European Union

Just hours before his ultimatum expired, US President Donald Trump has prolonged the ceasefire with Iran for an indefinite period. At Pakistan's request, Trump said that there would be no more attacks until the "seriously fractured" government in Tehran had put forward a "unified proposal" and talks had been concluded. According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, no final decision has been reached about participating in the negotiations.

Since 2021 Hungary has had a law – typical of the Orbán era – prohibiting access to information on homosexuality, trans identity and gender reassignment for the under-18s. The European Court of Justice has now ruled that the law is discriminatory, and that it violates European fundamental rights as well as contradicting the EU's core values.

Former President Rumen Radev's centre-left coalition Progressive Bulgaria won a clear victory in the parliamentary elections, securing around 45 percent of the vote. Radev has affirmed that Bulgaria will continue its European path, but that a strong Europe needs critical thinking and pragmatism. Commentators ask what the election result means for European cohesion.

A proposed change to the curriculum has sparked controversy in Portugal. The country's only Nobel laureate, José Saramago, may lose compulsory reading status in secondary schools. Saramago, who was an avowed communist until his death in 2010, left the country in the 1990s following a row with the Conservatives. Against this backdrop, the proposal by the Conservatives, who are now in power again, has fuelled a heated debate.

Dr. Semuhi Sinanoglu argues that existing explanations for the opposition’s success in Hungary are after the fact and secondary. Without Magyar’s legal immunity and financial mobilization, this victory would be impossible.

Dr. Semuhi Sinanoglu argues that existing explanations for the opposition’s success in Hungary are after the fact and secondary. Without Magyar’s legal immunity and financial mobilization, this victory would be impossible.