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EU

Yesterday

A decommissioned steel mill in Shougang Park, Beijing. China has been cleaning up the industry for years.

Is China serious about tackling the steel glut?

Four years after oversupply and rising consumer uncertainty killed China’s property boom, Beijing is again re-evaluating the steel industry that supplied it.

This Month

Europe has to turn its welfare state into a warfare state.

Europe’s welfare state is over

Europe must never again find itself in a position where the likes of US vice-president JD Vance have life-and-death power over it.

French President Emmanuel Macron outside Lancaster House during the European leaders’ summit in London, England.

France could protect Europe with its nuclear weapons, Macron says

In a televised address, the French president warned that the Continent needed to deal with a retreating America and a bellicose Russia.

A float at a parade mocks Elon Musk and his support for Germany’s far-right party in Dusseldorf.

‘Stay away from the EU’: Tesla sales plummet on Musk anger

February numbers show the US electric-car maker is struggling to attract buyers across Europe – and the billionaire’s politics are partly to blame.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky ‘ready to work’ with Trump to secure peace deal

The Ukrainian said he wanted to “make things right” with the US president and lauded his “strong leadership”, after he abruptly froze military aid.

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Stella Li: “Our common enemy is the internal combustion engine car.”

BYD pledges to work with rival Tesla to combat petrol cars

Executive vice-president Stella Li said China was willing to share key technologies in EVs and autonomous driving with foreign companies despite rising trade tensions.

King Charles hosts Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at Sandringham Estate.

How Zelensky can win without Trump’s help

With Europe’s backing, Ukraine can stay in the fight long enough to achieve real peace – one that guarantees its independence and sovereignty.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, Britain’s Keir Starmer and France’s Emmanuel Macron in London on Sunday.

Starmer, Macron seek to wrest Ukraine initiative back from Trump

European leaders have hatched plans to develop their own Ukraine peace deal that they’ll sell to the US president, including a peacekeeping “coalition of the willing”.

Zelenskyy and Keir Starmer meet at No 10 Downing

‘Full backing’: Europe rallies for Zelensky after Oval Office meltdown

Keir Starmer made a show of hugging the Ukrainian leader outside Downing Street, and will be joined by leaders from all over the Continent for crisis talks.

February

As Trump sides with Putin, Europe’s urgent race to rearm

If the US military ships out, the Europeans will need speed, cohesion and piles of money – not exactly attributes they’re famous for.

Fancy a golden visa? Greece looks like a bargain.

Don’t like Trump’s $8m ‘gold card’ visa? Try Europe for $413,000

The president wants to charge almost $8 million for a visa. Yet for as little as $413,000, you can buy a flat in a Mediterranean country and get permanent residency too.

Donald Trump with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, right.

Trump threatens EU with 25pc tariffs on all goods

The president took aim at the European Union, saying it “was formed to screw the United States” as he held his first Cabinet meeting that Elon Musk also joined.

The number of defence-themed investment funds doubled last year to a record 47, according to Bloomberg.

War stocks rocket as markets prepare for ‘defence supercycle’

ASX-listed defence ETFs have exploded more than 50 per cent higher over the past year, causing investors to scramble for exposure to the booming sector.

Visitors to the Indonesian International Motor Show in Jakarta this month. Vehicle makers are rethinking their EV plans.

Carmakers turn to new hybrid and petrol models amid EV lag

General Motors, Porsche, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have pledged over the past few weeks to invest in new or upgraded internal combustion engine and hybrid models.

Friedrich Merz, front right, leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), gestures while addressing supporters at the party headquarters in Berlin.

German election winner Merz vows ‘independence from US’

In blunt remarks after his victory, the chancellor-in-waiting criticised the “ultimately outrageous” comments flowing from Washington during the campaign.

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Alice Weidel at the AfD party headquarters in Berlin after Sunday’s election.

‘Next time we’ll come first’: German far-right celebrates breakthrough

The AfD has little chance of joining the government, but leader Alice Weidel thinks it’s only a matter of time before that changes.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said violating borders would be a breach of Western values.

Scholz promised stability, but Germany got chaos instead

The deeper rot in German governance will require more fundamental reforms than any coalition is likely to deliver.

It’s hard to see how the US-Russia deal won’t hand Ukraine to Putin on a platter.

Trump has smashed the Western alliance. Here’s what could happen next

With his broadsides against Ukraine, Trump has turned the world order on its head, leaving Europe reeling. Why is he doing it, and how can US allies respond?

Volodymyr Zelensky and Donald Trump.

Trump warns Zelensky time is running out for Ukraine

The US president said his Ukrainian counterpart must move quickly to secure peace, and suggested he was prolonging the war to “ride the gravy train”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a radar research and production enterprise in St. Petersburg.

Why Trump is falling into Putin’s trap

The US president’s public exchange of insults with Zelensky forms part of a rapid pivot towards Russia, welcomed by the Kremlin.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/european-union-5wv