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Tag: European Union

  • Romania’s Far-Right Opposition Dominates in Latest Opinion Poll

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    BUCHAREST, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Romania’s hard-right opposition party the ‌Alliance ​for Uniting Romanians is towering ‌over the four parties of the pro-European coalition government in popular ​support, an opinion poll showed on Wednesday, although no election is due until 2028.

    AUR, the second-largest ‍party in the country, led surveys ​throughout 2025 despite its leader George Simion ultimately losing a presidential election re-run last ​May.

    The party ⁠opposes extending military aid to neighbouring Ukraine, is critical of the European Union’s leadership and supportive of U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies including on energy and immigration. Romania is a member of both the EU and NATO.

    The latest survey, conducted by pollster INSCOP, showed ‌that 40.9% of Romanians would vote for AUR, the highest level of support for ​a hard-right ‌party in more than ‍three decades.

    The ⁠leftist Social Democrats (PSD), currently parliament’s biggest party and a member of the ruling coalition, ranked a distant second with 18.2%.

    The Liberal Party of Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan had 13.5% support. The other two ruling parties – the centre-right Save Romania Union (USR) and the ethnic Hungarian party UDMR – polled at 11.7% and 4.9%, respectively.

    Romania’s next general election is due in 2028.

    The survey was conducted from January 12 ​to 15 and has a margin of error of 3.0%.

    Romania re-ran a presidential election last year after it cancelled the original ballot in December 2024 on suspicion of Russian interference in favour of far-right frontrunner Calin Georgescu.

    The cancelled vote plunged the country into its worst political crisis in decades, exposing its deep vulnerability to hybrid attacks and disinformation, dividing voters, crashing markets and threatening the country’s investment-grade rating.

    The broad coalition government which came to power after the subsequent ballot raised taxes and cut some state spending to help narrow the widest budget deficit ​gap in the EU.

    While the measures helped keep Romania on the last rung of investment grade and unlocked EU funds, with the budget deficit expected to narrow to around 6% of economic output this year from more than 9% in ​2024, they have also triggered protests and fuelled support for the opposition.

    (Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Europe’s Far Right and Populists Distance Themselves From Trump Over Greenland

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    By Sarah Marsh and Elizabeth Pineau

    BERLIN/PARIS/, Jan 21 (Reuters) – European far-right and populist parties that once cheered on ‌Donald ​Trump and gained in standing through his praise are ‌now distancing themselves from the U.S. president over his military incursion into Venezuela and bid for Greenland.

    The Trump administration has repeatedly backed far-right ​European parties that share a similar stance on issues from immigration to climate change, helping legitimize movements that have long faced stigma at home but are now on the rise.

    The new U.S. National Security Strategy ‍issued last month said “the growing influence of patriotic European ​parties indeed gives cause for great optimism.”

    But those parties now face a dilemma as disapproval of Trump rises across the continent over his increasingly aggressive foreign policy moves and in particular his efforts to ​acquire Greenland from Denmark.

    GERMANY’S ⁠AFD BERATES TRUMP

    “Donald Trump has violated a fundamental campaign promise — namely, not to interfere in other countries,” Alice Weidel of the far-right Alternative for Germany said, while party co-leader Tino Chrupalla rejected “Wild West methods”.

    The AfD has been cultivating ties with Trump’s administration – but polls suggest this may no longer be beneficial. A survey by pollster Forsa released on Tuesday showed 71% of Germans see Trump more as an opponent than an ally.

    Wariness of Trump has grown since he vowed on Saturday to slap tariffs on a raft of EU countries including Germany, ‌France, Sweden and Britain, until the U.S. is allowed to buy Greenland.

    Those countries had last week sent military personnel to the vast Arctic island at Denmark’s request.

    National Rally leader ​Jordan ‌Bardella said on Tuesday Europe must react, ‍referring to “anti-coercion measures” and the suspension of ⁠the economic agreement signed last year between the EU and the United States.

    British populist party Reform UK, whose leader Nigel Farage has long feted his close ties with Trump, said it was hard to tell if the president was bluffing.

    “But to use economic threats against the country that’s been considered to be your closest ally for over a hundred years is not the kind of thing we would expect,” Reform said in a statement published on Jan. 19.

    Blunter still was Mattias Karlsson, often cited as chief ideologist of the far-right Sweden Democrats.

    “Trump is increasingly resembling a reversed King Midas,” he wrote on X. “Everything he touches turns to shit.”

    Political scientist Johannes Hillje said it would always be hard for nationalists to forge a common foreign policy “because the national interests do not always converge.”

    Not all European far-right ​and populist parties have been so critical. Some, like the far-right Dutch Party for Freedom and Spanish Vox, praised Trump for removing Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro yet kept silent on his Greenland threats.

    Others, such as Polish President Karol Nawrocki and the nationalist government of Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban have called for the issue of Greenland to be settled bilaterally between the United States and Denmark.

    Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis posted a video on social networks on Tuesday in which he brandished a map and a globe to show how big Greenland was and how close it was to Russia if it were to send a missile.

        “The U.S. has a long-term interest in Greenland, it is not just an initiative of Donald Trump now,” he said, calling for a diplomatic resolution.

    MILD CRITICISM FROM MELONI

        Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who is seen as one of the closest European leaders to Trump, said his decision to slap tariffs on European allies was a “mistake”.

    “I spoke to Donald Trump a few hours ago and told him what I think,” she said on Sunday, adding that she thought there was “a problem of understanding and communication” between Washington and Europe. ​She has not said anything since, but Italian media have said she is against slapping tariffs on the U.S. in response and is instead seeking to defuse the crisis with talks.

    However, Italy’s Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League party, blamed the renewed trade tensions on the European nations who dispatched soldiers to Greenland.

    “The eagerness to announce the dispatch of troops here and there is now bearing its bitter fruit,” he wrote on X.

    (Reporting by Sarah Marsh and Andreas Rinke in ​Berlin, Crispian Balmer in Rome, Jesus Calero in Madrid, Bart Meijer in Amsterdam, Johan Ahlander in Stockholm, Alan Charlish in Warsaw, Jan Lopatka in Prague and Krisztina Than in Budapest, Elizabeth Piper in London and Elizabeth Pineau in Paris)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Synthetic drug ring busted in

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    European police said Wednesday they busted a major synthetic drug ring working across several countries in the “largest-ever operation” of its kind, striking a “massive blow” to organized crime.

    Authorities dismantled 24 industrial-scale labs and seized around 1,000 tons of chemicals used to make street drugs such as MDMA, amphetamine and meth.

    “I’ve been in this business for a while. This is by far the largest-ever operation we did against synthetic drug production and distribution,” Andy Kraag, head of Europol’s European Serious Organised Crime Centre, told AFP in an interview.

    “I think this is genuinely a massive blow to organized crime groups involved in drug trafficking, specifically of synthetic drugs,” added Kraag.

    The profits generated were “considerable,” Polish police said at a press conference in Warsaw. For every euro spent on drug production, traffickers made approximately 30 euros in profit.

    The year-long operation involved police from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, Europol said.

    The agency released video of the operations, showing officers conducting raids, making arrests and seizing evidence. Europol said police conducted 50 house searches -— 45 in Poland, two in Belgium, two in Germany and one in the Netherlands.

    Europol said Wednesday they had busted a major synthetic drug ring working across several countries.

    Europol


    More than 85 arrests were made, including the two suspected ringleaders, both from Poland, Kraag said. Europol called the alleged ringleaders “high-value targets.”

    Suspicions were raised back in 2024 when Polish police noticed a network importing vast quantities of legal chemicals from China and India.

    “These precursors were legal, generally used in the pharmaceutical industry,” but the quantities acquired and processed were “very large, unrelated to the actual needs of the companies” acting as fronts for the trafficking, the Polish police stressed.

    Investigations later showed these chemicals were being repackaged, mislabeled and redistributed across the European Union to labs that manufactured the synthetic drugs.

    Polish police released footage of the operation showing dozens of drums and tanks containing the precursors stored in various warehouses, as well as processing labs raided by heavily armed investigators.

    The majority of those arrested were from Poland, but Belgian and Dutch nationals are also thought to have been involved in the criminal operations.

    “The operational structure of this criminal network was complex, with seven legal companies in Poland facilitating the import and distribution activities, and high-level leadership coordination connecting the different criminal groups across EU countries,” Europol said.

    “Supply-chain strategy”

    Kraag said the operation was part of a “supply-chain strategy” to choke off the synthetic drug industry at its source.

    “These criminal groups, they don’t have their supply anymore,” he told AFP.

    To prevent future trafficking on a similar scale, Chief Commander of the Polish Police Marek Boron told AFP that law enforcement was “constantly updating the list of precursors entering the market.”

    “We are constantly at the stage of determining which chemicals are currently being misused for drug production,” he added.

    Aside from the health risks associated with using these drugs, Kraag pointed to the related problems of violence, corruption and money-laundering in this criminal field.

    Synthetic drug production also carries a damaging environmental impact, he noted.

    Authorities seized more than 120,000 liters, or 31,700 gallons, of toxic chemical waste that the criminals usually dump on land or in streams.

    “Today, it’s profit for criminals. Tomorrow, it’s pollution,” said Kraag.

    Police have other targets in their sights following the successful operation announced on Wednesday by Europol, the EU police agency.

    “This is one of the biggest distributors. But it’s not the only one. So we’re still looking,” Kraag said.

    Last month, Europol announced it had helped coordinate three major operations to disrupt “major cocaine supply chains into Europe.”

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  • How Europe Can Respond to Trump’s Greenland Imperialism

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    That is interesting, but it’s not exactly ideological. It’s that he sees European weakness and wants to exert power.

    That is true. When Trump first came to power, there was some very interesting analysis from historians trying to gain an understanding of Trump’s world view. Something that they figured out was that, throughout his career, President Trump has held a strong belief that there was something totally wrong that, after the end of World War Two, countries like Germany and Japan were able to do so well. In his understanding, it did not make sense that the United States, the United Kingdom, and even the Soviet Union won the war, but the Germans and the Japanese were doing so well. And then it transformed into “America won, so why are Europeans living better than us? Why do they have better cars?” Etc.

    And I do believe that world view stayed with him. Moreover, he does not understand what the European Union is. Europeans believe in win-win scenarios. They do believe that you really can find a way to compromise. If there is a religion of European politics, it is about compromise and consensus. And then you have somebody like Trump, who’s not interested in this.

    I was talking to an American analyst, a colleague of mine, and he made an observation, which I found profound, but will probably seem trivial to you. He said President Trump had a successful business career in many respects, but he was not spectacularly successful in one business that he tried, and this was the casino business. The problem is that in the casino business, in order to win, you should try to create the illusion that others are winning.

    I think that’s pretty good. I don’t find that trivial, actually.

    This was looking like a Crimean moment. So trust in the United States was very much based on the fact that, regardless of our differences, Europe can rely on the Americans when it comes to Russia, and now nobody believes it anymore.

    When you say a Crimean moment, I assume you’re referring to Russia taking Crimea twelve years ago, and that that was only the beginning of their designs on Ukraine, and that Trump’s desire to seize Greenland could similarly be a first step. Is that what you meant?

    No. It is that in 2012 and 2013, prior to the invasion of Crimea, President Putin’s popularity had declined a bit, and there had been some protests in Russia. And then suddenly you have basically this super-majority of support that emerges after he annexes Crimea. And, in my view, President Trump also thinks that if suddenly, overnight on July 4, 2026, Greenland becomes part of the United States, then America is going to understand how great they have become. And I do believe this is really scaring many in Europe because they imagine that this is going to be a politics that others want to imitate.

    I think Trump is totally wrong about how Americans would react to that, but it also just might not matter. And that in itself is scary enough. Are there off-ramps you see?

    I believe there is going to be a group of countries, including those in Eastern Europe, saying, “Listen, let’s talk seriously. We are going to recognize the strategic dimension of Greenland, but what we cannot talk about is America owning it.” And here President Trump basically has an option. Either he’s going to say, “I achieved what I wanted to do. I never meant owning it. It was just about a deal, and now we are going to, for example, increase our military presence there, or it is going to be our companies that are going to develop some of the rare-earth resources of Greenland.” Something like this can happen. But my feeling is that at this moment President Trump is not interested in this. It has become too symbolic for him.

    The other option for compromise is that Europeans are going to keep Greenland, and we are going to make Trump the chair of the Nobel Prize Committee so he can give the next Nobel Prize to himself. But, as of now, I do believe that Europeans probably are going to target some American goods. And we will see about the Anti-Coercion Instrument going forward.

    You mentioned earlier that Europeans thought Trump really did care about building a coalition against China. But now it seems possible that one of the long-term effects of America potentially breaking with Europe in a major way would be to provide an opening for China.

    Totally. This is the story. And I also believe Europeans are still hanging on to the hope that some part of the American élite—the financial élite but also the military élite—is going to go to President Trump and say, “Listen, you dislike Europe. And, of course, Europeans are idiots as you told us, but they’re idiots that we need.” If you look at global public opinion, people believe China is rising, but what is more interesting is that they have stopped fearing this. And I do believe this is something that President Trump slightly underestimated.

    And then there is the question of NATO. Many Europeans have started to ask themselves the question of whether their belief in NATO has started to resemble the French belief in the famous Maginot Line. Before World War Two, the French created this “fortification” on the German-French border, which created the feeling that they were defended, and then it turned out that it was not the case. So, suddenly, this destabilization of Europe can really have far-reaching consequences. This is why some Europeans still believe that at a certain point there is going to be a strategic realization on the side of the Trump Administration that this is not a war worth fighting.

    I hope you’re right, but you said Trump may have “underestimated” what effect all this would have with regard to China’s potential influence going forward. I don’t think this was underestimated or overestimated. I don’t think it goes into the equation of what he’s thinking about. The concept of a misguided national interest is one thing. Lots of Presidents have had those. The concept of a person who has no conception of the national interest is maybe closer to the mark.

    No, you’re right. And do you know what the real risk for Europe is? The real risk for Europe is that Greenland will become Trump’s obsession. Because one of the important things about President Trump is that he has strong views, but he cannot keep his attention for a very long time on the same issue. And, if this basically becomes an obsession, then the nature of the change to the transatlantic relationship is going to be really, really dramatic. ♦

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    Isaac Chotiner

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  • Trump to address Davos World Economic Forum as America’s allies push back against his bid to take Greenland

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    “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition,” Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in his speech at Davos on Monday. “Great powers have begun using economic integration as weapons, tariffs as leverage, financial infrastructure as coercion, supply chains as vulnerabilities to be exploited.”

    “You cannot live within the lie of mutual benefit through integration, when integration becomes the source of your subordination,” Carney said, making a case for “middle powers” like Canada to work together to gain leverage against “great powers,” which he said have the luxury of going it alone.

    “When we only negotiate bilaterally with a hegemon, we negotiate from weakness. We accept what’s offered. We compete with each other to be the most accommodating,” Carney said. “This is not sovereignty. It’s the performance of sovereignty while accepting subordination. In a world of great power rivalry, the countries in between have a choice — compete with each other for favor, or to combine to create a third path with impact.”

    Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney delivers a speech at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting held in Davos, Switzerland, Jan. 20, 2026.

    Harun Ozalp/Anadolu/Getty


    He called other nations to join Canada to pursue shared values, supporting Ukraine, NATO, and Danish and Greenlandic sovereignty, and warned them to “stop invoking rules-based international order as though it still functions as advertised. Call it what it is — a system of intensifying great power rivalry, where the most powerful pursue their interests, using economic integration as coercion.”

    “The powerful have their power,” Carney said. “But we have something too — the capacity to stop pretending, to name reality, to build our strength at home and to act together. That is Canada’s path. We choose it openly and confidently, and it is a path wide open to any country willing to take it with us.”

    His remarks drew a standing ovation.

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  • Rumen Radev, the Ex-President Vowing to End Bulgaria’s Political Crisis

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    By Edward McAllister and Stoyan Nenov

    SOFIA, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Rumen Radev painted a bleak picture of Bulgarian ‌politics ​when he resigned as president on Monday in an ‌unprecedented move that capped four years of weak governments and snap elections. He also offered a solution: himself. 

    “Our democracy will not ​survive if we leave it to corrupt officials, conspirators and extremists,” he said in a televised speech. “Your trust obliges me to protect the state, the institutions and our future.” 

    Radev, a former air force commander, ‍has waited years for this moment. Since a political ​crisis erupted in 2020, he has sat above the parliamentary mess, appointing caretaker governments when needed, and gradually amassing influence as the Balkan country’s ceremonial head of state. 

    Now, with polls showing ​him to be Bulgaria’s ⁠most popular politician, he is widely expected to form a new party and run in parliamentary elections this spring. 

    Radev has not announced his intention to run yet, but the timing appears to be in his favour.

    Popular protests against corruption and a budget that proposed higher taxes ousted the last government in December, and voters are increasingly sick of a small elite of politicians who have dominated for years. These include former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, who runs the leading GERB party, and oligarch Delyan Peevski, who is under ‌U.S. and UK sanctions for corruption.

    Still, he faces a massive challenge to turn around the fortunes of one of the European Union’s poorest and most corrupt members, ​where ‌prosecutors allege that hundreds of millions of ‍euros in European funds have been diverted ⁠into the pockets of businessmen and officials, public tenders have been fixed, and people have become so disillusioned that most don’t bother to vote.

    Turnout dropped from nearly 50% in April 2021 to below 35% in a snap election in June 2024.

    The challenge extends to Radev’s own personal image. He will face questions about his pro-Kremlin stance on the war in Ukraine, his scepticism on the euro, and even an allegedly damaging energy deal signed by a government he appointed.

    “Radev offers the possibility of change to Bulgarian society, but also predictability – this is a perfect recipe,” said Parvan Simeonov, the founder of Myara, a Bulgarian polling agency. “However, there are issues and questions that should be answered.” 

    QUESTIONS FOR RADEV TO ANSWER

    Radev was voted in as president in 2016 after a military career and training ​in the United States. In his first term, he became a critic of then Prime Minister Borissov, who was under pressure from corruption allegations.

    When police raided Radev’s offices in 2020, Bulgarians saw the move as a hit job and it triggered the largest demonstrations since Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007. Months-long protests called for an end to graft, more accountability, and for the government to step down. Radev, meanwhile, was reelected for a second term in 2021. 

    The protests saw an end to Borissov’s tenure, but what followed was a political crisis in which weak coalitions struggled to last just a few months. The elections this spring will be the eighth in four years. 

    Graft continues: last year alone, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office said it opened 97 investigations in Bulgaria with damages totalling nearly 500 million euros.

    Critics say Radev is partly to blame for questionable dealings done by interim governments that he appointed. This includes a 2023 gas deal between Turkish state gas company Botas and Bulgaria’s Bulgargaz that led to losses and an investigation. 

    COALITION PARTNERS NEEDED

    Radev is popular but not enough to win an outright majority, ​analysts said.

    Many point to a possible marriage with the reformist PP-DB party which has also been outspoken against corruption. Still, the party does not agree with Radev’s soft stance towards Russia, or on his reluctance to join the eurozone, which Bulgaria did on January 1. 

    Radev will also have to clarify his stance on Ukraine after a series of Kremlin-friendly statements in recent years. He clashed with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy during a meeting in 2023 when he said that military aid ​to Kyiv would only prolong the conflict. 

    “God forbid such a tragedy happens (here) and you are in my place,” Zelenskiy said on live TV.  “Are you going to say “Putin, take over Bulgarian territories?””

    (Writing by Edward McAllisterEditing by Alexandra Hudson)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Trump ties his stance on Greenland to not getting Nobel Peace Prize, European officials say

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    President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” two European officials said Monday.Trump’s message to Jonas Gahr Støre appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.Those countries issued a forceful rebuke. But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to de-escalate tensions on Monday. While the White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force, Starmer said he did not believe military action would occur.”I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said.Still, the American leader’s message to Gahr Støre could further fracture a U.S.-European relationship already strained by differences over how to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, previous rounds of tariffs, military spending and migration policy.In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change their stance.“We will not be pressured,” he wrote.Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”“I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?”Trump sends a message to the Norwegian leaderAccording to two European officials, Trump’s message to Gahr Støre read in part: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”It concluded: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it had been forwarded to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. PBS first reported on the content of Trump’s note.U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the president’s approach in Greenland during a brief Q&A with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosting the World Economic Forum meeting this week.“I think it’s a complete canard that the president would be doing this because of the Nobel,” Bessent said, immediately after saying he did not “know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”Bessent insisted Trump “is looking at Greenland as a strategic asset for the United States,” adding that “we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else.”The White House did not respond to questions about the message or the context for Trump sending it.Gahr Støre confirmed Monday that he had received a text message the day before from Trump but did not release its contents.The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.“Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”He told TV2 Norway that he hadn’t responded to the message, but “I still believe it’s wise to talk,” and he hopes to talk with Trump in Davos this week.The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.Starmer says a trade war is in no one’s interestIn his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated they would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.European governments said that the troops traveled to the island to assess Arctic security, part of a response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.Starmer on Monday called Trump’s threat of tariffs “completely wrong” and said that a trade war is in no one’s interest.He added that “being pragmatic does not mean being passive and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President Antonio Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He announced a summit for Thursday evening.Starmer indicated that Britain, which is not part of the EU, is not planning to consider retaliatory tariffs.“My focus is on making sure we don’t get to that stage,” he said.Denmark’s defense minister and Greenland’s foreign minister are expected to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday, a meeting that was planned before the latest escalation.___Associated Press writers Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida; Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland; and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

    President Donald Trump linked his aggressive stance on Greenland to last year’s decision not to award him the Nobel Peace Prize, telling Norway’s prime minister that he no longer felt “an obligation to think purely of Peace,” two European officials said Monday.

    Trump’s message to Jonas Gahr Støre appears to ratchet up a standoff between Washington and its closest allies over his threats to take over Greenland, a self-governing territory of NATO member Denmark. On Saturday, Trump announced a 10% import tax starting in February on goods from eight nations that have rallied around Denmark and Greenland, including Norway.

    Those countries issued a forceful rebuke. But British Prime Minister Keir Starmer sought to de-escalate tensions on Monday. While the White House has not ruled taking control of the strategic Arctic island by force, Starmer said he did not believe military action would occur.

    “I think this can be resolved and should be resolved through calm discussion,” he said.

    Still, the American leader’s message to Gahr Støre could further fracture a U.S.-European relationship already strained by differences over how to end the nearly four-year war in Ukraine, previous rounds of tariffs, military spending and migration policy.

    In a sign of how tensions have increased in recent days, thousands of Greenlanders marched over the weekend in protest of any effort to take over their island. Greenland Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen said in a Facebook post Monday that the tariff threats would not change their stance.

    “We will not be pressured,” he wrote.

    Meanwhile, Naaja Nathanielsen, Greenland’s minister for business, minerals, energy, justice and equality, told The Associated Press that she was moved by the quick response of allies to the tariff threat and said it showed that countries realize “this is about more than Greenland.”

    “I think a lot of countries are afraid that if they let Greenland go, what would be next?”

    Trump sends a message to the Norwegian leader

    According to two European officials, Trump’s message to Gahr Støre read in part: “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America.”

    It concluded: “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland.”

    The officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, said it had been forwarded to multiple European ambassadors in Washington. PBS first reported on the content of Trump’s note.

    U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent defended the president’s approach in Greenland during a brief Q&A with reporters in Davos, Switzerland, which is hosting the World Economic Forum meeting this week.

    “I think it’s a complete canard that the president would be doing this because of the Nobel,” Bessent said, immediately after saying he did not “know anything about the president’s letter to Norway.”

    Bessent insisted Trump “is looking at Greenland as a strategic asset for the United States,” adding that “we are not going to outsource our hemispheric security to anyone else.”

    The White House did not respond to questions about the message or the context for Trump sending it.

    Gahr Støre confirmed Monday that he had received a text message the day before from Trump but did not release its contents.

    The Norwegian leader said Trump’s message was a reply to an earlier missive sent on behalf of himself and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, in which they conveyed their opposition to the tariff announcement, pointed to a need to de-escalate, and proposed a telephone conversation among the three leaders.

    “Norway’s position on Greenland is clear. Greenland is a part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and Norway fully supports the Kingdom of Denmark on this matter,” the Norwegian leader said in a statement. “As regards the Nobel Peace Prize, I have clearly explained, including to President Trump what is well known, the prize is awarded by an independent Nobel Committee and not the Norwegian Government.”

    He told TV2 Norway that he hadn’t responded to the message, but “I still believe it’s wise to talk,” and he hopes to talk with Trump in Davos this week.

    The Norwegian Nobel Committee is an independent body whose five members are appointed by the Norwegian Parliament.

    Trump has openly coveted the peace prize, which the committee awarded to Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado last year. Last week, Machado presented her Nobel medal to Trump, who said he planned to keep it though the committee said the prize can’t be revoked, transferred or shared with others.

    Starmer says a trade war is in no one’s interest

    In his latest threat of tariffs, Trump indicated they would be retaliation for last week’s deployment of symbolic numbers of troops from the European countries to Greenland — though he also suggested that he was using the tariffs as leverage to negotiate with Denmark.

    European governments said that the troops traveled to the island to assess Arctic security, part of a response to Trump’s own concerns about interference from Russia and China.

    Starmer on Monday called Trump’s threat of tariffs “completely wrong” and said that a trade war is in no one’s interest.

    He added that “being pragmatic does not mean being passive and partnership does not mean abandoning principles.”

    Six of the eight countries targeted are part of the 27-member European Union, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trade. European Council President Antonio Costa said Sunday that the bloc’s leaders expressed “readiness to defend ourselves against any form of coercion.” He announced a summit for Thursday evening.

    Starmer indicated that Britain, which is not part of the EU, is not planning to consider retaliatory tariffs.

    “My focus is on making sure we don’t get to that stage,” he said.

    Denmark’s defense minister and Greenland’s foreign minister are expected to meet NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in Brussels on Monday, a meeting that was planned before the latest escalation.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida; Emma Burrows in Nuuk, Greenland; and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.

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  • European leaders denounce Trump’s tariff threat over Greenland

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    European leaders denounce Trump’s tariff threat over Greenland – CBS News









































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    European countries held an emergency meeting in Brussels Sunday in response to President Trump’s post threatening tariffs against countries that have sent military forces into Greenland amid his push to annex the Arctic island. Leigh Kiniry reports.

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  • Europeans reeling as Trump threatens tariffs on 8 countries over Greenland dispute

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    Europeans were reeling Sunday from President Trump’s announcement that eight countries will face a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland.

    The responses to Mr. Trump’s decision ranged from saying it risked “a dangerous downward spiral” to predicting that “China and Russia must be having a field day.”

    Mr. Trump’s threat sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. Several European countries have sent troops to Greenland in recent days, saying they are there for Arctic security training. Mr. Trump’s announcement came Saturday as thousands of Greenlanders were wrapping up a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in the capital, Nuuk.

    The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks with Denmark and other European countries over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland would face the tariff.

    The eight countries issued a joint statement Sunday: “As members of NATO, we are committed to strengthening Arctic security as a shared transatlantic interest. The pre-coordinated Danish exercise ‘Arctic Endurance,’ conducted with Allies, responds to this necessity. It poses no threat to anyone.”

    The statement added: “We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland. Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. We will continue to stand united and coordinated in our response. We are committed to upholding our sovereignty.”

    Protesters wave Greenland flags during a demonstration at City Hall Square in Copenhagen on Jan. 17, 2026.

    Kristian Tuxen Ladegaard Berg/NurPhoto via Getty Images


    There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs, because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading. Norway and the U.K. are not part of the 27-member EU, and it was not immediately clear if Mr. Trump’s tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a potential response.

    It was unclear, too, how Mr. Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a Supreme Court challenge.

    European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from the divisions between the U.S. and Europe. She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity.”

    Mr. Trump’s move also was panned domestically.

    Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Mr. Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”

    “Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on X. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”

    A CBS News poll released Sunday found widespread opposition among Americans to buying Greenland or taking it by military force. Seventy percent said they would oppose using federal funds to buy the territory, and 86% said they would oppose seizing it militarily.

    The tariffs announcement even drew blowback from Mr. Trump’s populist allies in Europe.

    Italy’s right-wing Premier Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Mr. Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said Sunday she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”

    The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni told reporters during a two-day visit to South Korea. She said the deployment was not a move against the U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t name.

    Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Mr. Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”

    Mr. Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.

    “We don’t always agree with the U.S. government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime champion and ally of Mr. Trump, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Mr. Trump’s designs on Greenland.

    Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the center-left Labour Party, said the tariffs announcement was “completely wrong” and his government would “be pursuing this directly with the U.S. administration.”

    The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are also expected to address the crisis Sunday in Oslo during a news conference.

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  • World Markets Face Fresh Jolt as Trump Vows Tariffs on Europe Over Greenland

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    By Karin Strohecker and Dhara Ranasinghe

    LONDON, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Global markets face a fresh ‌bout ​of volatility this week after President Donald Trump ‌vowed to slap tariffs on eight European nations until the U.S. is allowed to buy Greenland.

    Trump said he ​would impose an additional 10% import tariffs from February 1 on goods from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland and Britain, which will rise to 25% ‍on June 1 if no deal is reached.

    “Hopes ​that the tariff situation has calmed down for this year have been dashed for now – and we find ourselves in the same situation as last spring,” ​said Berenberg chief ⁠economist Holger Schmieding.

    Sweeping “Liberation Day” tariffs in April 2025 sent shockwaves through financial markets. Investors then largely looked past Trump trade threats in the second half of the year, viewing them as noise and responding with relief as Trump made deals with the likes of Britain and the European Union. 

    While that lull might be over, market moves on Monday could be dampened by the experience that investor sentiment had been more resilient and global ‌economic growth stayed on track. 

    Nonetheless, Schmieding expected the euro could come under some pressure when Asian trade begins. The euro ended Friday at ​around $1.16 against ‌the dollar, having hit its lowest ‍levels since late November. 

    Implications for ⁠the dollar were less clear. It remains a safe haven, but could also feel the impact of Washington being at the centre of geopolitical ruptures, as it did last April.

    “For European markets it will be a small setback, but not something comparable to the Liberation Day reaction,” Schmieding said. 

    European stocks are trading near record highs, with Germany’s DAX and London’s blue-chip FTSE index up more than 3% since the start of the year, outperforming the S&P 500, which is up 1.3%. 

    European defence shares are likely to remain an outlier – benefiting from increased geopolitical tensions. Defence stocks have jumped almost 15% this month, as the U.S. seizure of Venezuela’s Nicolas ​Maduro fuelled concerns about Greenland.

    Denmark’s closely managed crown will also likely be in focus. It has been weakening, but rate differentials are a major factor and it is still close to the central rate at which it is pegged to the euro. It is trading not far from six-year lows against the euro.

    “The U.S.-EU trade war is back on,” said Tina Fordham, geopolitical strategist and founder of Fordham Global Foresight.

    Trump’s latest move came as top officials from the EU and South American bloc Mercosur signed a free trade agreement. 

    ‘UNTHINKABLE SORTS OF DEVELOPMENTS’

    The dispute over Greenland is just one hot spot.

    Trump has also weighed intervening in unrest in Iran, while the U.S. administration’s threat to indict Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has reignited concerns about its independence. 

    Against this backdrop, safe-haven gold remains near record highs.

    The World Economic Forum’s annual risk perception survey, released ahead of its annual meeting in Davos, which will be attended by Trump, identified ​economic confrontation between nations as the number one concern replacing armed conflict.

    While investors have grown increasingly wary of geopolitical risk, they have also become used to it to some extent.

    “Investor sentiment has proven quite resilient in the face of the sort of continuing unthinkable sorts of developments, which probably reflects a combination of like faith that Trump just won’t be able to do all of the things that ​he talks about mixed with a sense that none of this kind of moves the needle on asset prices,” said Fordham. 

    (Reporting by Karin Strohecker and Dhara Ranasinghe ; Editing by Alexander Smith)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • EU Warns of Downward Spiral After Trump Threatens Tariffs Over Greenland

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    BRUSSELS, Jan 17 (Reuters) – European ‌Union ​leaders on Saturday ‌warned of a “dangerous downward spiral” over ​U.S. President Donald Trump’s vow to implement increasing ‍tariffs on European allies ​until the U.S. is allowed to ​buy ⁠Greenland.

    “Tariffs would undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral. Europe will remain united, coordinated, and committed to upholding its sovereignty,” European Commission ‌President Ursula von der Leyen and EU Council President ​Antonio Costa ‌said in posts ‍on ⁠X.

    The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas said tariffs would hurt prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic, while distracting the EU from its “core task” of ending Russia’s war in Ukraine.

    “China and Russia ​must be having a field day. They are the ones who benefit from divisions among allies,” Kallas said on X.

    “Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity. If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO.”

    Ambassadors from the European Union’s ​27 countries will convene on Sunday for an emergency meeting to discuss their response to the tariff threat.

    (Reporting by Bart Meijer ​and Phil Blenkinsop, Editing by Mark Potter and Chris Reese)

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  • Czech Citizen Imprisoned in Venezuela Released, Foreign Minister Says

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    PRAGUE, Jan ‌16 (Reuters) – ​A ‌Czech national imprisoned ​in Venezuela ‍since 2024 has ​been ​released ⁠along with other foreign nationals, Czech Foreign ‌Minister Petr Macinka ​said on ‌Friday.

    The ‍Czech citizen was ⁠detained over claims he was planning to ​participate in a plot to kill then President Nicolas Maduro and overthrow the government, according to Czech ​media.

    (Reporting by Jason Hovet and Jan Lopatka; ​Editing by Joe Bavier)

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  • The EU Is Considering Lifting Tariffs on Chinese Electric Vehicles

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    Just over a year ago, the European Union imposed punitive tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The reason was the EU’s position that Chinese EV manufacturers have an unfair advantage over the European automotive industry due to large state subsidies.

    For some manufacturers, the tariffs reached as much as 35.3% of the vehicle’s value. China strongly criticized these measures, claiming that no such subsidies existed.

    Ongoing Negotiations Between China and the EU

    Photo Courtesy: Byd.

    Since the introduction of the tariffs, China and the EU have been engaged in negotiations to resolve the dispute. As reported by ABC News, a compromise path forward has now been found.

    In a new EU policy document, it is outlined how Chinese manufacturers could agree to specific pricing commitments, including setting minimum import prices as an alternative to high tariffs.

    WTO Compliance and Investment Considerations

    Chery Arrizo 8
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    The EU emphasizes that any pricing agreement will be assessed objectively, fairly, and without discrimination, in accordance with World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, and that the investment plans of Chinese manufacturers within the European Union will also be taken into account.

    China’s Ministry of Commerce welcomed this development in an official statement, saying that it strengthens economic relations and the rules-based international trading system.

    This article originally appeared on Autorepublika.com and has been republished with permission by Guessing Headlights. AI-assisted translation was used, followed by human editing and review.

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  • 2025 Was the World’s Third-Warmest Year on Record, EU Scientists Say

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    BRUSSELS, Jan 14 (Reuters) – The planet experienced its third-warmest year on record ‌in ​2025, and average temperatures have exceeded 1.5 ‌degrees Celsius of global warming over three years, the longest period since records began, ​EU scientists said on Wednesday.

    The data from the European Union’s European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) found that the last three years were ‍the planet’s three hottest since records began – ​with 2025 marginally cooler than 2023, by just 0.01 C.

    Britain’s national weather service, the UK Met Office, confirmed its own ​data ranked 2025 ⁠as the third-warmest in records going back to 1850. The World Meteorological Organization will publish its temperature figures later on Wednesday.

    The hottest year on record was 2024. 

    ECMWF said the planet also just had its first three-year period in which the average global temperature was 1.5 C above the pre-industrial era – the limit beyond which scientists expect global warming will unleash ‌severe impacts, some of them irreversible.

    “1.5 C is not a cliff edge. However, we know that every fraction of a ​degree ‌matters, particularly for worsening extreme ‍weather events,” said Samantha ⁠Burgess, strategic lead for climate at ECMWF.

    Governments pledged under the 2015 Paris Agreement to try to avoid exceeding 1.5 C of global warming, measured as a decades-long average temperature compared with the pre-industrial era.

    But their failure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions means that level could now be breached before 2030 – a decade earlier than had been predicted when the Paris accord was signed in 2015, ECMWF said.

    “We are bound to pass it,” said Carlo Buontempo, director of the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. “The choice we now have is how ​to best manage the inevitable overshoot and its consequences on societies and natural systems.”

    Currently, the world’s long-term warming level is about 1.4 C above the pre-industrial era, ECMWF said. Measured on a short-term basis, the world already breached 1.5 C in 2024.

    Exceeding the long-term 1.5 C limit – even if only temporarily – would lead to more extreme and widespread impacts, including hotter and longer heatwaves, and more powerful storms and floods.

    In 2025, wildfires in Europe produced the highest total emissions on record, while scientific studies confirmed specific weather events were made worse by climate change – including Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean and monsoon rains in Pakistan which killed more than 1,000 people in floods.

    Despite these worsening impacts, climate science is facing increased political pushback. U.S. President Donald Trump, ​who has called climate change “the greatest con job”, last week withdrew from dozens of U.N. entities including the scientific Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

    The long-established consensus among the world’s scientists is that climate change is real, mostly caused by humans, and getting worse. Its main cause is greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels such ​as coal, oil and gas, which trap heat in the atmosphere.

    (Reporting by Kate Abnett; Additional reporting by William James and Emma Farge; Editing by Alison Williams)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Deaths Outnumber Births in France for First Time Since World War Two

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    PARIS, Jan 13 (Reuters) – France recorded more ‌deaths ​than births in 2025 ‌for the first time since the end of World ​War Two, a development that erodes its long-held demographic advantage over other European ‍Union nations, official figures ​showed on Tuesday.

    The national statistics institue INSEE reported 651,000 deaths last ​year ⁠and 645,000 births, which have collapsed in number since the global COVID pandemic.

    France has traditionally had stronger demographics than most of Europe, but an aging population and falling birth rates show it is not immune ‌to the demographic crunch straining public finances across the continent.

    INSEE said the ​fertility ‌rate dropped to 1.56 ‍children ⁠per woman last year, its lowest level since the World War One and well below the 1.8 assumed in pension funding forecasts by the pension advisory council.

    In 2023, the most recent year with EU comparisons, France ranked second highest with a fertility rate of 1.65, behind Bulgaria’s 1.81.

    The demographic shift ​will push public spending back to pandemic-era highs in the coming years while eroding the tax base, the national public audit office warned last month.

    “Given the retirement of the large generations born in the 1960s, labour market tensions and workforce problems are likely to increase rapidly in the coming years,” said economist Philippe Crevel with the Cercle d’Epargne think tank.

    Despite deaths outnumbering births, France’s population grew slightly last year to 69.1 million, due ​to net migration, which INSEE estimated at 176,000.

    Life expectancy reached record highs last year – 85.9 years for women and 80.3 for men – while the share of people aged 65 or older ​climbed to 22%, nearly matching those under 20.

    (Reporting by Leigh Thomas; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)

    Copyright 2026 Thomson Reuters.

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  • Iran’s Leadership Is in Its ‘Final Days and Weeks’, Germany’s Merz Says

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    BENGALURU, Jan 13 (Reuters) – German Chancellor Friedrich ‌Merz ​said on Tuesday ‌he assumes Iran’s leadership is in its “final days ​and weeks” as it faces widespread protests.

    Demonstrations in Iran have evolved ‍from complaints about dire economic ​hardships to calls for the fall of the ​clerical establishment ⁠in the Islamic Republic.

    “I assume that we are now witnessing the final days and weeks of this regime,” Merz said during a trip to India, questioning the Iranian leadership’s legitimacy.

    “When a ‌regime can only maintain power through violence, then it is ​effectively at ‌its end. The ‍population ⁠is now rising up against this regime.”

    Merz said Germany was in close contact with the United States and fellow European governments on the situation in Iran, and urged Tehran to end its deadly crackdown on protesters.

    He did not comment on Germany’s trade ties with ​Iran.

    U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday that any country that does business with Iran will face a tariff rate of 25% on trade with the United States.

    Germany maintains limited trade relations with Iran despite significant restrictions, making Berlin Tehran’s most important trading partner in the European Union.

    German exports to Iran fell 25% to just under 871 million euros ($1.02 billion) in the first 11 months ​of 2025, representing less than 0.1% of total German exports, according to federal statistics office data seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

    (Reporting by Andreas Rinke in Bengaluru ​and Rene Wagner in Berlin, Writing by Miranda Murray, Editing by Timothy Heritage)

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  • Russian Drones Hit Two Foreign Vessels Near Ukraine’s Port, Source Says

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    KYIV, ‌Jan ​12 (Reuters) – ‌Russian drones ​on ‍Monday ​hit ​two foreign-flagged vessels ⁠near Ukraine’s southern ‌port of ​Chornomorsk, a ‌person ‍familiar with ⁠the matter told ​Reuters.

    One of the vessels was heading to Italy, the person said.

    (Reporting ​by Yuliia DysaEditing by ​Tomasz Janowski)

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  • French Farmers Target Food Imports as Mercosur Protests Continue

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    PARIS, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Farmers stopped lorries at ‌France’s ​largest container port and on ‌the main motorway north of Paris on Monday, conducting symbolic ​checks on imported food in protest at an EU-Mercosur trade deal they say will lead ‍to unfair competition.

    Farmers in France, ​the European Union’s largest agricultural producer, have been protesting for weeks over grievances ​including the ⁠proposed trade pact with South America’s Mercosur bloc. 

    The deal’s approval by most EU states on Friday, despite France’s rejection, has intensified pressure on the government from farmers and opposition parties, some of which have filed no-confidence motions.   

    At the northern port of ‌Le Havre, several dozen members of the Young Farmers union who had gathered ​with ‌tractors over the weekend were ‍inspecting food ⁠lorries coming out of the port.

    FARMERS DENOUNCE ‘UNFAIR COMPETITION’

    “It’s above all to raise the alarm again and keep up the pressure over the Mercosur agreement,” said Justin Lemaitre, secretary general of a local branch of the union.

    “It’s hard to swallow such unfair competition with products that we produce in Europe being imported from the other side of the world,” he ​said, adding that protesters at Le Havre had observed mushrooms and sheep offal from China.

    At a toll gate on the A1 motorway near the northern city of Lille, farmers from the Coordination Rurale union were carrying out similar checks on lorries heading towards Paris, Patrick Legras, a spokesperson for the union, said.

    Farmers were also blocking fuel depots at the Atlantic port of La Rochelle and in the Savoie region of the French Alps, as well as a cereal port in Bayonne in the southwest, unions and ​French media reported.

    Farmers plan to bring tractors into the capital for a protest on Tuesday, following a surprise demonstration there last Thursday and ahead of a proposed gathering in Strasbourg on January 20 at the European Parliament. ​French farmers hope the parliament will block the Mercosur pact.

    (Reporting by Gus Trompiz; editing by Barbara Lewis)

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  • Analysis-Denmark’s Greenland Dilemma: Defending a Territory Already on Its Way Out

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    By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen

    COPENHAGEN, Jan 10 (Reuters) – When U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets his Danish ‌and ​Greenlandic counterparts next week, Denmark will be defending a territory that ‌has been moving steadily away from it and towards independence since 1979.

    President Donald Trump’s threats to seize Greenland have triggered a wave of European solidarity ​with Denmark. But the crisis has exposed an uncomfortable reality – Denmark is rallying support to protect a territory whose population wants independence, and whose largest opposition party now wants to bypass Copenhagen and negotiate directly with Washington.

    “Denmark risks exhausting ‍its foreign policy capital to secure Greenland, only to ​watch it walk away afterwards,” said Mikkel Vedby Rasmussen, a political science professor at University of Copenhagen.

    Denmark cannot let Greenland go without losing its geopolitical relevance in the Arctic territory, strategically located between Europe and North America ​and a critical site for ⁠the U.S. ballistic missile defence system. 

    Yet it may ultimately have nothing to show for its efforts if Greenlanders choose independence – or strike their own deal with Washington.

    The stakes extend beyond Denmark’s national interests. European allies have rallied behind Denmark not just out of solidarity, but because giving up Greenland would set a dangerous precedent that could embolden other powers to pursue territorial claims against smaller nations, upending the post-1945 world order.

    Denmark’s foreign ministry declined to comment, but referred to joint remarks by Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic Prime Minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen on December 22.

    “National borders and the sovereignty of ‌states are rooted in international law,” the two leaders said. “They are fundamental principles. You cannot annex another country … Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders.”

    This week, Frederiksen said: “If the U.S. chooses to attack another ​NATO ‌country, everything stops, including NATO and the security ‍the alliance has provided since World War Two.”

    For now, the Trump administration says all options are on the table, including buying the territory or taking it by force.

    Copenhagen professor Rasmussen said any discussion of whether holding on to Greenland is worth the cost has been drowned out by outrage at Trump’s threats.

    “It is not part of the political debate in Denmark. I fear we have gone into patriotic overdrive,” he said.

    During the Cold War, Greenland’s strategic location gave Denmark outsized influence in Washington and allowed it to maintain lower defence spending than would otherwise be expected of a NATO ally.

    This became known as “the Greenland Card”, according to a 2017 report by the University of Copenhagen’s Centre for Military Studies.

    But Greenland’s aspirations for self-determination have been brewing since the former colony got greater autonomy and its own parliament in 1979. A 2009 agreement explicitly recognised Greenlanders’ right to independence if they choose.

    All Greenlandic parties say they want independence, but differ on how, ​and when, to achieve it.

    Trump’s pressure has accelerated a timeline that was already in motion, forcing Copenhagen to spend political capital and financial resources on a relationship with an increasingly uncertain endpoint.

    “How much should we fight for someone who doesn’t really care about us?” Joachim B. Olsen, a political commentator and former Danish lawmaker, told Reuters.

    Copenhagen provides an annual block grant of roughly 4.3 billion Danish crowns ($610 million) to Greenland’s economy, which is near stagnation with GDP growth of just 0.2% in 2025.

    The central bank estimates an annual financing gap of approximately 800 million Danish crowns to make current public finances sustainable. Denmark also covers police, the justice system and defence – bringing total annual spending to just under $1 billion.

    In addition, Copenhagen last year announced a 42 billion Danish crowns ($6.54 billion) Arctic defence package in response to U.S. criticism that Denmark has not done enough to protect Greenland.

    Some reject framing the relationship in transactional terms, pointing to Denmark’s legal and moral obligations under international law and centuries of shared history.

    “We’re talking about family relations, long history of relations between Denmark and Greenland,” said Marc Jacobsen, associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College. “So this is much more, it’s not just about defence and economy, it’s about feelings, it’s about culture.”

    Prime Minister Frederiksen faces a ​difficult balancing act, said Serafima Andreeva, researcher at Oslo-based Fridtjof Nansen Institute.

    For now, Denmark has little choice but to stand firm to maintain its diplomatic credibility, but in doing so risks the relationship with the United States at a time “when Russia is an accelerating threat and being on the U.S.’s bad side is no good for anyone in the West”.

    Frederiksen also faces an election this year, though Greenland has not been a major theme.

    “I don’t understand why we have to cling to this community with Greenland when they so badly want out of it,” ​Lone Frank, a Danish science writer and broadcaster, told Reuters. “To be completely honest, Greenland doesn’t inspire any sense of belonging in me.”

    (Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Stine Jacobsen in Copenhagen; additional reporting by Soren Sirich Jeppesen and Tom Little; Editing by Alex Richardson)

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  • Russia Says It Fired Its Oreshnik Missile at Ukraine in Response to Strike on Putin’s Residence

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    Jan 9 (Reuters) – ‌The ​Russian military ‌said on Friday that ​it had fired ‍its hypersonic Oreshnik ​missile at ​a ⁠target in Ukraine as part of what it said was a massive ‌overnight strike on energy ​facilities and ‌drone manufacturing ‍sites there.

    The ⁠Defence Ministry said in a statement that the strike was a response to ​an attempted Ukrainian drone attack on one of President Vladimir Putin’s residences at the end of December.

    Kyiv has called the Russian assertion that it tried ​to attack the residence, in Russia’s Novgorod’s region, “a lie.”

    (Reporting by Andrew ​Osborn; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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