World
Brussels agrees to send €3bn from frozen Russian assets to aid Ukraine
Diplomats agreed the controversial plans at a meeting on Wednesday – but some say they don’t go far enough.
EU diplomats agreed Wednesday to use income from frozen Russian state assets to aid Ukraine – paving the way for the war-torn country to get around €3 bn for arms purchases and reconstruction before the summer.
Since the full-scale invasion of 2022, €210 billion in assets of the Moscow central bank have sat frozen within the bloc – chiefly at the Euroclear depositary in Belgium.
The deal was agreed “in principle” at a regular meeting of national representatives, according to a tweet by Belgium, currently chairing talks in the European Council.
Brussels has long touted using the interest from those funds, estimated at around €3bn per year, for Ukraine’s reconstruction costs – and later extended its plans to cover Kyiv’s military expenditure.
The plan – which also has backing from the group of seven leading industrialised democracies – comes as Ukraine hopes to turn the tide in an increasingly desperate military campaign, bolstered by €89bn recently agreed by the US Congress.
But Ukrainian ministers have said Brussels needs to go further than merely scooping up interest payments – and fully confiscate Moscow’s assets to ensure the aggressor pays for the cost of war.
Officials from EU countries and the European Central Bank have expressed concerns that seizing assets outright might set an unhelpful precedent or harm the euro’s reputation as a safe currency.
Talks were also held up by concerns over how many of the assets would be retained by Euroclear as an administration fee, a figure that was originally as high as 13%, as well as Belgium’s right to tax the profits gained by the Brussels-based securities depository.
Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has already promised to send some €1.5bn directly to Ukraine, though that appears to be a result of applying existing corporate tax law to the unexpected windfall Euroclear gains by having frozen central bank assets on its books.
The final deal allows Euroclear to keep a provisional buffer worth 10% of the profits, in case of litigation over the funds. It can also keep 0.3% as an incentive, while 90% of the funds will be sent via the European Peace Facility to help Ukraine buy weapons.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen previously suggested Ukraine could receive the first funds under the mechanism by July – but the calculation will be backdated to February, when Euroclear formally segregated the assets.
Ambassadors today also formally agreed on the reforms Ukraine will have to make to receive funds from a separate €50bn facility of EU grants and loans.
UPDATE (8 May, 17:00 CET): adds clarification regarding litigation buffer.
In a setback for Europe’s surging nationalist forces, Nicusor Dan, a centrist mayor and former mathematics professor, on Sunday won the presidential election in Romania, defeating a hard-right candidate who is aligned with President Trump and has opposed military aid to Ukraine.
With more than 98 percent of ballots counted, preliminary official results gave 54 percent of the vote in the presidential runoff to Mr. Dan, 55, the mayor of Romania’s capital, Bucharest. His opponent, George Simion, a nationalist and fervent admirer of Mr. Trump who had been widely seen as the front-runner, drew only 46 percent.
As he slipped behind Mr. Dan in early counting, Mr. Simion told supporters that “we are the clear winners of these elections.” He called for national protests should the final count show him as the loser, railing against what he said was an attempt “to steal the victory of the Romanian people.”
Mr. Dan’s victory will likely calm fears in Europe’s political mainstream that Romania, which borders Ukraine and plays a vital role in defending NATO’s eastern flank against Russia, might join Hungary and Slovakia in opposing help for Ukraine and in cozying up to Moscow.
But it will likely inflame Romania’s nationalist camp and its supporters abroad, including Vice President JD Vance, and stoke accusations that the system is rigged. Last year, a Romanian court ordered a last-minute cancellation of a presidential election that an ultranationalist appeared well positioned to win.
In the final days of the campaign, as opinion polls showed the race tightening, Mr. Simion laid the groundwork for a Romanian version of Mr. Trump’s “stop the steal” efforts in 2020. He insisted that only electoral fraud could prevent him from winning.
On Sunday, shortly before voting ended, Mr. Simion claimed that “many deceased people” had appeared on electoral lists, echoing the claims of Mr. Trump after he lost the 2020 election in the United States. Mr. Simion provided no evidence to support accusations that his victorious rival had benefited from fraud.
A mathematics prodigy in his youth who earned a Ph.D. in France before becoming a professor in Bucharest, Mr. Dan campaigned as a moderate conservative committed to both the European Union, which Romania joined in 2007, and to NATO, which it has been a member of since 2004.
Though supported, at least tacitly, by much of Romania’s political establishment, Mr. Dan ran as an independent and presented himself as an outsider untainted by close association with Romania’s two main political parties. Those parties have cycled in and out of power since the 1989 overthrow of communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
Mr. Dan began his public career campaigning against corruption and the destruction of old buildings by real estate developers tied to corrupt politicians. Both candidates were involved in rallies in the early 2000s to save Bucharest’s historic center.
But while Mr. Simion embraced nationalist politics, campaigning to “unite” Romania with the former Soviet republic of Moldova, which is largely Romanian-speaking, and bits of Ukraine inhabited by ethnic Romanians, Mr. Dan pursued a more moderate agenda.
Mr. Dan helped found the Save Romania Union, a liberal party, but split with it over the issue of same-sex marriage, which progressives in the party supported. When Romania, at the urging of right-wing activists, held a referendum in 2018 on changing the Constitution to prohibit same-sex unions, Mr. Dan urged his party to stay out of the issue. The referendum failed because of low turnout.
Leftists view him as a conservative and nationalists as a sellout to the European Union, but his victory on Sunday indicated that voters wanted a middle path between bitterly polarized political camps.
Campaigning this past week, he said voters had a choice “between a democratic, stable and respected Romania in Europe — and a dangerous path of isolation, populism and defiance of the rule of law.”
Andrada Lautaru contributed reporting from Bucharest.
Pope Leo XIV spoke of unity and those suffering due to war during his inaugural mass in St. Peter’s Square.
The 69-year-old Augustinian missionary, who is the first American pope, spoke before 200,000 people on Sunday, Vatican News said.
“I would like that our first great desire be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world,” he said during his homily, the Associated Press reported.
“In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.”
POPE LEO SAYS FAMILY BASED ON ‘UNION BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN,’ DEFENDS DIGNITY OF UNBORN
Pope Leo XIV holds Mass during the formal inauguration of his pontificate in St. Peter’s Square attended by heads of state, royalty and ordinary faithful, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Alessandra Tarantino)
His call for unity was significant, given the polarization in the Catholic Church in the United States and beyond.
“In the joy of faith and communion, we cannot forget our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of war,” Leo said while praying the Regina Caeli, mentioning Gaza, Myanmar and Ukraine.
IN PICTURES: POPE LEO XIV ADDRESSES 150,000 FAITHFUL IN INAUGURAL MASS
Pope Leo XIV on his popemobile tours St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican prior to the inaugural Mass of his pontificate, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Andrew Medichini)
The pope said he “strongly felt the spiritual presence of Pope Francis accompanying us from heaven.”
He concluded by inviting Catholics to pray to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under her titles as “Star of the Sea and Our Lady of Good Counsel,” to entrust his ministry.
Pope Leo XIV on his popemobile tours St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican prior to the inaugural Mass of his pontificate, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Domenico Stinellis)
“We implore her intercession,” he said, “for the gift of peace, for support and comfort for those who suffer, and for the grace for all of us to be witnesses to the Risen Lord.”
Leo officially opened his pontificate by taking his first popemobile tour through the piazza, a rite of passage that has become synonymous with the papacy’s global reach.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Portugal’s ruling centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) is poised to win the most votes in an early parliamentary election, but is short of a full majority, exit polls have shown, paving the way for more political instability in the country.
Sunday’s election, the third in as many years, was called just one year into the minority government’s term after Prime Minister Luis Montenegro failed to win a parliamentary vote of confidence in March when the opposition questioned his integrity over the dealings of his family’s consultancy firm.
Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing, and most opinion polls showed that voters have dismissed the opposition’s criticism.
The election, also dominated by issues such as housing and immigration, follows a decade of fragile governments. And the only one of those governments to have a parliamentary majority collapsed halfway through its term last year.
Exit polls published by the three main television channels – SIC, RTP and TVI – put Montenegro’s AD as receiving between 29 percent and 35.1 percent of the vote, garnering the biggest share but again no parliamentary majority, similar to what happened in the previous election in March 2024.
Outside the polling station where Montenegro voted in the northern city of Espinho, Irene Medeiros, 77, told Reuters the “best candidate must win”, but that she feared more uncertainty ahead.
According to the exit polls, Montenegro’s main rival, the centre-left Socialist Party (PS), garnered between 19.4 percent and 26 percent of the vote, nearly tied with the far-right Chega party’s 19.5 percent to 25.5 percent share, which is higher than the 18 percent it won in 2024. Montenegro has refused to make any deals with Chega.
With that tally, the DA could get between 85 and 96 seats, short of the 116 needed for a majority in Portugal’s 230-seat parliament. It could form a minority government or forge partnerships with smaller parties to obtain a majority.
Most official results are expected by midnight (23:00 GMT).
For the last half century, two parties have dominated politics in Portugal, with the Social Democrats, who head the DA, and the PS alternating in power.
Public frustration with their record in government has fuelled the search and for growth of new alternatives in recent years.
“This campaign was very, very weak, had ridiculous moments, like clownish. Very little was spoken about Portugal within the European Union – it’s like we are not part of it,” teacher Isabel Monteiro, 63, told the Associated Press news agency in Lisbon, adding that she felt “disenchantment” with all parties.
Political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto said the new parliament would likely be similar to the last, and it was impossible to predict how long the government would last, as it depended on factors ranging from the international situation to the AD’s ability to reach deals with other parties.
“The only doubt is whether the AD will form a new minority government … or whether it will form a post-electoral coalition with IL, even if this coalition does not guarantee an absolute majority,”, referring to the pro-business Liberal Initiative (IL) party, according to Reuters.
Shortly after casting his own ballot, Montenegro told reporters he was confident stability could be achieved.
“There is a search for a stable solution, but that will now depend on [people’s] choices,” he said.
A second consecutive minority government in Portugal would dash hopes for an end to the worst spell of political instability in decades for the European Union country of 10.6 million people.
For the past 50 years, two parties have dominated politics, with the Social Democrats, who head the DA, and the Socialist Party alternating in power.
Minneapolis Has More Households Than Ever Before
Colts Have Perfect Stretch In Which to Take Advantage
Takeaways: Paul Skenes Can’t Even Save Pirates
Volunteers help clean Lake Olmstead and Augusta Canal on National River Cleanup Day
The NATIONAL MEMORIAL DAY CONCERT, America’s National Night of Remembrance, from Washington, D.C. Sunday, May 25
-
Austin, TX1 week agoBest Austin Salads – 15 Food Places For Good Greens!
-
World1 week agoNew German chancellor aims for stronger EU ties with France and Poland
-
Technology1 week agoThe best iPad to buy
-
Lifestyle1 week agoA Guide to Bravo’s New Shows, Including “Wife Swap: The Real Housewives Edition”
-
News1 week agoJudge Orders Release of Rumeysa Ozturk, Tufts Student Detained by ICE
-
News1 week agoTrump cuts tariffs on U.K. cars, steel and aluminum but keeps 10% base duty
-
Business1 week agoA Decade-Long Search for a Battery That Can End the Gasoline Era
-
Culture1 week agoBook Review: ‘The Family Dynamic,’ by Susan Dominus