BRUSSELS — In the 10 years since the Brussels terror attacks, the EU has tightened its security strategy but the internet is opening up new threats, according to the bloc’s counterterrorism coordinator.  Daesh is “mutating jihadism,” Bartjan Wegter told POLITICO in an interview on the eve of the anniversary of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, which pushed the bloc to bolster border protection and step up collaboration and information-sharing. The group has “calculated that it’s much more effective to radicalize people who are already inside the EU through online environments rather than to organize orchestrated attacks from outside our borders,” he said.  “And they’re very good at it.” Ten years ago, two terrorists from Daesh (also known as the so-called Islamic State) blew themselves up at Brussels Airport. Another explosion tore through a metro car at Maelbeek station, in the heart of Brussels’ EU district. Thirty-two people were killed, and hundreds more injured.  The attacks came just months after terrorists killed 130 people in attacks on a concert hall, a stadium, restaurants and bars in Paris, exposing gaps in information-sharing in the bloc’s free-travel area. The terrorists had moved between countries, planning the attacks in one and carrying them out in another, said Wegter, who is Dutch. “That’s where our vulnerabilities were.” Today, violent jihadism remains a threat and new large-scale attacks can’t be excluded. But the probability is “much, much lower today than it was 10 years ago,” said Wegter. In the aftermath of the attacks, the bloc changed its security strategy with a focus on prevention and a “security reflex” across every policy field, according to Wegter. It’s also stepping up police and judicial collaboration through Europol and Eurojust, and it’s putting in place databases — including the Schengen Information System — so countries could alert each other about high-risk individuals, as well as an entry/exit system to monitor who enters and leaves the free-travel area. But the bloc is facing a new type of threat, as security officials see a gradual increase in attempted terrorist attacks by lone actors. A lot of that is being cultivated online and increasingly, younger people are involved. “We’ve seen cases of children 12 years old. And, the radicalization process [is] also happening faster,” Wegter said. “Sometimes we’re talking about weeks or months.” In 2024, a third of all arrests connected to potential terror threats were of people aged between 12 and 20 years old, and France recorded a tripling of the number of minors radicalized between 2023 and 2024, said Wegter.  “Just put yourself in the shoes of law enforcement … You’re dealing with young people who spend most of their time online … Who may not have a criminal record. Who, if they are plotting attacks, may not be using registered weapons. It’s very hard to prevent.” Violent jihadism is just one of the threats EU security officials worry are being cultivated online. Wegter said there is also an emerging trend of a violent right-wing extremist narrative online — and to a lesser extent, violent left-wing extremism. There’s also what he called “nihilistic extremist violence,” a new phenomenon that can feature elements of different ideologies or a drive to overthrow the system, but which is fundamentally minors seeking an identity through violence. “What we see online, some of these images are so horrible that even law enforcement needs psychological support to see this kind of stuff,” said Wegter. Law enforcement’s ability to get access to encrypted data and information on people under investigation is crucial, he stressed, and he drew parallels with the steps the EU took to secure the Schengen free movement 10 years ago. “If you want to preserve the good things of the internet, we also need to make sure that we have … some key mechanisms to safeguard the internet also.”

Anton, a 44-year-old Russian soldier who heads a workshop responsible for repairing and supplying drones, was at his kitchen table when he learned last month that Elon Musk’s SpaceX had cut off access to Starlink terminals used by Russian forces. He scrambled for alternatives, but none offered unlimited internet, data plans were restrictive, and coverage did not extend to the areas of Ukraine where his unit operated. It’s not only American tech executives who are narrowing communications options for Russians. Days later, Russian authorities began slowing down access nationwide to the messaging app Telegram, the service that frontline troops use to coordinate directly with one another and bypass slower chains of command. “All military work goes through Telegram — all communication,” Anton, whose name has been changed because he fears government reprisal, told POLITICO in voice messages sent via the app. “That would be like shooting the entire Russian army in the head.” Telegram would be joining a home screen’s worth of apps that have become useless to Russians. Kremlin policymakers have already blocked or limited access to WhatsApp, along with parent company Meta’s Facebook and Instagram, Microsoft’s LinkedIn, Google’s YouTube, Apple’s FaceTime, Snapchat and X, which like SpaceX is owned by Musk. Encrypted messaging apps Signal and Discord, as well as Japanese-owned Viber, have been inaccessible since 2024. Last month, President Vladimir Putin signed a law requiring telecom operators to block cellular and fixed internet access at the request of the Federal Security Service. Shortly after it took effect on March 3, Moscow residents reported widespread problems with mobile internet, calls and text messages across all major operators for several days, with outages affecting mobile service and Wi-Fi even inside the State Duma. Those decisions have left Russians increasingly cut off from both the outside world and one another, complicating battlefield coordination and disrupting online communities that organize volunteer aid, fundraising and discussion of the war effort. Deepening digital isolation could turn Russia into something akin to “a large, nuclear-armed North Korea and a junior partner to China,” according to Alexander Gabuev, the Berlin-based director of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. In April, the Kremlin is expected to escalate its campaign against Telegram — already one of Russia’s most popular messaging platforms, but now in the absence of other social-media options, a central hub for news, business and entertainment. It may block the platform altogether. That is likely to fuel an escalating struggle between state censorship and the tools people use to evade it, with Russia’s place in the world hanging in the balance. “It’s turned into a war,” said Mikhail Klimarev, executive director of the internet Protection Society, a digital rights group that monitors Russia’s censorship infrastructure. “A guerrilla war. They hunt down the VPNs they can see, they block them — and the ‘partisans’ run, build new bunkers, and come back.” THE APP THAT RUNS THE WAR On Feb. 4, SpaceX tightened the authentication system that Starlink terminals use to connect to its satellite network, introducing stricter verification for registered devices. The change effectively blocked many terminals operated by Russian units relying on unauthorized connections, cutting Starlink traffic inside Ukraine by roughly 75 percent, according to internet traffic analysis by Doug Madory, an analyst at the U.S. network monitoring firm Kentik. The move threw Russian operations into disarray, allowing Ukraine to make battlefield gains. Russia has turned to a workaround widely used before satellite internet was an option: laying fiber-optic lines, from rear areas toward frontline battlefield positions. Until then, Starlink terminals had allowed drone operators to stream live video through platforms such as Discord, which is officially blocked in Russia but still sometimes used by the Russian military via VPNs, to commanders at multiple levels. A battalion commander could watch an assault unfold in real time and issue corrections — “enemy ahead” or “turn left” — via radio or Telegram. What once required layers of approval could now happen in minutes. Satellite-connected messaging apps became the fastest way to transmit coordinates, imagery and targeting data. But on Feb. 10, Roskomnadzor, the Russian communications regulator, began slowing down Telegram for users across Russia, citing alleged violations of Russian law. Russian news outlet RBC reported, citing two sources, that authorities plan to shut down Telegram in early April — though not on the front line. In mid-February, Digital Development Minister Maksut Shadayev said the government did not yet intend to restrict Telegram at the front but hoped servicemen would gradually transition to other platforms. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said this week the company could avoid a full ban by complying with Russian legislation and maintaining what he described as “flexible contact” with authorities. Roskomnadzor has accused Telegram of failing to protect personal data, combat fraud and prevent its use by terrorists and criminals. Similar accusations have been directed at other foreign tech platforms. In 2022, a Russian court designated Meta an “extremist organization” after the company said it would temporarily allow posts calling for violence against Russian soldiers in the context of the Ukraine war — a decision authorities used to justify blocking Facebook and Instagram in Russia and increasing pressure on the company’s other services, including WhatsApp. Telegram founder Pavel Durov, a Russian-born entrepreneur now based in the United Arab Emirates, says the throttiling is being used as a pretext to push Russians toward a government-controlled messaging app designed for surveillance and political censorship. That app is MAX, which was launched in March 2025 and has been compared to China’s WeChat in its ambition to anchor a domestic digital ecosystem. Authorities are increasingly steering Russians toward MAX through employers, neighborhood chats and the government services portal Gosuslugi — where citizens retrieve documents, pay fines and book appointments — as well as through banks and retailers. The app’s developer, VK, reports rapid user growth, though those figures are difficult to independently verify. “They didn’t just leave people to fend for themselves — you could say they led them by the hand through that adaptation by offering alternatives,” said Levada Center pollster Denis Volkov, who has studied Russian attitudes toward technology use. The strategy, he said, has been to provide a Russian or state-backed alternative for the majority, while stopping short of fully criminalizing workarounds for more technologically savvy users who do not want to switch. Elena, a 38-year-old Yekaterinburg resident whose surname has been withheld because she fears government reprisal, said her daughter’s primary school moved official communication from WhatsApp to MAX without consulting parents. She keeps MAX installed on a separate tablet that remains mostly in a drawer — a version of what some Russians call a “MAXophone,” gadgets solely for that app, without any other data being left on those phones for the (very real) fear the government could access it. “It works badly. Messages are delayed. Notifications don’t come,” she said. “I don’t trust it … And this whole situation just makes people angry.” THE VPN ARMS RACE Unlike China’s centralized “Great Firewall,” which filters traffic at the country’s digital borders, Russia’s system operates internally. Internet providers are required to route traffic through state-installed deep packet inspection equipment capable of controlling and analyzing data flows in real time. “It’s not one wall,” Klimarev said. “It’s thousands of fences. You climb one, then there’s another.” The architecture allows authorities to slow services without formally banning them — a tactic used against YouTube before its web address was removed from government-run domain-name servers last month. Russian law explicitly provides government authority for blocking websites on grounds such as extremism, terrorism, illegal content or violations of data regulations, but it does not clearly define throttling — slowing traffic rather than blocking it outright — as a formal enforcement mechanism. “The slowdown isn’t described anywhere in legislation,” Klimarev said. “It’s pressure without procedure.” In September, Russia banned advertising for virtual private network services that citizens use to bypass government-imposed restrictions on certain apps or sites. By Klimarev’s estimate, roughly half of Russian internet users now know what a VPN is, and millions pay for one. Polling last year by the Levada Center, Russia’s only major independent pollster, suggests regular use is lower, finding about one-quarter of Russians said they have used VPN services. Russian courts can treat the use of anonymization tools as an aggravating factor in certain crimes — steps that signal growing pressure on circumvention technologies without formally outlawing them. In February, the Federal Antimonopoly Service opened what appears to be the first case against a media outlet for promoting a VPN after the regional publication Serditaya Chuvashiya advertised such a service on its Telegram channel. Surveys in recent years have shown that many Russians, particularly older citizens, support tighter internet regulation, often citing fraud, extremism and online safety. That sentiment gives authorities political space to tighten controls even when the restrictions are unpopular among more technologically savvy users. Even so, the slowdown of Telegram drew criticism from unlikely quarters, including Sergei Mironov, a longtime Kremlin ally and leader of the Just Russia party. In a statement posted on his Telegram channel on Feb. 11, he blasted the regulators behind the move as “idiots,” accusing them of undermining soldiers at the front. He said troops rely on the app to communicate with relatives and organize fundraising for the war effort, warning that restricting it could cost lives. While praising the state-backed messaging app MAX, he argued that Russians should be free to choose which platforms they use. Pro-war Telegram channels frame the government’s blocking techniques as sabotage of the war effort. Ivan Philippov, who tracks Russia’s influential military bloggers, said the reaction inside that ecosystem to news about Telegram has been visceral “rage.” Unlike Starlink, whose cutoff could be blamed on a foreign company, restrictions on Telegram are viewed as self-inflicted. Bloggers accuse regulators of undermining the war effort. Telegram is used not only for battlefield coordination but also for volunteer fundraising networks that provide basic logistics the state does not reliably cover — from transport vehicles and fuel to body armor, trench materials and even evacuation equipment. Telegram serves as the primary hub for donations and reporting back to supporters. “If you break Telegram inside Russia, you break fundraising,” Philippov said. “And without fundraising, a lot of units simply don’t function.” Few in that community trust MAX, citing technical flaws and privacy concerns. Because MAX operates under Russian data-retention laws and is integrated with state services, many assume their communications would be accessible to authorities. Philippov said the app’s prominent defenders are largely figures tied to state media or the presidential administration. “Among independent military bloggers, I haven’t seen a single person who supports it,” he said. Small groups of activists attempted to organize rallies in at least 11 Russian cities, including Moscow, Irkutsk and Novosibirsk, in defense of Telegram. Authorities rejected or obstructed most of the proposed demonstrations — in some cases citing pandemic-era restrictions, weather conditions or vague security concerns — and in several cases revoked previously issued permits. In Novosibirsk, police detained around 15 people ahead of a planned rally. Although a small number of protests were formally approved, no large-scale demonstrations ultimately took place. THE POWER TO PULL THE PLUG The new law signed last month allows Russia’s Federal Security Service to order telecom operators to block cellular and fixed internet access. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said subsequent shutdowns of service in Moscow were linked to security measures aimed at protecting critical infrastructure and countering drone threats, adding that such limitations would remain in place “for as long as necessary.” In practice, the disruptions rarely amount to a total communications blackout. Most target mobile internet rather than all services, while voice calls and SMS often continue to function. Some domestic websites and apps — including government portals or banking services — may remain accessible through “whitelists,” meaning authorities allow certain services to keep operating even while broader internet access is restricted. The restrictions are typically localized and temporary, affecting specific regions or parts of cities rather than the entire country. Internet disruptions have increasingly become a tool of control beyond individual platforms. Research by the independent outlet Meduza and the monitoring project Na Svyazi has documented dozens of regional internet shutdowns and mobile network restrictions across Russia, with disruptions occurring regularly since May 2025. The communications shutdown, and uncertainty around where it will go next, is affecting life for citizens of all kinds, from the elderly struggling to contact family members abroad to tech-savvy users who juggle SIM cards and secondary phones to stay connected. Demand has risen for dated communication devices — including walkie-talkies, pagers and landline phones — along with paper maps as mobile networks become less reliable, according to retailers interviewed by RBC. “It feels like we’re isolating ourselves,” said Dmitry, 35, who splits his time between Moscow and Dubai and whose surname has been withheld to protect his identity under fear of governmental reprisal. “Like building a sovereign grave.” Those who track Russian public opinion say the pattern is consistent: irritation followed by adaptation. When Instagram and YouTube were blocked or slowed in recent years, their audiences shrank rapidly as users migrated to alternative services rather than mobilizing against the restrictions. For now, Russia’s digital tightening resembles managed escalation rather than total isolation. Officials deny plans for a full shutdown, and even critics say a complete severing would cripple banking, logistics and foreign trade. “It’s possible,” Klimarev said. “But if they do that, the internet won’t be the main problem anymore.”

STRASBOURG — The far-right groups in the European Parliament claim President Roberta Metsola broke a promise to hold a minute of silence for French activist Quentin Deranque. Deranque, 23, died after receiving blows to the head during a fight outside a conference featuring hard-left France Unbowed MEP Rima Hassan at a university in Lyon. The French National Assembly held a minute of silence on Feb. 17. “We are in fact condemning the attitude of Ms Metsola, whom our French delegation and our Patriots group had asked to hold a minute of silence here in tribute to Quentin,” Jean-Paul Garraud, head of the French National Rally in the European Parliament, wrote on social media. “Metsola had indeed promised us this minute of silence … This minute of silence was not granted.” The chief of the far-right Europe of Sovereign Nations (ESN) group — René Aust of the Alternative for Germany — told Metsola during a meeting of political group leaders on Thursday that she had broken an agreement to hold a minute of silence, according to two people who were in the room, granted anonymity to speak freely. Aust told POLITICO: “We are optimistic that the murder of Quentin, which caused shock far beyond France’s borders, will be commemorated appropriately in the European Parliament. We will continue to advocate for this.” Metsola told Aust that she has been in touch with Deranque’s family, and that they had asked her not to politicize his death, according to the two people. The right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists group, and the far-right Patriots and ESN groups first asked for a minute of silence to be held at an extraordinary plenary session on Feb. 27. Metsola said that plenary was dedicated exclusively to the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and agreed to move the minute of silence to the plenary of March 9-13, according to the right-wing groups. “She didn’t keep her word, but we won’t ask again,” said a Patriots official. Metsola’s office told POLITICO: “Anything the president will do will be done in collaboration with the family.” She gave a speech condemning political violence at the opening of the plenary on Monday. “This Parliament stands against political violence without exception, and I want to underline that any political differences must be settled in the arena of public debate, without ever resorting to aggressive behavior or violence, and I expect all of us elected to this house to be the best examples of that,” Metsola told MEPs.

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is celebrating a “major victory” in courts after judges in Cologne banned Germany’s domestic intelligence agency from treating the party as a “right-wing extremist group.” The temporary ruling issued Thursday prevents the BfV agency from using the label it slapped on the AfD in May 2025 — a mostly symbolic decision that nevertheless complicated the party’s efforts to broaden its appeal at home and polish its reputation abroad. AfD co-leader Tino Chrupalla hailed a “great day for democracy,” while his co-head Alice Weidel wrote on X that the ruling “indirectly put a stop to censorship fanatics.” Weidel has seized on the ruling as evidence the party was unfairly stigmatized and is now using the court’s intervention to support her party’s broader rebranding. The AfD has shifted steadily rightward since its founding in 2013 as a Euroskeptic force, mobilizing an increasingly radicalized base largely around migration. Lately, however, Weidel has tried to tone down the rhetoric to make her party more palatable to mainstream conservatives. It is currently moving to ban Kevin Dorow, a board member of its youth organisation, for remarks that “obviously suggested a closeness to National Socialism”, Die Welt reported. The strategy could test the long-standing firewall that has kept Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s center-right bloc from governing with the far right. A good electoral result in the state of Baden-Württemberg next week could signal that these efforts are paying off. AfD has not performed well historically in the southwestern state, and its candidates are currently polling in third with 19 percent, much higher than its nine percent result five years ago. The party also enjoys some momentum in Berlin, where an Insa survey put the AfD in second place with 17 percent — the first time the party has ranked so highly in the city-state, although it is neck and neck with three parties on the left ahead of the elections in September. The legal fight is far from over, though. Speaking to Welt TV on Friday, Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the AfD “remains a suspected case” — a status that still allows Germany’s domestic intelligence agency to monitor the party — and stressed that the main proceedings in the case still lie ahead. A final court decision could take years. Nette Nöstlinger contributed to this report.

Russian authorities have launched a criminal investigation into Telegram founder Pavel Durov over allegations his messaging platform facilitated terrorist activity, sharply escalating the Kremlin’s long-running standoff with the tech billionaire. State-run Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Kremlin-friendly tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda reported Tuesday that investigators are examining whether Telegram was used to coordinate attacks, including the 2024 Crocus City Hall massacre, as well as the killings of Darya Dugina — daughter of nationalist ideologue Aleksandr Dugin — and General Igor Kirillov. Both outlets, citing Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), claimed Telegram has been used in more than 153,000 crimes since 2022, including roughly 33,000 cases involving sabotage, terrorism or extremism. The reports also accused Durov of ignoring more than 150,000 takedown requests from Russia’s media regulator Roskomnadzor. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov piled the pressure on, telling reporters Tuesday that authorities had recorded “a large number of violations” and Telegram’s “unwillingness … to cooperate.” The probe marks the latest chapter in Moscow’s decade-long battle with Durov. Russia attempted to block Telegram in 2018 after the company refused to hand over encryption keys — a ban that ultimately failed. Authorities have since intermittently throttled the service while also targeting other foreign platforms, including WhatsApp. Durov, who left Russia in 2014, has repeatedly framed the pressure as politically motivated. Earlier in February, he warned Moscow was trying to push users toward a state-controlled messaging app “built for surveillance and political censorship,” adding: “Telegram stands for freedom of speech and privacy, no matter the pressure.” The tech entrepreneur, however, has been in trouble outside Russia over the platform. In 2024, he was arrested in France and temporarily banned from leaving the country after being charged with several organized crime offenses. Prosecutors claimed he refused to cooperate with authorities’ attempts to combat illegal content, including child pornography, on Telegram. Durov denied any wrongdoing. Telegram, which launched in 2013, has become a central information hub inside Russia and across the Ukraine war zone, used by officials and opposition figures — as well as Ukrainian leaders, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The platform says it now has roughly 1 billion active users worldwide. Responding to the news with a post on X, Durov said, “Each day, the authorities fabricate new pretexts to restrict Russians’ access to Telegram as they seek to suppress the right to privacy and free speech. A sad spectacle of a state afraid of its own people.” This article has been updated.

LONDON —New Labour spin doctor Alastair Campbell famously said “we don’t do God.” Reform UK is taking a different approach. Nigel Farage’s populist right-wing force, which leads in the opinion polls, put religion at the heart of its political agenda on Monday, promising to “protect the Christian heritage of Britain.” In a speech on the south coast of England, Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, said: “A nation without a culture is not a nation at all. It’s just an economic zone, a shopping mall with a flag waiting to be exploited.” Yusuf earlier told the Times newspaper that Christianity is “core to the history and the DNA of the country,” and renewing the nation’s religious faith is essential for tackling the “crisis of meaning culturally.” He told the paper Britain is losing its Christian values because of the “sheer quantities of people that came to the country in a short period of time.” If it wins power, Reform UK would grant immediate and automatic listed status to churches, meaning their character could not be altered. The buildings would also be prevented from being converted into places of worship for other religions, like mosques, Yusuf said. NOT DOING GOD Religious faith is a topic U.K. politicians usually try to avoid. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is an atheist, while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch is agnostic — though she said she still feels like a “cultural Christian.” Tim Farron resigned as Lib Dem leader after the 2017 general election because he felt unable to square “being a good leader and a good Christian”. Speaking in Dover on Monday, Yusuf, a Muslim, said: “I can see that so much of what makes Britain such a great country is associated and irrevocably derived from Britain’s Christian heritage. I think that’s a very popular view. I hear that all the time from people.” Sunder Katwala, director of the British Future think tank, challenged Reform’s claim that migrants are undermining Christianity. “There’s an irony that it is Britain’s new migrant populations that are slowing the decline of church-going in Britain,” he said in a statement to POLITICO. Less than half (46.2 percent) of the U.K. population described themselves as Christian in the 2021 England and Wales census, down from 59.3 percent in 2011. More than a third (37.2 percent) said they had no religion, up from 25.2 percent 10 years earlier. Humanists UK Chief Executive Andrew Copson criticized Reform for failing to recognize the growing number of non-Christians in Britain. “Most of us in Britain aren’t Christian in our beliefs, practices, or identity. Although Christianity has contributed to our heritage, pre-Christian, non-Christian, and post-Christian influences have been just as important,” he said in a statement. Reform UK also announced Monday it would proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist organizations. It will also overhaul the Prevent program, which aims to stop people from becoming terrorists. A new group linking the church and Reform UK called the Christian Fellowship for Reform was launched last year. Earlier this month, James Orr, a Christian and associate professor of philosophy of religion at the University of Cambridge, was appointed Reform UK’s head of policy. Sam Blewett contributed reporting

PARIS — France’s far right is framing the death of an activist associated with far-right groups as a moment akin to the murder of Charlie Kirk in the United States. The National Rally has in recent days started pointing to the killing of 23-year-old Quentin Deranque in Lyon as proof the poll-topping populist party is the victim of an increasingly radical political left, much as the MAGA movement in the United States did following Kirk’s assassination last year. With key municipal elections next month serving as a bellwether of the National Rally’s electability heading into the 2027 presidential race, the incident has deepened the fissures in France’s polarized politics and fueled fears of further violence. “What happened to Quentin, it feels like it could have happened dozens of times to our supporters in recent years,” said National Rally MEP Pierre-Romain Thionnet. “Of course, those are not the same circumstances,” Thionnet said of the Kirk comparison. “But there are similarities in the way it resonates.” Deranque was, unlike Kirk, unknown to the general public before he died Saturday after taking several blows to the head during a fight that broke out near a university where MEP Rima Hassan was attending an event. The events leading up to the fight that cost Deranque his life remain unclear. The far-right feminist group Collectif Nemesis said Deranque was providing security for them at their protest against Hassan and her anticapitalist party, France Unbowed. France Unbowed and its firebrand leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon have been the focus of most of the fury following revelations that police are investigating whether members of the now-disbanded antifascist group Young Guard, cofounded by France Unbowed lawmaker Raphaël Arnault, was involved in the fight. A judge on Thursday placed two people under formal investigation for voluntary homicide, while one of Arnault’s parliamentary assistants was put under formal investigation for aiding and abetting a crime. Lyon’s chief prosecutor told reporters earlier Thursday that he had requested seven people, including the assistant, be put under formal investigation for voluntary homicide. The prosecutor said three of the suspects told investigators that they were or had been affiliated with “ultra-left” groups. Some acknowledged that they took part in a fight but all denied their intent was to kill Deranque, the prosecutor said. RIGHT-WING SHOCK National Rally President Jordan Bardella likened the incident to terrorism at a press conference Wednesday, as U.S. President Donald Trump had done after Kirk’s death.   “When an organization uses terror to impose its ideology, it must be fought with the same force as terrorist groups,” Bardella said.   France Unbowed and its firebrand leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon have been the focus of most of the fury following revelations that police are investigating whether members of the now-disbanded antifascist group Young Guard was involved in the fight. | Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images Marion Maréchal, Marine Le Pen’s niece and an MEP with Giorgio Meloni’s European Conservatives and Reformists, is asking the European Parliament to hold a debate “on the violence of the far left in Europe that threatens our democracies.”  Meloni herself weighed in, expressing her “shock” on X before blaming “left-wing extremism” and “a climate of ideological hatred that is sweeping across several nations” — sparking yet another feud with French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron and his prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said France Unbowed must “clean house.” France Unbowed is invoking Kirk’s killing as well, but as a cautionary tale, concerned about a Trump-like crackdown on universities.  French Education Minister Philippe Baptiste announced Tuesday he would seek to prevent political conferences at universities whenever authorities believed they could lead to confrontation. Hassan, the MEP who had been taking part in a conference in Lyon during the deadly confrontation, said she feared the government would respond with “censorship” at universities.   And French media reported Thursday that Lyon Mayor Grégory Doucet was opposed to holding a march Saturday to honor Deranque over fears it could lead to more violence. HISTORICAL VIOLENCE While the political climate in France appears to have turned more aggressive, historically most violence has been committed by extreme right-wing groups. A 2021 study found that of the 43 homicides with ideological motives that occurred between 1986 and 2014, just four were committed by far-left militants. The sociologist who oversaw that work, Isabelle Sommier, told French newspaper Le Monde in an interview published Thursday that the number of politically motivated assaults has doubled since 2017, most of them carried out by ultra-right extremists. She said if authorities determine that Deranque was killed by an antifascist group because of his political views, he’d be the first victim of extreme-left violence since the 1980s. France Unbowed, for its part, has condemned the violent attack and said they played no role in it, stressing that the party’s call for a “civic revolution” is nonviolent. Arnault, the MP whose assistant is being investigated, expressed “horror and disgust” at the news of Deranque’s death and said he was working with parliamentary services to terminate the contract of an aide who reportedly took part in the fight.  The tragedy isn’t expected to affect France Unbowed’s prospects in the race to lead Lyon, France’s third-largest city. The party was not expected to win there and polling obtained exclusively by POLITICO following Deranque’s death shows no significant change in France Unbowed’s prospects.    The bigger test will be whether the incident affects the outlook for mayoral races where France Unbowed candidates are expected to be competitive.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Sunday condemned anti-Olympics protesters and the unknown perpetrators of railway sabotage that caused train delays, particularly on the line between Bologna and Venice. “Then you have them, the enemies of Italy and Italians, who demonstrate ‘against the Olympics,’ causing these images to be broadcast on television around the world. After others cut the railway cables to prevent trains from leaving,” Meloni wrote in a social media post that included FoxNews footage showing firecrackers and smoke bombs during anti-Olympics protests in Milan on Saturday. Hours after the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics were officially launched, suspected attacks damaged the Bologna-Venice railway line. On Saturday, Italy’s railway operator Ferrovie dello Stato reported “serious damage to railway infrastructure attributable to acts of sabotage.” One track switch was set on fire near Pesaro, while a few hours later cables were damaged, causing delays on Saturday morning, the operator said. Italy’s Transport Minister Matteo Salvini was quick to link the episodes to the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. “The serious acts of sabotage that took place this morning near Bologna station and in Pesaro, causing major disruption to thousands of travelers, are worrying and echo the acts of terrorism that occurred in France just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris,” the transport ministry said in a statement on Saturday, a reference to the arson attack that hit the French railway infrastructure in July 2024. At the same time, protesters, including some violent ones, took to the streets in Milan on Saturday to demonstrate against the Winter Olympics.

A Warsaw court on Thursday evening ordered the arrest of former Polish Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro, a move that could exacerbate a diplomatic dispute between Poland and Hungary. Ziobro has been in Hungary since late last year and was granted political asylum there in January. The arrest order marks a further escalation of the political confrontation between Poland’s governing coalition led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the Law and Justice (PiS) party. Tusk has repeatedly pledged to hold PiS to account for alleged corruption during its time in power from 2015 to 2023. Ziobro is under investigation over the alleged misuse of public funds and the deployment of Pegasus spyware against political opponents, in cases pursued by prosecutors under Tusk’s center-left coalition government. He was stripped of his parliamentary immunity in November. Ziobro denies all charges and has long argued that the investigation is a political vendetta by Tusk, whom the former minister vows to fight, even from Budapest, he told POLITICO last week. “Today’s decision only serves the authorities a political purpose, as my client is in Hungary and has been granted international protection,” one of Ziobro’s lawyers, Bartosz Lewandowski, told reporters immediately after the court ruled on the arrest order. Ziobro’s political protector, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, is facing a parliamentary election in April, with pro-EU opposition challenger Péter Magyar leading in opinion polls. A change of power in Budapest could, in theory, potentially result in Ziobro losing his asylum status. Hungary previously granted asylum to former Polish Deputy Justice Minister Marcin Romanowski, who served under Ziobro. Following the court’s decision, a request for a European arrest warrant is expected early next week, prosecutors said.

The center-right European People’s Party is eyeing “better implementation” of the Lisbon Treaty to better prepare the EU for what it sees as historic shifts in the global balance of power involving the U.S., China and Russia, EPP leader Manfred Weber said on Saturday. Speaking at a press conference on the second day of an EPP Leaders Retreat in Zagreb, Weber highlighted the possibility of broadening the use of qualified majority voting in EU decision-making and developing a practical plan for military response if a member state is attacked. Currently EU leaders can use qualified majority voting on most legislative proposals, from energy and climate issues to research and innovation. But common foreign and security policy, EU finances and membership issues, among other areas, need a unified majority. This means that on issues such as sanctions against Russia, one country can block agreement, as happened last summer when Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico vetoed a package of EU measures against Moscow — a veto that was eventually lifted. Such power in one country’s hands is something that the EPP would like to change.  As for military solidarity, Article 42.7 of the Lisbon Treaty obliges countries to provide “aid and assistance by all the means in their power” if an EU country is attacked. For Weber, the formulation under European law is stronger than NATO’s Article 5 collective defense commitment. However, he stressed that the EU still lacks a clear operational plan for how the clause would work in practice. Article 42.7 was previously used when France requested that other EU countries make additional contributions to the fight against terrorism, following the Paris terrorist attacks in November 2015.  Such ideas were presented as the party with a biggest grouping in the European Parliament — and therefore the power to shape EU political priorities — presented its strategic focus for 2026, with competitiveness as its main priority.  Keeping the pulse on what matters in 2026  The EPP wants to unleash the bloc’s competitiveness through further cutting red tape, “completing” the EU single market, diversifying supply chains, protecting economic independence and security and promoting innovation including in AI, chips and biotech, among other actions, according to its list 2026 priorities unveiled on Saturday. On defense, the EPP is pushing for a “360-degree” security approach to safeguard Europe against growing geopolitical threats, “addressing state and non-state threats from all directions,” according to the document. The EPP is calling for enhanced European defense capabilities, including a stronger defense market, joint procurement of military equipment, and new strategic initiatives to boost readiness. The party also stressed the need for better protection against cyberattacks and hybrid threats, and robust measures to counter disinformation campaigns targeting EU institutions and societies. On migration and border security, the EPP backs tougher asylum admissibility rules, faster returns, and strengthened external borders, including reinforced Frontex operations and improved digital systems like the Entry/Exit System.  The party also urged a Demographic Strategy for Europe amid the continent’s shrinking and aging population. The text, initiated by Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ), member of the EPP, wants to see demographic considerations integrated into EU economic governance, cohesion funds, and policymaking, while boosting family support, intergenerational solidarity, labor participation, skills development, mobility and managed immigration.  Demographic change is “the most important issue, which is not really intensively discussed in the public discourse,” Weber said. “That’s why we want to highlight this, we want to underline the importance.”