🇭🇺 When Viktor Orban made his first posts on Twitter this week, one of them gave us a clue as to why Hungary's PM has chosen now to join the social media platform. cutt.ly/jBmFtD6 📱 With Hungarians generally preferring Facebook, there is seemingly little domestic motivation for Orban to join the rival platform.

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🇩🇰 When party leaders faced each other last week in the first TV debate of Denmark's election, they disagreed along familiar party lines.

But there was one subject which united left and right: a controversial plan to outsource asylum seekers to Rwanda.
cutt.ly/BBcy0ug 🇬🇧 Although there is no formal agreement yet between the two countries, that is clearly the direction of travel, with the whole scheme looking very similar to a policy the UK government is trying to get off the ground - so far, unsuccessfully.

🇬🇧 The funeral on Monday of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will see the biggest gathering of royalty this century - perhaps ever - in London.

So who is attending the funeral, and how are they related to Queen Elizabeth II, if at all? Here's our guide. 👇 cutt.ly/AVwLXaF 🇧🇪 King Philippe and Queen Mathilde will be representing Belgium at the funeral.

King Philippe's ancestor is King Leopold I, the first King of the Belgians, who was also Queen Victoria's uncle. And Queen Victoria was Queen Elizabeth II's great-great-grandmother.

🇭🇺 Hungary is no longer a full democracy, MEPs have declared in a non-binding but highly symbolic report.

Instead, it should be considered a "hybrid regime of electoral autocracy" in which elections are regularly held without respecting democratic norms.
cutt.ly/cC4cu3X 🇪🇺 In their resolution, MEPs point the finger directly at Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and condemn his government's "deliberate and systematic efforts" to undermine the EU's core values.

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🇪🇺 Ursula von der Leyen delivered on Wednesday her annual State of the Union speech, unveiling the main political priorities for the next working year.

Here are the main takeaways.
cutt.ly/uC1YhdH “Sanctions are here to stay”.

🇷🇺 Von der Leyen said Russian industry is in “tatters” because of the sanctions the EU has slapped on Moscow over the Ukraine war.

She assured that the EU won’t relent in its sanctions, despite fears that it might have to due to the energy crisis.

🔴Watch Live | War in Ukraine, inflation, energy crisis, pandemic...

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen sets out her priorities for next year.

#SOTEU

ICYMI: 🇪🇺 Here's our roundup of what European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in her annual #SOTU address:

🇺🇦 The EU has "risen to the occasion" on the Ukraine war, she said.

"Our response was united, determined and immediate and I think we can be proud of that."

🇷🇺🇺🇦 Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has not only ravaged its western neighbour, but shaken the continent as a whole.

How was the war changed your country? cutt.ly/yXGTUD6 🇧🇬 For Bulgaria, the war has soured its relations with Russia after the pro-western coalition government -- which has since collapsed -- backed EU sanctions against Moscow.

It has also refused Russian demands to pay for imported Russian gas in roubles. cutt.ly/yXGTUD6

🇺🇦 Ukrainian border guards have been accused of stamping a Russian man's passport with the words "Russian warship, go f*** yourself".
cutt.ly/yXAVpwX 🇷🇴🇺🇦 Igor Zabotin says he was turned away at the Romania-Ukraine border on 15 August and had his stamp marked with the phrase.
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🇪🇸 A debate has been sparked after Spain's government moved to prevent offices, shops and other venues from setting air conditioning below 27°C in the summer.
cutt.ly/8ZYv54V 🌡 The decree, published on Tuesday morning, will also stop heating from being raised above 19°C during the winter.

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🇫🇮 The Finnish government is coming under increasing public and political pressure to close the EU's eastern border with Russia, and put a stop to an apparent sanctions loophole.
cutt.ly/UZEfgIO 🇷🇺 Russia relaxed its COVID-related border restrictions in mid-July, meaning for the first time since before the pandemic, Russians with Schengen visas can now legally cross the border by bus or car, even though they're banned from travelling to the EU in planes and trains.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧The question of whether Scotland will break away from the UK and become an independent country is far from settled. While Scotland voted to stay in the union in 2014, the SNP recently unveiled plans for a new independence vote.

euronews.com/2022/06/28/sco…

After the US Supreme Court overturned the landmark Roe vs Wade ruling, MPs in France are now trying to enshrine abortion rights in the country’s constitution. 🇫🇷

euronews.com/2022/06/25/fra… The proposed bill comes from 2 lawmakers, including the leader of President Emmanuel Macron’s party in the French parliament.

"We must take steps in France today so we do not have any reversal of existing laws tomorrow," Aurore Berge told France Inter radio station.

Women have become engines for economic growth.

#TheExchange speaks to the women who #breakthebias not only advancing the status of women in business but also helping the women around them and their community to break out of gender stereotypes and expectations.👇 Women in positions of power like @vonderleyen, @lagarde, @SecYellen, @NOIweala have shown they’re as capable as their male counterparts in running big, global organisations.

According to @Deloitte, women held 19.7% of board seats globally, up from 16.9% in 2018.

🇺🇦🇵🇱 Ukrainian refugees have been arriving at the Polish border city of Przemyśl carrying light luggage but a heavy burden.

Stepping down onto Polish soil means safety for them but also sadness for their lives left behind.

cutt.ly/bAQDqw5 🇵🇱 Many families have been split up: mainly women and children are arriving in Poland; the men have stayed home to fight.

They bear the emotional scars of seeing war come to the neighbourhoods and are quick to warn the rest of the world about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

🇺🇦 It’s been reported that refugees from Ukraine, who are largely white and Christian, can enter some countries more easily than those escaping violence in the Middle East or North Africa.

cutt.ly/WAplH3U 🗣 Some experts say that the "magnificent solidarity and humanism" towards Ukraine illustrates a "shocking distinction" which reveals a "dehumanisation of refugees from the Middle East".

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Paris eases COVID travel restrictions between the UK and France euronews.com/2022/01/13/par… From Friday, all travellers, regardless of the vaccination status, will have to present a negative test (PCR or antigenic) no older than 24 hours to enter France.

🗳 Voters in Finland will later this month cast their ballots in the country's first regional elections that will revolutionise the way the Nordic nation provides health and social care. 🏥 It's the result of the biggest reform to the country’s public health system for decades and transfers responsibility for healthcare and emergency services from 294 individual municipalities to a streamlined 21 new regional authorities whose boards are directly elected.

🇺🇦🇷🇺 Amid the noise of the pandemic, one issue has been ringing alarm bells across Europe and the West: Russia’s military build-up on the Ukrainian border.

US intelligence has warned that Russia may be preparing an invasion, but Moscow denies it. 🇷🇺 Many ask what Putin’s real intentions are and whether, if Russia does attack, what NATO and the West can do to respond in a sufficiently robust manner.

The SNP hopes it can capitalise on the 'perfect storm' of a damaging Brexit, Boris Johnson's scandal-prone Westminster government and the perception that Sturgeon has has handled the COVID pandemic reasonably competently. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧 euronews.com/2021/12/09/aye… Since Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party won another term in office at Scottish Parliament elections in the spring, with an increased vote share, there’s been a steady uptick in diplomatic outreach. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

It’s official: Olaf Scholz is the chancellor of Germany, replacing Angela Merkel after 16 years in office. 🇩🇪

Scholz’s SPD has teamed up with the FDP and Greens to form a coalition, forcing Merkel’s CDU into opposition for the first time since 2005.

👇cutt.ly/9YnfIMT After Merkel’s long tenure, people have questioned exactly what direction he will take Germany in.

Experts reckon that while Scholz is like Merkel, Germany is not necessarily headed for more of the same, as he's far more decisive than his predecessor.

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After the ECB announced its decision to redesign euro banknotes, Euronews asked you what new theme you’d like to see represented on the currency. 💶

Scroll through the thread for the most popular choices 👇 Many of you voted for prominent European politicians, including German chancellor Angela Merkel. 🇩🇪

Also popular were older politicians seen to have contributed to European unity, including ex-UK prime minister Winston Churchill and ex-EU Parliament president Robert Schuman. 🇪🇺