European Union member states approved the launch of negotiations with six Gulf countries as the bloc seeks to broaden its international partnerships amid tariff threats from President Donald Trump.

Europe will not back down in its support for Ukraine. The EU will keep raising the pressure until Russia ends its war,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement.

The European Union has eased rules for Turks to use its open-border Schengen area, the bloc's ambassador to Ankara said on Friday, calling for the urgent revival of negotiations on visa-free travel for Turks.

The company won’t adhere to the European Commission’s voluntary code of practice. Meta’s Chief Global Affairs Officer said the bloc is on the wrong path on AI.

Slovakia accepted guarantees from the European Union’s executive arm to limit the fallout from a planned cutoff of Russian gas supplies and, in exchange, will lift its veto on the bloc’s 18th sanctions package against Moscow.

Crafting a budget for 27 countries stretching from Lapland to Lisbon is a fiddly process. In fiscal terms the “multi-annual financial framework”, as it is known in Brussels patois, is of peripheral concern.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has unveiled a proposal for a long-term EU budget that she says will total $2.3 trillion

Foreign ministers from the EU's 27-member nations are meeting in Brussels in the wake of a new aid deal for Gaza, largely forged by the bloc's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar.

A law letting the government block freedom of movement could be a deal-breaker for the EU. Yet a fudge might still be found. Switzerland’s government seems, after decades of hesitation, to have come round on the need for tighter integration with Europe, even if some Swiss would prefer to stop the clock. ■

Iceland will launch talks on a security and defence partnership with the European Union, Icelandic Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir said on Thursday at a joint press conference with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Keflavik.