WORLD WORLDWIDE EUROPE Eu - euobserver daily news - Friday 17 April 2026.

 

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Good morning. Patriarch Kirill, the 79-year old head of the Russian Orthodox Church, has long been a steadfast supporter of president Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. Earlier this month, he praised Russian troops for their “glorious accomplishments” in Ukraine, which killed over 2,500 civilians last year alone. The latest "accomplishment" includes Russia shelling an Orthodox cultural centre owned by the Moscow Patriarchate in the city of Dnipro, in east-central Ukraine. The centre on Wednesday was “completely destroyed,” according to Dniepro's mayor, Borys Filatov. "It'll be very interesting to see what kind of statement the Moscow priests will make about this incident," he said, in a Telegram post on Thursday. Several other districts in the city had also been hit with dozens of people sent to hospitals to treat their wounds. At least three have died. When I met Filatov earlier this month, he described life in Ukraine as a lottery where drones and debris can kill you at any moment. “We all live as if in a lottery, never knowing where the drone wreckage might fall, or which houses it might hit," he said. Kirill, who only last week delivered a Christmas sermon to a disoriented clergy, is unlikely to make any mention of the latest assault. The event will almost certainly be dismissed as part of Russia’s so‑called “special military operation.” Once calling Putin a “miracle of God,” Kirill embodies the merger of faith and power that sustains Russia’s authoritarian narrative. For strongmen and their imitators, religious endorsement and its symbols serve as both validation and propaganda. Nikolaj Nielsen – home affairs editor ADVERT Top story Magyar begins dismantling Orbán’s legacy (four days after the election In just four days, Peter Magyar has already taken aim at state media structures, criticised senior institutional figures, and signalled a symbolic break with the past by relocating the prime minister’s office away from Viktor Orbán’s former power base, while the opposition has largely collapsed and the political map has been dramatically redrawn. Yet despite promises to restore democratic competition, early indications point to continuity in several nationalist policy areas, leaving Brussels watching closely to see whether Hungary’s reset will bring a meaningful shift in its EU stance or simply usher in a new domestic power configuration. What else you need to know Years of evidence and still no admission from EU Commission on Greek pushbacks Despite years of evidence and verified reports by a senior official within the EU’s border agency Frontex, the European Commission still won’t acknowledge that Greece pushes back migrants, which is illegal under EU law. Netanyahu tests Hungary’s Magyar on ICC pledge with ‘invitation’ claim Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Hungary’s incoming leader Péter Magyar invited him to Hungary, in what would make a mockery of Magyar’s promises to respect international law.   How to survive an FPV drone hunt – 10 seconds to live (Ukraine Battlefield update, Day 1,512) “My impressions are really gloomy. It seems that when a drone chooses you as a target, the chances of survival are small,” wrote Deutsche Welle journalist Przemyska. Less gas, more sun and wind. Europe is handling the new energy crisis better than the Russian invasion one The current energy crisis caused by the war with Iran could have hit Europe much harder, were it not for lower gas consumption and a marked shift towards renewable sources. The High North is not ‘elsewhere’: Europe’s Arctic blind spot The European Arctic is, above all, European — and it is time Brussels treated it that way. The European Arctic produces a disproportionate share of Europe’s food security, energy supply and strategic raw materials. The gap between what this region contributes and what it receives in political attention is not a detail. It is a strategic failure. EU leads €1.3bn Sudan aid pledge and backs arms embargo EU leaders announced more than €800m in new aid pledges to help the victims of Sudan’s three year civil war, at a summit on Wednesday, but there is still no end to the war in sight. Scottish and Welsh elections will reveal pro-EU feeling in UK Next month two elections take place on the far north-western fringe of Europe that may, in a small way, shape the future size of the EU. Both countries are, currently, non-EU members. Both have populations keen on membership. Both would fit the accession criteria, with very few teething problems. They are Scotland and Wales. Listen: Is the EU turning tougher on Israel? Italy is suspending its defence agreement with Israel. The reason? Concerns over Israel’s conduct in the Middle East conflict— especially in Lebanon. In case you missed it EU to discuss sanctions on Israel, pending new Hungarian government position Foreign ministers are to discuss Israel trade sanctions in Luxembourg next week, as EU waits for details of Hungary’s new approach. The next EU Budget – trying to do ‘more with less’ will be a victory for the far-right The European Parliament has set out its mandate. We stand ready to negotiate constructively with the Council, with a clear goal: agreement by the end of 2026, so new programmes can be launched on schedule in January 2028, write S&D MEP lead co-negotiator Carla Tavares. [Interview] Ivan Krastev: The ‘West’ of the Cold War-era will not return Bulgarian public intellectual and political scientist Ivan Krastev interviewed on the post-Cold War ‘West’ and the future of Europe. ‘An obsession with European unity will no longer work. I do not believe that the European Union can cope with the challenges of the real world if we insist on having all 27 countries on board. We need a much more flexible structure. The future of the EU – if it is to succeed – is a strange mixture of integration and disintegration’, he warns.