Russian threats against Baltics ‘unacceptable’ and danger to ‘our entire union’, EU’s von der Leyen says - as it happened

From 6h ago 13.05 CEST Russia's threats against the Baltics 'completely unacceptable and 'threat against our entire union', EU's von der Leyen says And in the last few minutes, the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen issued a strong statement along the similar lines. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen speaks at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. Photograph: Ronald Wittek/EPA In a post on X, she said: “Russia’s public threats against our Baltic States are completely unacceptable. Let there be no doubt: a threat against one Member State is a threat against our entire Union. Russia and Belarus bear direct responsibility for drones endangering the lives and security of people on our Eastern flank. Europe will respond with unity and strength. We will continue reinforcing the security of our Eastern flank with strong collective defence and preparedness at every level.” Share Updated at 13.10 CEST 4h ago 15.53 CEST Jon Henley Europe correspondent Earlier today, Lithuania’s president and prime minister were rushed to underground bunkers and residents of the capital, Vilnius, urged to take shelter during a warning issued after a drone violated the country’s airspace. View image in fullscreen A person holding a mobile phone that displays a warning of a possible air raid in Vilnius. Photograph: Andrei Shauliuha/AFP/Getty Images Air and train traffic in and around the city was suspended after the mobile phone “take shelter” alert, the first issued in an EU and Nato country since the start of Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. You can read our full report on today’s air alert in Lithuania here: Lithuanian leaders rushed to bunkers as drone violates country’s airspace Read more Share Updated at 16.01 CEST 4h ago 15.47 CEST Finns suspected of Russian sanctions violation over truck exports Three Finnish citizens are suspected of exporting trucks and trailers worth $20 million to neighbouring Russia in violation of sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine, Finnish Customs said Wednesday. A preliminary investigation conducted by the customs agency found that a Finnish company had transported 135 trucks and 29 trailers worth 17.5 million euros ($20.3 million) to Russia during 2022-2023, saying the vehicles were being exported to Kazakhstan or Turkey. However, the customs agency found that the vehicles were customs cleared into Russia by a company importing and reselling trucks in the country. The customs agency has not identified the company by name, but public broadcaster Yle said it was Idan liikennevalitys IL Oy. “For the first time in a criminal investigation involving sanctions violations, Finnish Customs has requested that the value of the goods exported to Russia be confiscated for security,” said Petteri Nevalainen, the agency’s economic crime investigations chief. The company’s owner and two employees are suspected of aggravated regulation offences, and one of them has been held in pretrial detention since the beginning of the investigation in March. Prosecutors are to decide whether to press charges in the coming weeks. Share 4h ago 15.45 CEST Italy condemns 'unacceptable' treatment of Gaza flotilla activists by Israel Meanwhile, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni slammed as “unacceptable” the treatment of Gaza flotilla activists detained by Israel, after an Israeli minister posted a video of them bound and forced to kneel, AFP reported. View image in fullscreen Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni. Photograph: Angelo Carconi/EPA “It is intolerable that these protesters, among whom there are many Italian citizens, are subjected to this treatment, which violates human dignity,” Meloni said in a statement, referring to the video posted by far-right national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. Share 4h ago 15.12 CEST French lawmakers back Macron choice to run Bank of France Over in France, French lawmakers narrowly approved President Emmanuel Macron’s former chief of staff to govern the central bank, with Emmanuel Moulin winning just enough votes to secure the job, AFP reported. View image in fullscreen Secretary general of the French Presidency Emmanuel Moulin arrives for his hearing before the Finance Committee at the National Assembly in Paris. Photograph: Abdullah Firas/ABACA/Shutterstock Macron critics say the centrist head of state is seeking to install allies in top positions to shield key government institutions before his five-year term ends next year. Marine Le Pen’s far-right, anti-immigration party is gearing up for what it considers its strongest opportunity yet to take power in the 2027 presidential election. Moulin, Macron’s choice for the position, had faced questions about his ability to act independently. Lawmakers in the lower house voted overwhelmingly against him, but enough Senators backed his appointment for it to be approved. An influential policymaker, Moulin, 57, has held a series of top posts in finance and the presidency, AFP noted. He served as secretary general of the Élysée Palace for a year and was before that chief of staff to centrist Gabriel Attal during his brief stint as prime minister in 2024. He served as director general of the French Treasury between 2020 and 2024, overseeing economic policy and public debt. Share Updated at 15.12 CEST 5h ago 14.43 CEST China 'eaten much of German industry's lunch,' report warns as it urges Berlin to stop admiring Beijing Lisa O’Carroll In other news, Germany must stop admiring China’s success in the EU or it will sleepwalk into the kind of deindustrialisation the US experienced 25 years ago, a leading Brussels thinktank has said. View image in fullscreen What happened in the US 25 years ago should be a ‘warning shot for Germany’s car and machine-building cities like Wolfsburg’, the home of Volkswagen. Photograph: Krisztian Bocsi/Getty Images With China’s surplus with Germany having doubled between 2024 and 2025 from $12bn (£9bn) to $25bn, creating a $94bn trade imbalance, the Centre for European Reform (CER) said Europe’s largest economy risked a repeat of what happened in the US in 2001 when a sudden surge in imports permanently hollowed out towns in the American midwest. “China Shock 1.0” not only led to losses of up to 2.5m jobs but was also marked by a rise in suicides, divorce and drug use in US towns that lost industries to the Chinese, according to the CER report. That fraying of the US social fabric, it said, was “an eerie warning shot for Germany’s car and machine-building cities like Wolfsburg and Stuttgart”, a reference to the homes of Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz, two brands emblematic of German engineering and design success. “Germany remains hesitant, even as China has already eaten much of German industry’s lunch and is preparing to start on dinner,” said the CER. Entitled “China Shock 2.0: the cost of Germany’s complacency”, the thinktank report concluded: “Berlin cannot keep admiring the problem,” adding that the risk for Berlin was acute, yet the German political leaders had “struggled to see the problem clearly”. Germany urged to stop admiring Beijing and wake up to ‘China Shock 2.0’ Read more Share 5h ago 14.06 CEST Ukraine involved in 'very active' talks with UK over decision to relax sanctions on Russian crude Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office says it is seeking clarification from Downing Street on the UK’s decision to lift sanctions on some Russian oil, amid accusations from the Conservatives that Keir Starmer is helping the Kremlin make money. View image in fullscreen Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends the 8th European Political Community (EPC) summit in Yerevan earlier this month. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images Ukraine’s president has not yet commented on the decision to issue a new licence for imports of diesel and jet fuel made from sanctioned Russian oil. The UK has also permitted the maritime transport of Russian liquefied natural gas. UK relaxes strict sanctions on Russian crude as oil costs soar Read more Zelenskyy has previously urged western partners to maintain a tough sanctions regime against Russian oil exports, pointing out that Moscow uses cash from hydrocarbon sales to fund its war against Ukraine. In recent months Kyiv has intensified long-range strikes against Russia’s oil infrastructure, hitting ports on the Baltic and Black Sea, as well as targets in the Urals, more than 1500kms from the frontline. Zelenskyy has dubbed these remote attacks “long-range sanctions”. “There is currently very active communication between our diplomats and the Office [of the President] and the British side to clarify the details,” an aide to Zelenskyy said on Wednesday. Share 6h ago 13.41 CEST 'Europe's security is indivisible,' Lithuania's foreign minister says Lithuania’s foreign minister Kęstutis Budrys responded to von der Leyen’s statement, thanking her for support for the region. “Thank you, @vonderleyen, for your strong message of solidarity. Europe’s security is indivisible. EU’s strength lies in its unity & our adversaries know that. Together we are strong and resilient.” Share 6h ago 13.38 CEST US plans to shrink forces available to Nato during crises, Reuters says Just as the EU’s von der Leyen (13:05) and Poland’s Tusk (13:03) issue their stark warnings about the security situation in the region, the Trump administration is planning to tell Nato allies this week that it will shrink the pool of military capabilities that the US would have available to assist the alliance’s European nations in a major crisis, Reuters reported quoting three sources familiar with the matter said. Under a framework known as the Nato Force Model, the alliance’s member countries identify a pool of available forces that could be activated during a conflict or any other major crisis, such as a military attack on a Nato member, Reuters said. While the precise composition of those wartime forces is a closely guarded secret, the Pentagon has decided to sign