Andrzej Duda, the Polish president, announced that a priority of Poland’s EU Presidency in early 2025 would be the European Integration of Ukraine and maintaining a “Open Door to Europe” policy towards new members.
These issues were discussed by leaders at the Arraiolos summit in Krakow. This informal gathering is held annually and brings together presidents of parliamentary and semipresidential EU states.
Duda said that the question of what to do to help Ukraine survive the terrible aggression that Russia is currently waging against it, as well as how to make sure that Ukraine is accepted as quickly as possible into the EU, was repeatedly raised.
The discussions also focused primarily on strengthening EU-U.S. relations, rebuilding Ukraine following the war, as well as ensuring energy security within the EU.
Other leaders, such as Estonia’s President, have echoed the call to support Ukraine and push for the EU expansion to include Ukraine Moldova and the Western Balkans.
The European Union granted Ukraine and Moldova candidate status in June 2022 and EU leaders agreed to open accession negotiations with the two aspiring member states last December.
Poland will take over the six-month presidency of Hungary between January and June 2025.
Peter Szijjarto and the Hungarian Prime Minister have frustrated their European colleagues repeatedly by blocking assistance for Ukraine and sanctions towards Russia. They claim that arming Kyiv would lead to an “escalation” of the war.
Orban is a bit of a black sheep within the EU. He regularly lashes out at “Brussels bureaucrats”, while attracting criticism for domestic rule of law and democratic backsliding.
A proposed reform to the European Peace Facility would make financial contributions optional, in order to bypass Hungary’s objection to military aid to Ukraine. This has led to a backlog of 6.5 billion euros ($7 billion).
A senior U.S. government official said, “It is time to craft a new strategic approach in terms of the specific positions (of the allies).” Defense ministers of NATO member nations will meet in Brussels on October 17-18 to discuss this issue.
Mike Johnson, the U.S. House speaker, said on October 11 that he did not want to see any more funding for Ukraine.
Video footage from the scene shows officers standing outside the doors of the venue intercepting male concertgoers as they exit the venue. Some men are seen being arrested by officers.
According to new estimates, MOL (which owns refineries both in Hungary and Slovakia) will be able process non-Urals crude oil by the end 2026 as opposed to earlier estimates that it would happen early 2026.
Slovak Foreign Ministry Juraj Blanar announced on October 11 that Slovakia will expand its base in Michalovce. Instead of supplying new arms to Ukraine, the Slovaks will repair Ukrainian military equipment.
The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, thanked Germany for their support but stressed the importance of German aid next year and its need to remain unchanged.
Several months back, these infantrymen served their sentences in prison. They are now part of the 1st Separate Assault Battalion (also known as “Da Vinci“).
In a statement released on October 11, the spokesperson for the European Union’s External Service said that it was “appalled by” Victoria Roshchyna’s death and demanded an “independent and thorough” investigation into her death.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov had planned to merge Defense Procurement Agency and State Rear Operator into one agency, but changed his mind when a NATO announcement said that the agencies should remain separate and two separate supervision boards should be set up.
Operational Command South reported on October 11 that since the beginning of the week, Ukraine has repelled 29 Russian assaults in the oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
“We are working together actively in the international arena, and our assessments of what is happening in the world are very similar,” Russian President Vladimir Putin stated of the meeting.
Scholz revealed at a joint news conference that Germany had already provided a package of assistance for Ukraine in the amount of 600 million euros ($660 millions).
Sources told Reuters that the funding would come from the U.S.A., Japan and Canada. They added that it would be backed up by interest generated from frozen Russian asset.
Media Initiative for Human Rights reported on October 11 that Viktoria Roshchyna was a Ukrainian journalist held in Russian detention centres where torture is used to punish prisoners.
“I am pleased to announce that on 10 and 11, July 2025, the ‘Ukraine Recovery Conference will be held in Rome,” said Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Mello.
A Ukrainian official stated that “the Russian plan in Kursk Oblast was thwarted thus far” due to Russian forces suffering losses.
In Steven Seagal’s latest documentary, “In the Name of Justice”, which was shared by the Russian state-run platform Smotrim on its website, he visits various occupied territories of Ukraine including Mariupol.
During a 35-minute meeting, the pope presented Ukraine’s president with a bronze relief with a flower, and the inscription “Peace is fragile flower.”
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