Good morning Brussels. Angela Skujins here welcoming you into the first day of the working week, where temperatures are set to soar and UV rays expected to blast. But as they say, sunlight is the best disinfectant.
On today’s menu: a Commissioner in Israel, Starmer staves off leadership threats and another summit.
First up. As Iran and the United States kickstarted a negotiating window to permanently end the war, with major progress also made aiming to end the Israeli offensive in Lebanon, a senior member of Brussels’ top brass will be in Jerusalem on Monday — but much of her itinerary is shrouded in mystery.
European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, is the senior official in question. According to a media invite circulated by Israel’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs and seen by Euronews, she will deliver a press statement alongside Israel’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gideon Sa’ar, today at 3:15 p.m. local time. This is one hour ahead of Brussels.
Details of the media affair are very much under wraps. The meeting is not on Šuica’s calendar, and her cabinet did not respond to my request for comment. We also reached out to Israel’s foreign affairs ministry but by the time this newsletter was sent out, we did not receive a response On top of this, various diplomatic sources in Brussels I spoke to this morning were also out of the loop regarding the occasion and its contents.
In the absence of a formal agenda today, questions loom about what this meeting is about, and whether the widening spat between Sa’ar and the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas will arise in conversation. We also asked Kallas' team for comment, and very much like everyone else, they too left us on read.
To recap: The high representative reportedly likened Israel and its treatment of Palestinians to “apartheid” South Africa, prompting Sa’ar to sever diplomatic channels until he received an explanation. Kallas has neither confirmed nor denied the remarks but stressed the need for dialogue.
Starmer’s leadership challenge. After a turbulent two years in the top job, marred by poor approval ratings and a scandal related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is weighing up two tough options. Step down as prime minister or fight a possible challenge from Labour Party rival Andy Burnham.
Pressure is building as more and more Labour Party colleagues — alongside Trump in a stunning announcement — conclude his time is potentially up. Sources expect he will announce his resignation today, and offer up a timeline for departure.
The turbulent Monday announcement may also arrive on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Brexit vote. It also complicates things for the Labour Party — a more fervent supporter of re-establishing London-Brussels ties after the decoupling. Where does this leave the upcoming EU-UK summit on 22 July, which is a byproduct of this momentum? Only time will tell.
Chișinău’s chapter. The second EU-Moldova summit kicks off in Brussels today, hosted by European Council President, António Costa, and Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. They will be joined by none other than Maia Sandu, President of the Republic of Moldova.
Exactly a week prior, formal negotiations for Moldova — as well as Ukraine — to join the European Union started, with the opening of what is called the fundamentals cluster. This is arguably one of the toughest portions of the process to close, as it covers rule of law and fundamental rights. It is the first to open in the accession process as it takes an arduous period of time.
The landlocked European country, formerly a member of the Soviet Union, launched its bid to join the bloc in 2022. This came after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But very much like Kyiv, its pathway to join the 27-member club has been embroiled in controversy by the veto of former Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, slowing the process.
Mihai Popșoi Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, just told Europe Today that it is "very much in our interest" to ensure local institutions comply with EU standards to not only to appease Brussels, but also Moldova's citizens.
"If it also helps us to join the European Union, it's great, but our commitment is to our citizens back home, and we are thankful that this commitment is paying off, including in the opening of the first cluster on fundamentals," he told Euronews' flagship morning news programme.
Angela Skujins | EU Correspondent
Row between Poland and Ukraine over medals intensifies
Current and former Ukrainian officials are to return honours bestowed upon them by Poland after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was stripped of the country's highest state honour.
Tensions have been rising between Kyiv and Warsaw since Zelenskyy named a military unit after the controversial World War Two Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA).
In response to the move, Poland’s far-right president, Karol Nawrocki, announced that he was stripping Zelenskyy of the Order of the White Eagle.
On Saturday, Zelenskyy said he had sent the Order back to Poland, posting a photo to social media appearing to show it being packaged up ready to be shipped.
"We believed that the Order of the White Eagle, awarded in 2023, was meant for the Ukrainian People and our army," he wrote, adding that Ukraine was "grateful to the Polish People for their support and cooperation".
Nawrocki has insisted that the decision was "not directed against the Ukrainian people” and that Poland would continue to support Ukraine. Even so, many in Ukraine saw Nawrocki’s move as an attack.
Serge Duchêne has the details.
More from our newsrooms
Russian-occupied Crimea suspends petrol sales amid fuel crisis
Kyiv's targeting of Russia's energy industry has sparked a major fuel crisis in Crimea, with long queues for petrol stations and limited supply. Nathan Rennolds has more.
Summer solstice heatwave grips much of Europe as France restricts alcohol consumption
French authorities have banned the consumption of alcohol at the annual Fête de la Musique (Music Day) festival in Paris, where temperatures were expected to reach 35° on Sunday. More.
We're also keeping an eye on
- European Central Bank President, Christine Lagarde, will participate in a “monetary dialogue” at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium at 7 p.m.
- EU agricultural and fisheries ministers will meet in Luxembourg for an Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting. They will discuss plans post-2027, particularly around flexibility and common EU objectives.
- European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jozef Sikela, is in Brazil to boost relations between Brussels and Brasília.
That’s it for today. Sasha Vakulina and Mared Gwyn contributed to this newsletter.