appeal aimed at preventing the case going ahead.
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