La Roja rises again: But first, Spain has knocked favourites France out of the FIFA World Cup with a convincing 2-0 victory in Dallas, Texas last night. The Spanish side will now face either Argentina or England in the final on Sunday. If you missed it, Christina Thykjaer has this post-match review from Madrid.
Just in: Cyprus’ EU affairs minister Marilena Raouna has just weighed in on the dispute over the EU’s naming of Raffaele Fitto as special representative for Cyprus, an appointment which has been rejected by the Turkish Cypriot administration in the occupied north. “Reunifying the last divided member state of the EU will not only be transformative for Cyprus, it will also be transformative for the region of the eastern Mediterranean, sending a resounding message for peace and stability when we desperately need it,” she just told Europe Today. Watch.
‘The tide is turning’: Meanwhile, Ursula von der Leyen has arrived in Kyiv to meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, my colleague Jorge Liboreiro, who’s travelling with the European Commission president, writes in to report.
The situation has drastically changed since von der Leyen’s last visit in late February. Back then, the situation was truly bleak. Ukraine was going through a horrific winter of widespread blackouts caused by Russian attacks. The EU’s €90 billion support loan was firmly blocked by Hungary, and Ukraine’s accession was completely paralysed, with no solution in sight.
