Zelenskyy pledges to ‘bring war back to Russia’ after drones swarm toward Moscow – Europe liveNEWS | 22 June 20264m ago 08.55 EDT Thousands of staff at Czech public broadcasters strike over funding plans Anna Koslerova in Prague Meanwhile, thousands of public service media employees in Czechia are holding a 24-hour strike after the government of the billionaire prime minister, Andrej Babiš, pushed ahead with controversial plans to change the way the country’s public broadcasters are funded. View image in fullscreen A woman walks past placards hanging on a building of Czech Radio as employees of public broadcasters strike in protest of the government's planned overhaul of public media funding, in Prague, Czech Republic. Photograph: David W Černý/Reuters Monday’s industrial action by staff at Czech Television and Czech Radio marks the biggest escalation yet in a months-long confrontation between the broadcasters and Babiš’s populist administration. “The reforms have been prepared without consultation and without guarantees for the independence of public service media,” said Pavla Kubálková, a member of Czech Television’s strike committee. “A large part of society remembers what the news looked like when politicians chose the content before 1989. We don’t want to go back there.” The legislation, approved by the cabinet last week, would scrap the licence fee system and finance Czech Television and Czech Radio through an annual state-budget allocation. According to the broadcasters, the changes would in effect return funding to 2008 levels, cutting about £14.3m from Czech Radio’s annual budget and £35.8m from Czech Television’s, despite the nearly two decades of inflation since then. Executives say the reductions would force hundreds of job losses and substantial cuts to programming. But the dispute is not just about money. Kubálková said it had evolved into a broader fight over the future independence of public service media amid concerns that direct funding from the state would expose broadcasters to political pressure. “What matters most to us is preserving independence and the direct relationship between Czech Television and its viewers,” she said. Thousands of staff at Czech public broadcasters strike over funding plans Read more Share
47m ago 08.12 EDT Hungary's Magyar says he will initiate removal of Orbán-era loyalist president Meanwhile, over in Hungary, the country’s new-ish prime minister Péter Magyar said on Monday that his government will initiate the removal of Hungary’s president from office with a constitutional amendment, and will launch a constitutional reform in the fall. View image in fullscreen Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar speaks during an extraordinary session of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: Boglárka Bodnár/EPA In recent weeks, Magyar repeatedly vowed the president, Viktor Orbán’s loyalist Tamás Sulyok, to resign to allow for a fresh break with the previous regime. Péter Magyar sworn in as Hungary’s prime minister ending 16-year Orbán era Read more Magyar also said in a speech in parliament that his government will launch broad economic, political and legal measures to rid Hungary of corruption, including the creation of a National Asset Protection and Recovery Office, Reuters reported. Share
1h ago 07.34 EDT 'You are always a welcome guest in Ukraine,' Zelenskyy tells Starmer Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy also responded to Starmer setting out his plans to resign as Britain’s PM, telling him he would always be “a welcome guest” in Ukraine for his support to the wartorn country. In a statement on his social media, he said: “Keir, thank you for all our cooperation, your support, and the joint decisions that have helped make our Europe and our protection of life stronger. The United Kingdom has been, is, and will remain among the world’s leaders. Here in Ukraine, we deeply value Britain, and every meeting and every conversation we have had has always been filled with real substance. Thank you for always being in touch, always engaged, and always striving to do what is needed and what will truly help. I wish the United Kingdom and all British people every success as well as realisation of your national goals. We have confidence in Britain. Keir, you are always a welcome guest in Ukraine.” View image in fullscreen Britain's prime minister Keir Starmer meets with Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the sideline of the G7 summit, in Evian, eastern France last week. Photograph: UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SERVICE/AFP/Getty Images Share
2h ago 07.24 EDT EU and UK 'reassessing' the planned summit on bilateral partnership set for July Jennifer Rankin Brussels correspondent Meanwhile, the EU and the UK are “reassessing” a summit planned for 22 July, a European Commission spokesperson has said. View image in fullscreen Britain’s prime minister Keir Starmer meets European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels in October 2024. Photograph: Omar Havana/AP The annual EU-UK summit was confirmed only last week, after weeks of postponements and uncertainty. The European Commission’s chief spokesperson, Paula Pinho, said “against the announcement this morning” EU leaders Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa and the UK were “reassessing … the opportunity of holding the summit”. Von der Leyen also separately paid tribute this morning to Keir Starmer in a social media post soon after his resignation. She said: “It can take many leaders years to grow into the statesman you became in just two years. European and Ukrainian security is stronger because of you. Thank you, dear Keir.” Share Updated at 07.24 EDT
2h ago 06.30 EDT Ukraine intensifies attacks on Crimea to raise cost of Russian occupation Pjotr Sauer Ukraine has stepped up its strikes on Crimea as part of a strategy to isolate the occupied peninsula from mainland Russia and raise the cost of the occupation. View image in fullscreen A satellite image shows the oil tanks in the city of Kerch that were attacked by Ukraine on Sunday. Photograph: Vantor/Reuters On Sunday, Russian-installed authorities suspended civilian fuel sales until at least Wednesday, a move that underscored Ukraine’s growing ability to disrupt supply lines linking Crimea to Russia. “Fuel will be sold only to government agencies that ensure the functioning and security of the Republic of Crimea,” the Russian-appointed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, said. “I ask everyone to remain calm and only trust official sources of information.” Local authorities also announced that parts of the peninsula would be left without street lighting and that all public events had been cancelled. A wave of Ukrainian medium-range strikes has targeted occupied Crimea and the transport routes connecting it to Russia in recent weeks. Kyiv hopes to turn the peninsula “into an island” by disrupting Russian supply chains and isolating Crimea from mainland Russia. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said on Sunday that a Crimean oil depot and an oil transport facility in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region were among the targets. He described the attacks as part of Ukraine’s campaign of “long-range sanctions” against Russia. Ukrainian Telegram channels also reported that Kyiv had struck at least three Russian ferries transporting vehicles operating on the Kerch crossing between Crimea and mainland Russia. Ukraine has focused its strikes on the main transport routes supplying Crimea, particularly the Novorossiya highway, a key logistics corridor linking the peninsula to Russia’s Rostov region through the occupied cities of Melitopol and Mariupol. Ukraine intensifies attacks on Crimea to raise cost of Russian occupation Read more Share
4h ago 05.25 EDT Zelenskyy criticises Russia for overnight strikes and 'unjustifiable killings' in Ukraine Back to Ukraine, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned the overnight Russian strikes on Ukraine, drawing on the importance of the Russian Day of Memory and Sorrow, the anniversary of the 1941 Nazi Germany invasion of the Soviet Union. View image in fullscreen Residents look at a private house that burns after an overnight Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Photograph: Serhii Chalyi/Reuters “Yet today, Russia began this day not by honoring those who fell in World War II, and not with signals that could help bring the current war – Russia’s war against Ukraine – closer to an end. Instead, it began with more completely unjustifiable killings,” he said. “This Russian war has no justifiable cause. Putin was driven by exactly the same motives as the aggressors who came before him. He shows the same contempt for human life. He is just as delusional about this absurd ‘empire’ of his that nobody needs. This war must be brought to an end.” Share Updated at 05.49 EDT
4h ago 05.08 EDT Trump doubles down on his criticism of Italy's Meloni Following Trump’s extraordinary criticism of Meloni in a brief interview with Italy’s La7 on Fridayand her absolute denial that she was “begging” him for a photo, as we reported before the weekend, the US president doubled down again on Sunday. In a post on Truth Social, he said: “After spending Trillions of Dollars on Nato, Italy, and its Prime Minister, wouldn’t even think of becoming involved with the Islamic Republic of Iran and their very serious Nuclear Threat. For decades, we defend them but, when tested, they are not there to defend us, and the rest of the World. Not good!” Share
4h ago 05.02 EDT E5 leaders to meet in Berlin for talks on Ukraine this week, Italy says Starmer has pledged to continue in the job until his successor is chosen, and it looks like this will take him to Germany this week. The leaders of Europe’s top military powers will meet on Wednesday in Berlin, Italy said. The Italian government said prime minister Giorgia Meloni – fresh from another clash with the US president, Donald Trump – would attend the meeting along with her British, French, German and Polish counterparts. Share
4h ago 04.42 EDT Jakub Krupa Starmer’s proposed timetable – with the nomination process starting on 9 July – could be intended to coincide with the Nato summit in Ankara, ending the day before. Share
4h ago 04.38 EDT UK prime minister Starmer announces plans to resign from post Oof. Over in the UK, Keir Starmer has announced his intention to resign from the post of the leader of the Labour Party and the British prime minister. View image in fullscreen Prime minister Keir Starmer announces his resignation outside 10 Downing Street in London. Photograph: James Veysey/Shutterstock He wants the party to set out a timetable with nominations for his successor opening on 9 July, and to be completed by the summer recess. If there is a contest on who should succeed him, he hopes it will be completed before the parliament returns in September. Starmer will stay on in post until the process is complete. 1:17 UK prime minister Keir Starmer announces resignation – video He is the sixth British PM out of the job in the 10 years since the Brexit referendum in 2016, the anniversary of which is tomorrow. And a group of protesters outside 10 Downing Street are playing the EU’s anthem, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, on a loudspeaker as he speaks. More details on our UK live blog: Starmer steps down as prime minister and says replacement will be in place by September - UK politics live Read more Share Updated at 05.05 EDT
5h ago 04.06 EDT Ukraine and Poland's bitter dispute over past casts shadow on contemporary relations Separately, Ukraine and Poland are embroiled in a bitter dispute over Kyiv’s decision to rename a contemporary Ukrainian army unit after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Poland holds it responsible for ethnic killings of up to 100,000 Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia during the second world war – and in 2016 adopted a parliamentary resolution calling it a genocide – but it is celebrated in Ukraine for their fight for Ukrainian independence and resistance against the Soviet forces. View image in fullscreen Karol Nawrocki and Volodymyr Zelenskyy walk past the honour guards during a welcome ceremony at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland last year. Photograph: Omar Marques/Getty Images On Friday, Polish president Karol Nawrocki stripped Volodymyr Zelenskyy of the country’s top honour in retaliation for the move, prompting three former Ukrainian presidents and other senior officials to also return their state awards to Poland. Announcing his decision on Friday night, Nawrocki said: “Poland has repeatedly signalled the particular importance of this issue to the Ukrainian side. We conveyed our position and expectation that the consequences of this decision for relations between our states be reconsidered. Ultimately, the position of the Ukrainian side did not change. History should not be an obstacle to the future, but a good future can only be built on truth.” In an interview posted on X last night, Zelenskyy said Ukraine and Poland cannot be “anything but partners and friends,” but warned that a political struggle could end in a “very dangerous escalation.” But he blamed the Polish president for the conflict, claiming he is on political manoeuvres ahead of Poland’s 2027 parliamentary elections. “Our service members choose a heroic name for their unit themselves, and as president and supreme commander-in-chief, I must support them,” he said. “Without Ukraine, no one will be able to defend Poland. It is simply impossible.” Poland’s pro-European prime minister Donald Tusk – who previously distanced himself from Nawrocki’s decision – said that rekindling the old disagreements was “a strategic mistake that will harm both sides: business-wise, geopolitically, and reputationally.” Zelenskyy was widely expected to attend the Ukraine Recovery Conference in the Polish city of Gdańsk later this week, but this is no longer certain, putting the hosts in a potentially embarrasing position of having to talk about Ukraine without its leader. One to watch this week. Ukraine war briefing: Dispute over second world war army unit threatens to divide Poland and Ukraine Read more Share Updated at 04.11 EDTAuthor: Jakub Krupa. Source
