When the social-liberal party D66 unexpectedly won the snap elections in the Netherlands, there was a collective sigh of relief, especially in Ukraine.

The capital of Hungary hosted a congress of the ruling Fidesz party over the weekend

On 9 January in Brussels, away from the spotlight and without any press engagement, EU member state ambassadors approved a draft decision authorising European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to sign a trade agreement with the South American bloc MERCOSUR on behalf of the EU institutions.

Europe is only gradually coming to terms with its own fragility in the face of hybrid and physical threats to energy infrastructure and other critical systems.

Events have been unfolding in the United States in recent days that could grow into a real social and political crisis and strike at one of the key domestic programmes promoted by Donald Trump.

The trade agreement signed by Ukraine in October 2025 opens up new opportunities for trade and cooperation with European partners.

The year 2026 began with a sharp escalation in relations with traditionally friendly Czechia.

In the early hours of January 3, US forces bombed Caracas, blacking out the capital, and captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro from his compound at Fort Tiuna.

On Monday, the official website of the US State Department stated: "This is our hemisphere, and President Trump will not allow our security to be threatened."

A massive blackout left a significant part of the capital of a major European country without power at the beginning of the year.

On 28 December, Kosovo held snap parliamentary elections, giving the partially recognised Balkan country a real chance to emerge from a deep political crisis and begin building effective state institutions.

The US military attack on Venezuela on 3 January, and the abduction of the country’s authoritarian, pro-Russian leader Nicolás Maduro, demonstrated that under the new administration, the "right of the strong" has decisively prevailed over the constraints traditionally regarded as binding under international law.

For many years, labour migration from Ukraine to Poland has been significant, but often temporary. However, it has become a more substantial factor in development since the start of the full-scale war.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze "went to the place where Georgia’s future is being decided and planned." This is how Giorgi Volski, Vice Speaker of the Georgian parliament, commented on the head of government’s recent trip.

The West’s defeatism started with the 2014 invasion of Crimea, when the West told Ukrainians to stand down and tacitly accepted Russian control of the peninsula.