World
Will the Brussels spyware scandal finally convince the EU to act?
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.
The incoming EU lawmakers have a choice: confront and act against the menace of spyware to ensure our safety and the integrity of our democracy or become its next targets, Shubham Kaushik and Chloé Berthélémy write.
If you thought that a major attack on EU democracy would stir lawmakers into finally taking action against spyware, the events of the last few weeks would prove you wrong.
In February, Brussels was rocked by reports of phone hacking and spyware attacks on members of the European Parliament’s defence and security committee. Such intrusions are a huge threat to EU democracy — interfering with decision-making and allowing obstructive disruptions to public debate.
Three weeks on, nothing seems to have changed with the EU’s approach to spyware, which has rapidly become a free-for-all abusive practice, thanks to an out-of-control industry.
It’s not like the harms of spyware aren’t already well documented. This technology allows for unchecked and unlimited access to a person’s communications, intimate photos, personal contacts and online behaviour data — everything without the knowledge of the victim.
Spyware can turn a phone into a real-time spying device, even remotely activating the microphone and camera.
What it means for elected representatives is a significant danger of confidential data theft which can be used for blackmailing and manipulation. This can have disastrous consequences for the integrity and reliability of democratic processes such as elections and policy-making.
EU twiddling its thumbs despite global alarm bells
Warnings from concerned civil society groups about the many ills of spyware have been widespread and insistent, even before we found in 2021 that over 180 journalists in 20 countries — including Hungary, Spain and France — had their phones infected by the Pegasus spyware, often by their own countries’ governments.
As a response, the EU Parliament had set up the PEGA inquiry committee to look into the use of surveillance software. Although the committee fell short of calling for an EU-wide ban on spyware, they recommended a condition-based moratorium and a European regulatory framework.
However, almost a year since the recommendations were issued, there’s been little follow-up, largely due to the European Commission and member states’ inaction.
The European Commission remains stubborn despite the many scandals unearthing the dangers of these spying tools.
They maintain that nothing can be done under the scope of EU competences and are pushing back on the European Parliament’s pressing calls for action. Member states — who famously love to abuse spyware against journalists — also refuse to engage with the Parliament about robust regulation against this technology.
While the EU keeps its head in the sand, the US government has taken the matter very seriously.
After banning trade with the Israeli spyware producers NSO Group and Candiru in 2021, the Biden administration announced this February that it would impose visa restrictions for people suspected of being involved in the abuse of commercial spyware around the world.
They have also extended their sanctions regime to founders and employees of EU-based spyware companies, notably the Greek Intellexa, effectively prohibiting US companies and persons from engaging in any financial transaction, material or technological support with them.
On the other side of the Atlantic, political torpidity on spyware is on its way to slowly eroding EU democracy.
Another democratic pillar hit by spyware: journalists
Not only is the EU failing to protect its lawmakers from intrusive spyware, they’ve also thrown journalists, media workers and human rights defenders under the bus.
This week, the European Parliament voted on the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA), which was proposed in 2022 to protect journalists and media providers and serve as a push for strengthening EU democracy.
It is the first-ever law with binding rules on the use of surveillance technologies by European governments against journalists.
Despite the admirable intentions, the regulation falls short of achieving its goals of protecting journalists from spyware.
Not only does it lack crucial safeguards against surveillance of journalists, it may in fact end up promoting the use of spyware against them in the EU.
During final negotiations on the EMFA, EU institutions caved to member states’ demands for being allowed to put journalists under surveillance and even deploy spyware against them under very weak conditions.
This violates journalists’ rights, interferes with their work which is critical for the health of EU democracy, and poses a tangible threat to everyone’s freedom of expression and access to information.
The threat of spyware is impeding lawmakers from independent decision-making and journalists doing their job to hold power to account.
It’s evident that spyware abuse isn’t just about privacy or the safety of journalists. It’s a democratic issue, with two key pillars under attack from this nefarious technology.
The EMFA has fallen short of its goals of protecting journalists from spyware. Even the intermediary solutions proposed by the European Parliament’s PEGA Committee have barely seen any follow-up.
This makes it clear that the current EU mandate has not delivered on protecting the EU’s democracy from the looming menace of spyware.
A total ban on spyware should be on the EU’s agenda next
The current EU regulations on spyware are not cutting it. With European elections coming up in June, we will soon have a new set of Members of the European Parliament and new decision-makers in the European Commission.
The next mandate will be an opportunity for them to pick up the slack and confront the threat of spyware.
To do that, we need a protective EU-wide framework against spyware. Civil society organisations will continue to advocate for a complete ban on these spying tools to ensure the strength of our democracy and a safe and secure digital environment for journalists, people, policymakers and other communities to thrive in.
The incoming EU lawmakers have a choice: confront and act against the menace of spyware to ensure our safety and the integrity of our democracy or become the next targets of this surveillance technology.
Chloé Berthélémy is a Senior Policy Advisor and Shubham Kaushik is a Communications and Media Officer at European Digital Rights (EDRi).
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World
Patriots rookie RB Tre’Veyon Henderson sidelined against Ravens with head injury
BALTIMORE (AP) — New England running back Tre’Veyon Henderson left Sunday night’s game at Baltimore in the second quarter with a head injury.
Henderson was slow getting up after a carry in Baltimore territory. He was able to walk off the field, but then headed to the tunnel a short time later. He was later ruled out.
Henderson entered the game with 773 yards rushing and is a Rookie of the Year candidate after teaming up with Drake Maye to help the Patriots close in on a playoff berth. He had touchdown runs of 52 and 65 yards in last week’s loss to Buffalo.
He had just 3 yards on five carries before exiting against Baltimore.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
World
Iran executes man convicted of spying for Israeli intelligence
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Iranian officials executed a man over the weekend who was convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence arm and its army, according to state media.
The man was Aghil Keshavarz, who was put to death on Saturday, state media reported.
Keshavarz, 27, had “close intelligence cooperation” with the Mossad — the national intelligence agency for Israel — and captured photos of Iranian military and security areas, according to state media.
IRAN’S EXECUTION RATE TOPS 1,000 THIS YEAR AS DEATH ROW INMATES LAUNCH HUNGER STRIKE
Iran executed Aghil Keshavarz, 27, after he was convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. (Getty Images)
Keshavarz was arrested in May while taking pictures of a military headquarters in the city of Urmia, located about 371 miles northwest of Iran’s capital of Tehran.
He was accused of engaging in more than 200 similar assignments for the Mossad in various Iranian cities, including Tehran.
Keshavarz was tried and sentenced to death in connection with the spying accusations. The country’s Supreme Court later upheld the sentence, according to state media.
Smoke rises from the building of Iran’s state-run television after an Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, on June 16, 2025. (AP Photo)
Iran has executed 11 people for espionage since a 12-day air conflict in June that was kicked off by Israel, killing roughly 1,100 people in Iran, including military commanders and nuclear scientists. Iran countered with a missile barrage that killed 28 people in the Jewish State.
In October, Iran executed an unknown person convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency in the city of Qom.
IRAN HANGS A MAN CONVICTED OF SPYING FOR ISRAEL
A police officer stands guard as demonstrators wave flags and cheer during a gathering following the announcement of a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, on June 24, 2025, in Tehran, Iran. (Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)
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Various others have been executed in Iran in recent years before the June conflict on allegations of spying for the Mossad, including multiple earlier this year.
Iran routinely conducts closed-door trials of people accused of espionage, with the suspects often unable to access the evidence prosecutors used against them in their case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
World
EU plans to raise €90 billion in joint debt for Ukraine — here’s how
Reparations loan is out, joint debt is in. That is the agreement that the 27 leaders of the European Union reached at their make-or-break summit this week.
With the reparations loan ruled out for good, the bloc turns to common borrowing to raise €90 billion to meet Ukraine’s budgetary and military needs for the next two years.
It is a simpler, faster and more predictable solution compared to the high-risk scheme of using the immbolised Russian assets. But joint debt is expensive, and immediately so.
Here’s what you need to know about the plan.
Back to the markets
Since neither the EU nor its member states have €90 billion at their disposal at the moment, the European Commission will go to the markets and raise the money from scratch by issuing a mix of short-term and long-term bonds.
The €90 billion will be gradually dolled out to ensure a steady flow of assistance to Ukraine, which needs a fresh tranche as early as April. The country will be able to use the funds for both military and budgetary purposes for greater flexibility.
In the meantime, the EU budget will absorb the interest rates to spare Ukraine, already heavily indebted, from any additional burden. The Commission estimates that, under current rates, the interest payments will amount to €3 billion per year. This means the next EU budget (2028-2034) will have to make space for about €20 billion.
Member states will share the interest according to their economic weight. Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Poland will carry the highest costs.
According to Commission officials, the €90 billion will not count towards domestic levels of debt because the issuance will be done exclusively at the EU level.
Forever roll-over
Under a non-recourse loan agreement, Ukraine will be asked to pay back the €90 billion only after Russia ceases its war of aggression and agrees to pay war reparations.
Given that Moscow has emphatically ruled out the possibility of any compensation, the Commission is already prepared to roll out the liability over time so that Ukraine does not have to pay out of pocket, which will be painful after suffering so much devastation.
“The assumption is, today it’s a non-recourse loan to Ukraine that is only paid back when reparations are there, and therefore this debt is going to be rolled over up until then,” a senior Commission official explained.
But will the roll-over continue for eternity?
That seems unlikely. At some point in the future, the EU will have to settle the fate of the €90 billion to stop paying interest rates. The go-to method will be the EU budget, which will act as the ultimate guarantor to ensure investors are always paid back.
The three opt-outs
The reason why joint debt for Ukraine is now possible is that, as first reported by Euronews during the summit, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic agreed to refrain from vetoing in exchange for being exempted.
This is key because under current rules, the EU budget cannot be used to raise money for a non-EU country. Any changes to that effect will require unanimous approval.
Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic will commit to that unanimity. In return, the bloc will activate the so-called “enhanced cooperation” mechanism to spare them from any costs and responsibilities associated with the €90 billion.
The other 24 countries will take over their share of the interest. But the change will be minimal because the three opt-outs only amount to 3.64% of the bloc’s GNI.
The exemption will also be institutional. Once the budget rules are amended and the “enhanced cooperation” is triggered, the three countries will lose their voting rights to approve the regulation that will establish the new assistance programme.
In practice, they will be strictly removed from the initiative.
Strings attached
The Commission intends to recycle the now-discarded proposal of the reparations loan to set up the €90 billion common borrowing.
As a result, Ukraine will be subject to the same conditions to receive the funds.
One of them is a “no rollback” clause that will link the aid to the anti-corruption measures that Kyiv must implement to advance in its EU accession bid. The country was recently shaken by a corruption scandal in the energy sector that precipitated numerous resignations, including that of Andriy Yermak, President Zelenskyy’s chief of staff.
If Kyiv takes a step back on the fight against corruption, as it briefly did in the summer when it undermined the independence of two anti-corruption agencies and prompted widespread protests, payments will be suspended.
There will also be safeguards to strengthen oversight on how Ukraine allocates defence contracts, which have been a source of controversy in the past.
Additionally, there will be “Made In Europe” criteria to ensure the €90 billion fosters Ukraine’s and Europe’s domestic defence industries. Only when the equipment is not readily available on the continent will purchases outside Europe be allowed.
Assets still on the table
Resorting to joint debt means the cash balances from the Russian assets will not be touched, as was originally planned in the reparations loan.
However, in their conclusions, EU leaders say they reserve “the right” to tap the assets, or at least try, sometime in the future, as a way to repay the €90 billion borrowing.
“For me, it’s very difficult and very premature today to say how this will be translated in actual terms,” a senior Commission official said when asked about the meaning.
“I think the message is pretty political, which is to say that the option to use the cash balance assets of the Russian Central Bank is not off the table.”
The addition of the assets into the final wording is considered a way to placate those countries that were most vocally supportive of the reparations loan, particularly Germany, and had publicly ruled out the idea of common borrowing.
President Zelenskyy hailed the decision as an “important victory” for his country.
“Without these funds, it would be very difficult for us. In any case, this is tied to Russian reparations,” he said. “For us, this is a reinforcement. It is a signal to the Russians that there is no point for them to continue the war because we have financial support, and therefore, we will not collapse on the front line. We will support our army and our people.”
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