Many Nato countries not spending enough to support Ukraine, says Rutte – as it happened

From 6h ago 12.44 CEST Nato allies should spend more to support Ukraine, Nato and Sweden's leaders say Rutte and Kristersson also say that not all Nato countries equally contribute to help fund Ukraine’s defence. Rutte says the spending “is not evenly distributed within Nato,” with “a limited” group of countries leading the effort – Sweden, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark – but many others are “not spending enough when it comes to the support for Ukraine.” Kristersson says Sweden is the third largest donor and it “it would be far better if more countries competed with our size of support. He says: “We need to be long term and firm in our support. So I really would like more countries that speak so extremely well about Ukraine to also put the money where the mouth is.” Share 49m ago 18.14 CEST Macron under pressure over reparatory justice for France’s role in slave trade Angelique Chrisafis in Paris Emmanuel Macron is under pressure to open discussions on reparatory justice for France’s role in hundreds of years of enslavement of African people as he makes a key speech on the legacy of slavery. View image in fullscreen France's president Emmanuel Macron seen at the Élysée Palace in Paris. Photograph: Ludovic Marin/AFP/Getty Images On Thursday the French president will celebrate the 25th anniversary of France becoming the first country in the world to recognise the slave trade and slavery as crimes against humanity in a 2001 law brought by Christiane Taubira, a former MP from French Guiana. Macron’s office said “the memorial work around the question of slavery and the slave trade is a permanent project of recognition for the president”. As he enters his final months as president, however, demands are growing on Macron to launch a formal discussion process on how to address the legacies of enslavement in French society. France is facing a political row over racism in politics, the media and society, and the far right is polling high in the run-up to the 2027 presidential election. The sense of urgency comes amid anger in France that its representatives – alongside those of the UK and other European nations – abstained in March’s UN vote to describe the transatlantic chattel slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity” and call for reparations as “a concrete step towards remedying historical wrongs”. Macron under pressure over reparatory justice for France’s role in slave trade Read more Share 1h ago 17.51 CEST Hungary to limit prime ministers to maximum eight-year terms Ashifa Kassam European community affairs correspondent Meanwhile, over in Hungary, the country’s new government, led by Péter Magyar, has put forward a constitutional amendment that would limit prime ministers to a maximum of eight years in office, in effect barring Viktor Orbán from returning to the role. View image in fullscreen Hungary's prime minister Péter Magyar speaks to the media in Vienna, Austria. Photograph: Tibor Illyes/MTI/AP The draft amendment was submitted on Wednesday, just over a week after the new government took office. It marked Magyar and his Tisza party’s first step in dismantling a constitution that was unilaterally rewritten and amended more than a dozen times as Orbán and his Fidesz party worked to turn Hungary into what they called a “petri dish for illiberalism”. During Magyar’s more than two years on the campaign trail, he repeatedly promised to bring in term limits, describing them as part of a wider push to restore the country’s democratic checks and balances. As his party celebrated its landslide victory in last month’s election, analysts were swift to say the new government faced a formidable task in rebuilding crumbling public services and a stagnant economy, one compounded by the many Fidesz loyalists who remain in the state, media and judiciary. The draft amendment appears to be an attempt to ward off the threat of Orbán seizing on the situation to mount a comeback, stating that term limits are “essential” to restoring the rule of law. “A person who has served as prime minister, for a total of at least eight years, including any interruptions, may not be elected as prime minister,” it says. View image in fullscreen Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán attends the first so-called "Patriots' Grand Assembly" of nationalist groups from Europe, in Budapest, Hungary. Photograph: Márton Mónus/Reuters The calculation would apply to all prime ministerial terms held since the country’s democratisation in 1990, meaning that Orbán, who had served five terms as prime minister since 1998, totalling 20 years in power, would be barred. The amendment is far from foolproof, however, as any future leader with a two-thirds or supermajority could submit an amendment to extend their time in power. Hungary to limit prime ministers to maximum eight-year terms Read more Share 2h ago 16.34 CEST Estonia summons top Russian diplomat to protest against disinformation campaign Estonia has summoned the most senior diplomat at the Russian embassy in Tallinn to protest against what it said was a “continued disinformation campaign” against the Baltic country. View image in fullscreen Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna speaks to reporters in Brussels last week. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA The ministry said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the Russian Federation’s continued disinformation campaign against Estonia and the other Baltic States and demands that the Russian authorities immediately cease the spread of falsehoods, public threats and provocations.” Estonia’s foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said that Tallin “has repeatedly stressed that Estonia has not permitted its territory or airspace to be used for attacks against targets in Russia.” “Messages claiming otherwise are yet another example of Russian propaganda that is false, and they know it.” Tsakhna added that “a threat against one Nato ally is a threat against the whole alliance.”. The ministry added that “the appearance of drones in our airspace is a direct consequence of Russia’s illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, and that Ukraine has every right to defend itself and strike Russian military targets that sustain its war machine.” Share 3h ago 16.23 CEST 'You have no right to falsely accuse the Baltic states,' Poland's foreign minister tells Russia Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski is the latest senior EU figure (12:42, 15:21) to express concerns about Russia’s escalating rhethoric towards the Baltics (11:22). In a post on X, he said: “There is no acceptance for Russia’s threats against our allies. You have no right to falsely accuse the Baltic States. It is clear who the aggressor is and who the victim is. We remain firmly committed to the principles of the UN Charter and the Atlantic Treaty.” Share 3h ago 16.08 CEST Joint Russia-Belarus nuclear drills completed, Putin says Russian president Vladimir Putin said that the tasks of Russia-Belarus joint nuclear drills had been fully completed. View image in fullscreen A Yars intercontinental ballistic missile is seen during drills of Russia's nuclear forces in Belarus. Photograph: Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP Putin observed the drills together with Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko, saying that nuclear weapons usage remain a “last resort” measure, and that such weapons must only serve as a guarantor of Russian and Belarusian sovereignty, Belarusian defence ministry reported. View image in fullscreen Russian president Vladimir Putin and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, seen at the screen, take part in a video call as part of joint nuclear drills, watched from the Kremlin in Moscow. Photograph: Mikhail Metzel/Pool Sputnik Kremlin/AP Share 3h ago 16.05 CEST Greek defence minister demands apology from Ukraine over stray sea drone Helena Smith in Athens Meanwhile, Greece’s defence minister Nikos Dendias has demanded that Kyiv make “a big apology” to his country following the discovery of an explosive-packed, Ukrainian-made sea drone in a cave on Lefkada, an island in the Ionian. View image in fullscreen Greece's defence minister Nikos Dendias attends a ministerial meeting in Brussels, Belgium last week. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA Describing the unmanned device as “extremely dangerous” Nikos Dendias said an inquiry had made clear there was “not the slightest doubt,” the sea drone was Ukrainian. Military experts had concluded that it had drifted off course. “There’s not the slightest doubt that it’s an Ukrainian sea drone, we know what type it is and where it was manufactured,” Dendias told a conference in Athens. “Ukraine owes us a big apology and apart from an apology it owes us an absolute assurance that something like this will not happen again in the wider region.” Speaking days after it was found by a fisher in Lefkada, the defence minister had stopped short of identifying the drone’s provenance although he told reporters it was certain it had been launched “from a foreign state”. Late Wednesday he appeared to also confirm that the long-range kamikaze drone was laden with explosives – media reports had suggested it was carrying an estimated 100kg of dynamite. “If any cruise ship had been travelling down from Venice to the east Mediterranean, exactly on the same course as the drone and the drone hit, the ship would have sunk to the bottom of the sea,” said Dendias, adding that he had used a Nato meeting of European defense ministers in Brussels last week to explain the dangers posed by the drone. Finding it hard to contain his fury, he added: “How can anyone … regardless of the need to defend their homeland, and as Greeks we are the first to understand that, put the lives of innocent people at risk, in this case outside the theatre of war, because they believe that this serves their strategic planning? What happened was utterly unacceptable and we, and all countries in the Mediterranean, have to be clear about that.” Share 4h ago 15.21 CEST