World

Vetoes, reforms: Main takeaways from Euronews’ Enlargement summit

Published

3 months ago

November 4, 2025

Vetoes, reforms: Main takeaways from Euronews’ Enlargement summit

Amid a shifting geopolitical landscape and rising global instability, European Union enlargement has re-emerged as one of the bloc’s defining strategic questions. At a high-level Euronews summit bringing together EU officials and leaders from candidate countries, the message was clear: expanding the Union is no longer a matter of choice, but of necessity.

But the unique gathering also highlighted the mounting frustrations on both sides with the enlargement process, in particular with the use of vetoes.

Here is what you need to know about Euronews’ first such summit.

Enlargement is a geopolitical necessity

All the leaders present at the summit agreed that enlargement is a geopolitical necessity for the EU.

European Commission Vice-President António Costa said the EU can no longer delay bringing new members into the bloc.

“The current geopolitical context makes this priority all the more urgent and necessary for the European Union,” he said. “In an age of geopolitical uncertainty and economic instability, an enlarged European Union means a safer, stronger and more peaceful Europe, at home and in the world. Enlarging is the best investment we can make today for our future.”

Maia Sandu, whose country Moldova is particularly vulnerable to interference from Moscow given part of its territory broke away to form the pro-Russia region of Transnistria, stressed that failing to let new members in leaves the door open for competing powers to exert their influence.

“If you don’t support us to stay a democratic country and participate in the stability and security of the region, then we’re going to be used by Russia and are going to be used against Ukraine and the EU countries in the region,” she warned.

Montenegro’s Deputy Prime Minister for Foreign and European Affairs, Filip Ivanović, echoed the sentiment, calling enlargement “the best policy the EU ever had.” He added, “It will transform the EU into a geopolitical player — Montenegro wants to play a role in this.”

Vetoes amount to ‘bullying’ and are ‘not fair’

A key frustration for the leaders was the use of national vetoes by individual EU member states to stall the enlargement process.

Hristijan Mickoski, the prime Minister of North Macedonia, described it as a form of “bullying.”

North Macedonia’s path toward European Union membership has been one of the most protracted and politically complex in the bloc’s history. The country first applied for EU membership in 2004 and was granted candidate status in 2005, but its progress was long stalled by disputes with neighboring countries.

Bulgaria is currently blocking its progress, demanding new changes to the country’s constitution over historical and linguistic issues.

“We would like to see ourselves at the table in Brussels…If somebody dares to bully someone else who wants to join the club, why should the other be silent? This is not normal,” Mickoski said.

“It obviously works…and that’s why it will occur again and again,” he warned.

Marta Kos, the enlargement commissioner, also said it was “not fair” for member states, who have to unanimously approve each step of the accession process, to wield vetoes.

“You notice the same member state has given a green light to give candidate status to Ukraine, has given the green light to start negotiations, but now it is blocking,” she said, referring to Hungary.

“This is not fair and this is not how I see European solidarity and geopolitical need,” she added.

She said that one workaround would be for the Commission and aspiring member states to carry on doing the technical work behind the scene, even if the formal opening of negotiation clusters hasn’t happened so that they are closed quickly when member states do give their backing.

Full-fledged membership or nothing

Leaders from candidate countries have pushed back firmly against proposals suggesting that future EU members could be subjected to a “probation period” when they join during which they might not have the full veto rights.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said such an approach would contradict the very principles of equality and unity on which the EU was founded.

“It seems to me it’s very important that Ukraine could get such a treatment as equals,” he said. “If we speak about EU membership, it has to be fully pledged. You cannot be semi- or demi-member of the EU.”

Montenegro’s Ivanović also described the idea of accession without full rights as “hardly acceptable.”

His small country of 620,000 inhabitants has already been “on trial for the past 15 years,” he said. “Once we close all the negotiation chapters, as far as I’m concerned, the trial is over.”

Kos also voiced clear opposition, saying: “No, I’m strictly against, but this is my personal opinion”.

Internal reforms: transitional period, accession treaties

The Commission’s enlargement tsar, who in the coming weeks is expected to present a review onpre-enlargement reforms and policy for the EU to undertake before it accepts new members, instead said the bloc should make better use of accession treaties through which “we can define transitional periods”.

Poland’s accession treaty, for instance, included a transition period related to agricultural land.

“We have transitional periods, we have different areas where we really can talk about, to enable a full integration and really strong EU,” she said.

Countries push back against Commission criticism

Some leaders from candidate countries have pushed back against what they see as overly harsh or one-sided criticism in the European Commission’s latest Enlargement Package, defending their domestic progress and arguing for greater understanding of their political contexts.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy seemingly took offence to a line in the report that flags “recent negative trends”, including “a pressure on the specialised anti-corruption agencies and civil society”.

He said that despite fighting a full-scale war, Ukrainian authorities “have implemented the widest, the broadest anti-corruption infrastructure in Europe.”

”I don’t know about any country who has that many anti-corruption authorities… We’re doing everything possible,” he said.

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama, whose country was urged in the Commission’s report to provide “further efforts” to fight drug traffickers and dismantle organised criminal groups, also took offence.

“In this moment in time we accept support, we accept partnership, we accept help, but we don’t accept lectures from anyone when it comes to the fight against corruption”, Rama said.

Similarly, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić also dismissed the Commission’s criticism of political polarisation in his country, arguing that division is a global trend rather than a uniquely Serbian problem.

“Tell me the name of a country without deep political polarisation. I don’t know the name,” Vučić said. “Is it Romania? Bulgaria? Germany? France? Great Britain? It’s happening all over the world because of social networks. That’s how it goes in today’s world. That’s the evidence of democracy, which is key.”

The Commission also took aim at Serbia’s low alignment rate with the EU’s foreign policy, especially sanctions against Russia in response to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and his decision to visit Moscow to attend a military parade.

“I’m not going to justify myself for talking with someone,” Vučić said. “I believe that everybody should talk to each other.”

Related Topics:Aleksandar Vučić EU Enlargement European Union Featured Maia Sandu Volodymyr Zelenskyy

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World

Paramount Sends ByteDance Cease-and-Desist Letter Over Seedance AI Videos, Alleging Intellectual Property Infringement

Published

2 hours ago

February 15, 2026

Press Room

Paramount Sends ByteDance Cease-and-Desist Letter Over Seedance AI Videos, Alleging Intellectual Property Infringement

Paramount Skydance accused ByteDance of engaging in “blatant infringement” of its intellectual property with its Seedance video and Seedream image generative AI platforms, alleging the Chinese internet giant is illegally ripping off IP including “South Park,” “Star Trek,” “The Godfather,” “Dora the Explorer” and more.

The media company sent a cease-and-desist letter Saturday to ByteDance, a copy of which was obtained by Variety, demanding it discontinue the alleged infringement. The letter from Gabriel Miller, Paramount Skydance’s head of intellectual property, was addressed to ByteDance CEO Liang Rubo.

That came after Disney sent a cease-and-desist letter Friday to ByteDance asserting the company’s AI platforms are making available “a pirated library of Disney’s copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other Disney franchises, as if Disney’s coveted intellectual property were free public domain clip art.” “ByteDance’s virtual smash-and-grab of Disney’s IP is willful, pervasive, and totally unacceptable,” David Singer, a partner at Jenner & Block, wrote on behalf of Disney.

Seedance is the latest AI video system to set off alarms across Hollywood. After videos generated by ByteDance’s Seedance 2.0 went viral this week — including one of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt fighting on a rooftop (pictured above) — the Motion Picture Association condemned ByteDance on Thursday, calling on the company to immediately cease its infringing conduct. Actors union SAG-AFTRA and the Human Artistry Campaign, a coalition of artists’ rights groups affiliated with Hollywood unions, also spoke out against the ByteDance AI model.

Paramount’s Miller, in the letter to ByteDance, wrote that “much of the content that the Seed Platforms produce contains vivid depictions of Paramount’s famous and iconic franchises and characters, which are protected under copyright law, trademark law, and the law of unfair competition (among other doctrines).” The content in the AI-generated images and videos produced by ByteDance’s platforms “is often indistinguishable, both visually and audibly,” from Paramount’s copyrighted characters and stories.

Reps for ByteDance did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday.

According to Miller’s letter, Paramount properties including “South Park,” “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Star Trek,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “The Godfather,” “Dora the Explorer” and “Avatar: The Last Airbender” have “all been repeatedly infringed by the Seed Platforms’ production and subsequent public performance and distribution of these images and videos.” Moreover, with the recent release of the Seedance 2.0 video generation tool, “ByteDance’s infringing activities appear not only to be continuing but becoming more prevalent and the unlawful outputs more widely disseminated,” Miller wrote.

In the letter, Paramount Skydance demanded that “ByteDance immediately take all necessary steps to (i) prevent violations of our intellectual property rights by ensuring that our content is not used or created by ByteDance or the Seed Platforms going forward, and (ii) remove all infringing instances of Paramount’s content from ByteDance’s platforms and systems.”

World

US military in Syria carries out 10 strikes on more than 30 ISIS targets: photos

Published

3 hours ago

February 15, 2026

Press Room

US military in Syria carries out 10 strikes on more than 30 ISIS targets: photos

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U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) announced Saturday that it had carried out ten strikes against over 30 ISIS targets in Syria in recent days as part of a joint military effort to “sustain relentless military pressure on remnants from the terrorist network.”

CENTCOM said, from Feb. 3-12, its forces “struck ISIS infrastructure and weapons storage targets with precision munitions delivered by fixed-wing, rotary-wing, and unmanned aircraft.”

Recently, CENTCOM forces conducted five strikes against an ISIS communication site, critical logistics node and weapons storage facilities in Syria between Jan. 27 and Feb. 2.

US MILITARY IN SYRIA CARRIES OUT 5 STRIKES AGAINST ‘MULTIPLE ISIS TARGETS’

Operation Hawkeye Strike targets over 30 ISIS sites after a December ambush that killed US troops. (CENTCOM)

“Striking these targets demonstrates our continued focus and resolve for preventing an ISIS resurgence in Syria,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the commander of CENTCOM, said in a statement at the time.

“Operating in coordination with coalition and partner forces to ensure the enduring defeat of ISIS makes America, the region and the world safer.”

AFTER TRUMP DECLARED ISIS DEFEATED, US FACES NEW TEST AS DETAINEES MOVE AMID SYRIA POWER SHIFT

On Jan. 27, President Trump told reporters he had a “great conversation with the highly respected” president of Syria, Ahmed al-Sharaa.

More than 50 ISIS terrorists have been killed or captured and over 100 ISIS infrastructure targets have been struck. (CENTCOM)

“All of the things having to do with Syria in that area are working out very, very well,” said President Trump. “So, we are very happy about it.”

The Operation Hawkeye Strike mission was launched in response to an ISIS “ambush” attack that left two U.S. service members and an American interpreter dead Dec. 13, 2025, in Palmyra, Syria.

AFTER TRUMP DECLARED ISIS DEFEATED, US FACES NEW TEST AS DETAINEES MOVE AMID SYRIA POWER SHIFT

“More than 50 ISIS terrorists have been killed or captured and over 100 ISIS infrastructure targets have been struck with hundreds of precision munitions during two months of targeted operations,” CENTCOM said.

The Operation Hawkeye Strike mission was launched in response to an ISIS “ambush” attack that left two U.S. service members and an American interpreter dead. (CENTCOM)

On Thursday, CENTCOM announced it had completed its withdrawal of American forces from al-Tanf Garrison in Syria, pointing to a broader shift in U.S. posture in the region.

CHAOS IN SYRIA SPARKS FEARS OF ISIS PRISON BREAKS AS US RUSHES DETAINEES TO IRAQ

“Striking these targets demonstrates our continued focus and resolve for preventing an ISIS resurgence in Syria,” said Adm. Brad Cooper. (CENTCOM)

Operation Inherent Resolve was launched in 2014 to combat ISIS with American troops maintaining a limited presence to support partner forces and prevent ISIS from returning after it was territorially defeated in 2019.

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Fox News Digital’s Ashley Carnahan and Greg Norman-Diamond contributed to this report.

Ashley J. DiMella is a lifestyle reporter with Fox News Digital.

World

A pardon for a price? How Donald Trump has reimagined presidential clemency

Published

4 hours ago

February 15, 2026

Press Room

A pardon for a price? How Donald Trump has reimagined presidential clemency

Limits to pardon powers

But there are limits to presidential clemency, and already, Trump has brushed against them.

In December, Trump announced that he would pardon Tina Peters, a former county clerk in Colorado who supported Trump’s false claims of voter fraud during the 2020 election.

Peters, however, was also convicted of state-level crimes, after she used her office to allow an unauthorised person to access her county’s election software.

A president may only pardon federal charges, not state ones. Peters continues to serve a nine-year prison sentence. Still, Trump has sought to pressure Colorado officials to release her.

“She did nothing wrong,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “If she is not released, I am going to take harsh measures!!!”

While Trump has argued that presidents have the “complete power to pardon”, legal experts have repeatedly affirmed that clemency is not without bounds.

Pardons, for example, cannot be used to avoid impeachment or to undercut the Constitution, nor can they be used to absolve future crimes.

Still, the question remains how to enforce those limits — and whether new bulwarks should be created to prevent abuse.

Love points to the state pardon systems as models to emulate. Delaware, for example, has a Board of Pardons that hears petitions in public meetings and makes recommendations to the governor. More than half of the petitions are granted.

Like other successful clemency systems, Love said it offers public accountability.

She measures that accountability by certain standards: “Can people see what’s going on? Do they know what the standards are, and is the decider a respected and responsible decision-maker?”

Trump’s sweeping actions, however, have prompted calls for presidential pardons to be limited or eliminated altogether.

Osler cautions against doing so: It would be a “permanent solution to a temporary problem”.

“If we constrain clemency, we’ll lose all the good things that come from it,” Osler said.