Overview
- Pressure inside the CDU has intensified after weeks of poor approval ratings for Chancellor Friedrich Merz, prompting media speculation about a replacement and repeated public rebukes from Merz and his office that the talk is unfounded.
- Hungary’s new prime minister Péter Magyar is in Brussels seeking a political deal to unlock roughly €10.4 billion from the Recovery Fund as part of a larger €17 billion package currently frozen over rule‑of‑law and corruption concerns.
- EU foreign ministers met informally in Limassol to press for fairer burden‑sharing on aid to Ukraine and discuss institutional options for deeper ties, while private suppliers such as Cypriot drone maker Swarmly reported direct battlefield feedback to European partners.
- Multiple US outlets reported strikes on suspected Iranian drone sites near Bandar Abbas after US officials said Iran fired drones at ships, and Iranian state media and the IRGC later claimed counterstrikes; independent verification of the exchanges remained limited.
- Domestically in Germany the FDP is pushing a sweeping pro‑market reform package that would ease labour rules, suspend procurement and supply‑chain laws, and change the tax tariff, raising stakes for the coalition as it races to present reform plans.