WARSAW — It's March 2027 and soldiers from a European peacekeeping force are patrolling the demarcation line separating Ukraine from Russian-occupied territory. The troops are tense.

Ralf Stegner, a member of Germany's Social Democratic Party, called Trump's comments "delusional and truly insane." Poland has backed Trump's demand.

Speaking a day after Trump’s inauguration, Ukraine’s president told world leaders at Davos that Europe needs to remain united and “learn how to take care of itself.”

It’s needed, the government in Warsaw says, because Russia and Belarus are waging a particular kind of hybrid warfare: helping groups of migrants — mostly from Africa or the Middle East — to break through the border to provoke and destabilize Poland and the rest of Europe.

GPS navigation interference in Eastern Europe is a "relatively small problem" for Ryanair at the moment, its chief commercial officer said on Tuesday, after a couple of its flights were diverted because of GPS problems.

Poland, which borders both Russia and Ukraine, aims to spend 4.7 percent of its GDP on defense this year — by far the highest of any NATO member. The United Kingdom, France and Germany spend nearer to 2 percent — the current NATO target — while Italy languishes at 1.49 percent.

The meeting of the defence ministers from the EU's largest countries together with the deputy defence minister of Great Britain comes as Poland begins its rotating presidency of the EU and as Europe braces for the unpredictability of a new Donald Trump presidency.

The defense ministers of Europe’s five top military spenders say they intend to continue increasing their investments in defense but described President-elect Donald Trump’s challenge for them to raise spending to 5% of their overall economic output

Talking Europe sits down with France's top diplomat in Warsaw, just as Poland takes up the rotating presidency of the EU in turbulent geopolitical times. Étienne de Poncins was previously French ambassador to Ukraine and got out of Kyiv just in time when it was encircled by the Russian army in 2022.

On 21 and 22 January 2025, the Deputy Director of the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), Rémy Hübschi, took part in an informal meeting of education ministers from EU member states.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, EU Council president António Costa and chief diplomat Kaja Kallas sent co-ordinated “best wishes”. “The EU looks forward to working closely with you to tackle global challenges,” they wrote in identical messages to Trump on X.

As Europe braces for the unpredictability of a new Trump presidency in the US, de Poncins praises Poland's goal of spending 4.7 percent of GDP on its defence capabilities in 2025. "Poland is a ...