LONDON — The European Commission is looking into whether former British politician Peter Mandelson broke EU rules over his contact with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Even though the U.K. left the EU six years ago, Mandelson remains bound by obligations that he signed up to during his time as a commissioner, from 2004 to 2008. Newly released files suggest Mandelson in 2010, while he was a senior minister in the U.K. government, may have given Epstein advance notice of a €500 billion bailout to save the euro at the height of the spiraling Greek debt crisis. European finance ministers agreed the deal overnight amid fears that the failing Greek economy could trigger a wider crisis across the eurozone. According to the files released in the U.S., Epstein, who was a financier, sent Mandelson an email the previous night saying: “Sources tell me 500 b euro bailout , almost complete.” Mandelson replied: “Sd be announced tonight.” The cabinet minister then said he was just leaving 10 Downing Street and “will call.” The British government decided not to take part in the bailout for the euro but was part of the talks that paved the way for the emergency measure, so would have known how events were progressing. On Tuesday, Balazs Ujvari, a spokesperson for the Commission said: “We have rules in place emanating from the treaty and the code of conduct that commissioners, including former commissioners, have to follow.” When there is an indication that the rules may not have been followed, the Commission looks into any potential breaches, he said. “We will be assessing if, in light of these newly available documents, there might be breaches of the respective rules with regard to Peter Mandelson.” Mandelson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. He has previously said he was wrong to have continued his association with Epstein and apologized “unequivocally” to Epstein’s victims.

BRUSSELS — The European Commission on Friday announced an investigation into Slovakia over the dismantling of its whistleblower protection office. In its latest rule-of-law spat with Bratislava, the EU executive criticized leftist-populist leader Robert Fico for trying to replace the office with a new institution whose leadership would be politically appointed. “The Commission considers that this law breaches EU rules,” it wrote in an official note on Friday. Brussels’ move comes amid strong pressure from lawmakers and NGOs to act against Fico’s crackdown against independent institutions and suspected fraud involving EU farm funds. Zuzana Dlugošová, the head of the whistleblower protection office, said that she had repeatedly warned Slovak officials that the plans were in contradiction with EU law. “If expert feedback had been taken into account, Slovakia could have avoided EU infringement proceedings. Still, we believe that this process itself can help foster a more professional and substantive debate on how whistleblower protection should be properly set up in Slovakia,” Dlugošová said. Slovakia’s permanent representation in Brussels and interior ministry did not immediately respond to POLITICO’s requests for comment. Brussels has given Bratislava one month to respond to its queries before taking further action — which could potentially include cutting EU payouts to Slovakia after a multi-layered process. Since returning to power in 2023 for a fourth term, Fico’s Smer party has taken steps to dismantle anti-corruption institutions, including abolishing the Special Prosecutor’s Office, which handled high-profile corruption cases, and disbanding NAKA, an elite police unit tasked with fighting organized crime. “The European Commission’s decision … sends a clear message: protecting whistleblowers is not optional — it is a core obligation of every EU Member State,” Czech MEP Tomáš Zdechovský said in written remarks to POLITICO. Before launching the probe, the EU executive had pressed Slovakia to roll back on its anti-democratic crackdown. EU Budget Commissioner Piotr Serafin encouraged Fico not to dismantle the whistleblower protection office during a meeting in Bratislava in December, according to two Commission officials with knowledge of proceedings who were not authorized to go on the record. Nevertheless, in December 2025, the Slovak parliament pushed through a bill that cut short the current director’s tenure and weakened protections for whistleblowers. It was set to enter into force in on Jan. 1 but Slovakia’s top court paused the disputed decision to review whether it complies with the constitution. German Green MEP Daniel Freund welcomed the Commission’s move but urged it to go even further. “The Commission needs to do more. Fico’s government has dismantled the special prosecutor for corruption, has dismantled the national crime agency and has changed the penal code to have hundreds of convicted corruption offenders walk free,” Freund told POLITICO. Slovakia is already subject to another infringement procedure, launched by the Commission in November, over a reform that enshrines only two genders in the constitution.

President Donald Trump is talking about taking over Greenland by any means necessary. Republicans in Congress are trying to scare him back to reality. As Trump continually threatens to bring the Danish territory into the U.S. over the objections of key global allies and the island’s elected representatives, some GOP lawmakers are stepping up their warnings and engaging in diplomacy as Democrats prepare to put the other party on record opposing a military invasion. Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) predicted members on both sides of the aisle would lock arms and require congressional signoff if it became clear Trump was preparing imminent military action. “If there was any sort of action that looked like the goal was actually landing in Greenland and doing an illegal taking … there’d be sufficient numbers here to pass a war powers resolution and withstand a veto,” Tillis said. Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) went further, predicting that it would lead to impeachment and calling Trump’s Greenland obsession “the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” The blunt public messaging comes as lawmakers try to reassure U.S. allies, including Denmark, in private. A bipartisan group of House and Senate lawmakers will be in Copenhagen Friday to try to drive home in person the message that military action does not have support on Capitol Hill. Senate Majority Leader John Thune is not joining the delegation but he largely endorsed the message the contingent plans to send in comments to reporters Thursday, saying “there’s certainly not an appetite here for some of the options that have been talked about or considered” — an apparent reference to military action. The pushback amounts to one of the most profound breaches yet seen between GOP lawmakers and the president in Trump’s second term. So far the Republican uneasiness over Trump’s brash foreign policy moves have not resulted in any successful steps to restrain him. Following the operation to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month, five Republicans joined Democrats to advance a measure restraining Trump from future military incursions in the South American country. But on Wednesday, two of them reversed course and ended the threat after the administration made some commitments regarding future action. Democrats believe Greenland — sovereign territory belonging to a NATO ally — could be different. Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, who co-authored the Venezuela measure and signaled a raft of new war-powers legislation, acknowledged to reporters Wednesday that prospects were dim that a veto-proof number of GOP senators would join Democrats’ efforts. But “we might on Greenland,” Kaine added. Thune’s predecessor as Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, spoke out in a floor speech where he said military action against Greenland would be “an unprecedented act of strategic self-harm” that risks “incinerating” NATO alliances. Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-Colo.), meanwhile, said he was “deeply concerned” about the administration’s Greenland message. “I don’t think it is productive, and I don’t think this is the way to treat an ally,” he said, adding that he “would be opposed to military action in Greenland.” But even as more Republicans speak out about Trump’s Greenland ambitions, it’s not clear they could put preemptive guardrails on his actions in this Congress even if they wanted to. Instead, they appear to be hoping that Trump will read the writing on the wall and realize he doesn’t have support on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue. Democrats are vowing to introduce a spate of war powers resolutions, including on Greenland, in the coming weeks and months. Yet even Tillis, who predicted overwhelming support for such a resolution in the case of “imminent” military action, said he would not currently support a measure to stop Trump from using force in the region because it would “legitimize” a threat he doesn’t think is now real. Instead, Tillis is using his megaphone as a retiring senator to launch broadsides against Trump’s top aides, whom he blames for some excesses of the administration. While a Greenland takeover might be supported by hard-line deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, Tillis said, “it’s not the position of the U.S. government.”That, he said, is “another reason I’m going to Copenhagen.” Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), who initially supported the Venezuela war powers resolution before backtracking, also said in an interview that he was not on board with a similar effort for Greenland. “Not prospectively,” Hawley said, adding that any such measure “needs to respond to really particular facts.” Any formal GOP pushback is likely to include Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) — co-founder of the Senate Arctic Caucus — who introduced a nonbinding resolution Thursday with Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Bacon that would affirm the U.S. partnership with Greenland and Denmark. The resolution stresses the “mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity” and that any military action would need congressional authorization. Murkowski, who met with Danish diplomats this week and is also traveling to Copenhagen, said she would support a Greenland war powers resolution if it came to that. She also introduced a bill with Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) that would prohibit the administration from using funding to unilaterally blockade, occupy, annex or assert control over Greenland or any other territory belonging to a NATO country. “We are operating in times where we’re having conversations about things that we never thought even possible,” Murkowski said. “To use the name Greenland in the context of a war powers resolution is absolutely stunning.” While a war powers resolution can be fast-tracked to the floor, Greenland’s allies in the Senate can’t easily force a vote on the NATO measure or even the nonbinding resolution. And some Senate Republicans expressed skepticism that party leaders would let those latter measures go anywhere. “I’m sure Thune will jump on it like a bad rash,” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) said. Meredith Lee Hill and Joe Gould contributed to this report.

The European Commission has lost access to its control panel for buying and tracking ads on Elon Musk’s X — after fining the social media platform €120 million for violating EU transparency rules. “Your ad account has been terminated,” X’s head of product, Nikita Bier, wrote on the platform early Sunday. Bier accused the EU executive of trying to amplify its own social media post about the fine on X by trying “to take advantage of an exploit in our Ad Composer — to post a link that deceives users into thinking it’s a video and to artificially increase its reach.” The Commission fined X on Thursday for breaching the EU’s rules under the Digital Services Act (DSA), which aims to limit the spread of illegal content. The breaches included a lack of transparency around X’s advertising library and the company’s decision to change its trademark blue checkmark from a means of verification to a “deceptive” paid feature. “The irony of your announcement,” Bier said. “X believes everyone should have an equal voice on our platform. However, it seems you believe that the rules should not apply to your account.” Trump administration has criticized the DSA and the Digital Markets Act, which prevent large online platforms, such as Google, Amazon and Meta, from overextending their online empires. The White House has accused the rules of discriminating against U.S. companies, and the fine will likely amplify transatlantic trade tensions. U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick has already threatened to keep 50 percent tariffs on European exports of steel and aluminum unless the EU loosens its digital rules. U.S. Vice President JD Vance blasted Brussels’ action, describing the fine as a response for “not engaging in censorship” — a notion the Commission has dismissed. “The DSA is having not to do with censorship,” said the EU’s tech czar, Henna Virkkunen, told reporters on Thursday. “This decision is about the transparency of X.”

The bloc’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas issued a stark statement on Thursday on behalf of the European Union condemning the ongoing atrocities committed by Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group following their seizure of the Sudanese city of El Fasher. Kallas cited the “deliberate targeting of civilians, ethnically motivated killings, systematic sexual and gender-based violence, starvation” and the denial of humanitarian aid as breaches of international law. “Such acts may constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity,” she said. She went on to announce sanctions on Abdelrahim Hamdan Dagalo, deputy leader of the RSF, and signaled the EU’s readiness to target other actors destabilizing Sudan. Kallas also called for all parties to resume ceasefire negotiations and ensure humanitarian access and safe passage for civilians. The statement comes amid escalating violence in western Darfur and other regions in Sudan. Human rights groups and witnesses report that the RSF’s takeover of El Fasher, which has a population of 252,000, in late October involved mass killings, kidnappings and widespread sexual violence. On Wednesday, United Nations humanitarian aid chief Tom Fletcher, returning from Sudan, described the Darfur region as “an absolute horror show,” saying El Fasher has been turned into “a crime scene.” The country has been engulfed in a civil war for more than two and a half years between the Sudanese Armed Forces, loyal to the government in Khartoum, and the paramilitary RSF group. The United Nations has previously blamed the RSF for ethnic massacres and mass displacement, leading to famine and accusations of genocide in Darfur. The country has been engulfed in a civil war for more than two and a half years between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary RSF group. | AFP/Getty Images The Sudanese ambassador to the EU told POLITICO this week that European-made weapons are fueling atrocities, and called on EU countries to halt arms sales to the United Arab Emirates, which a U.N. panel earlier this year alleged is backing the RSF. A UAE government official told POLITICO that Abu Dhabi “categorically rejects any claims of providing any form of support to either warring party since the onset of the civil war,” adding it “condemns atrocities committed by both” sides in the conflict.

Prime minister’s questions: a shouty, jeery, very occasionally useful advert for British politics. Here’s what you need to know from the latest session in POLITICO’s weekly run-through. What they sparred about: Grooming gangs. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch went toe-to-toe over whether the investigation into widespread child abuse was fit for purpose — or falling apart before it even started. Word of context: The government confirmed a national inquiry into child sexual exploitation would take place in June. Since then, four abuse survivors quit the inquiry’s victims and survivors liaison panel over their treatment. Former senior social worker Annie Hudson also withdrew from a shortlist of potential inquiry chairs. No confidence: Badenoch said the four victims had “lost all confidence” and were “dismissed and contradicted” by ministers. “What’s the point in speaking up if we’re just going to be called liars,” the Tory leader asked on behalf of one victim. Starmer condemned it as one of the “worst scandals of our time” and said the door “will always be open” if they wanted to return. Bookmark this: The PM insisted the inquiry will “never be watered down, its scope will not change, and it will examine the ethnicity and religion of the offenders.” Starmer confirmed crossbench peer and government troubleshooter Louise Casey (mooted as a future cabinet secretary), who wrote the initial grooming gangs audit, would support the inquiry. War of words: The Tory leader asked why victims would return when “the government has engaged in a briefing war against survivors.” That strong accusation drew cries of “shame” from Labour backbenchers before Badenoch referenced another survivor, accusing Labour of creating a “toxic environment.” Pushing on: Starmer conceded there were still “hard yards” to be done to put survivors at the heart of the inquiry, given their “difficult experiences” and “wide range of views.” Nonetheless, the PM insisted, “I want to press on and get this right.” Perhaps unsurprisingly, Badenoch mentioned Starmer’s previous opposition to a national inquiry. “The victims don’t believe them,” she declared. “They don’t like it, but it’s true.” Of course: This sensitive and horrifying chapter in Britain’s history descended into a political knockabout. The PM mentioned work on reopening historic sexual abuse and mandatory reporting, which “fell on deaf ears” from the Tories. He should know: Starmer, often pejoratively labeled a lawyer by Badenoch, was asked why the inquiry wasn’t judge-led, given victims would prefer this, rather than a police officer or social worker chairing proceedings. The PM said judge-led inquiries were “often held back until the end of the criminal investigation,” which he wanted to run alongside the inquiry. Ministerial matters: But Badenoch suggested the chair was not the only problem. Quoting one victim, who accused Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips of lying (which Speaker Linsday Hoyle frowned upon), the Tory leader asked if the PM still had confidence in her. Starmer answered in the affirmative, saying she “has probably more experience than any other person in this House in dealing with violence against women and girls.” The Tories, you won’t be surprised to learn, want Phillips gone. Helpful backbench intervention of the week: Roz Savage, the, er, Lib Dem MP for South Cotswolds, initially made PMQs a bit easier for Starmer after the Political Pics X account snapped her question in a transparent folder heading into No 10 … on Tuesday. “There was a very, very serious breach of national security,” she joked. Keeping Starmer on his toes, Savage instead asked about digital ID and, aptly, the risk of data breaches. Totally unscientific scores on the doors: Starmer 7/10. Badenoch 6/10. Choosing a winner and a loser seems trivial given the main topic this week. Badenoch understandably used the victims’ departure to ask if the inquiry could fulfill its purpose. But the Tory leader’s political points lost the room, with the PM — just about — retaining authority with promises about the inquiry’s scope and remit. The survivors, on and off the panel, will hope those words translate into action.

BRUSSELS — An EU plan to sanction Israel’s government ministers and cut back on trade ties has been put on ice as a leading group of member countries believes it’s no longer necessary in light of the U.S.-brokered peace agreement to end the war in Gaza. The original push is now unlikely to find sufficient support at meetings of foreign ministers and EU leaders this month, according to four European diplomats, granted anonymity to speak to POLITICO about the closed-door talks. An agreement among all 27 capitals would be needed to impose the penalties, and despite growing pressure on the EU to act, the deal announced by U.S. President Donald Trump has divided national governments on the way forward. Separate measures to restrict trade could be introduced with the backing of a smaller group of countries, but this too now looks unlikely, according to the diplomats. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her State of the Union address in September to announce she would move to blacklist “extremist ministers,” impose restrictions on violent West Bank settlers and pause bilateral payments to Israel. Those proposals are due to be discussed at a Foreign Affairs Council in Luxembourg on Oct. 20 and a summit of leaders in Brussels on Oct. 23. Despite that, draft documents reveal that no consensus has yet been achieved. In comments to POLITICO, Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot — whose country has been pushing for a tougher stance on Israel — said it was “regrettable” the EU had taken more than two years to present measures. “The credibility of the EU’s foreign policy has been seriously shaken,” he said. “For many citizens, it is still difficult to understand why the EU is incapable of taking firm decisions.” Germany, Hungary and a handful of other delegations have consistently opposed the implementation of sanctions, even though there has been broad agreement at the political level and a joint EU declaration backing steps against settlers accused of human rights breaches. In the wake of the announcement that Hamas and Israel had “signed off on the first phase” of a pact to end the war, European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho this week hinted the bloc could change its stance. The sanctions were “proposed in a given context, and if the context changes, that could eventually lead to a change of the proposal,” she said. According to the diplomats who spoke to POLITICO, the Commission currently doesn’t intend to withdraw the plan even if the prospect of a lasting ceasefire has cast it into uncertainty.

The European Union wants to boost efforts to ban conversion therapy and tackle hate against LGBTQ+ people in the face of an increase in attacks against the community. Around one in four members of the LGBTQ+ community in the EU — including almost half of trans people — have been subjected to some form of conversion therapy, whether in the form of physical or sexual violence, verbal abuse or humiliation, according to data presented by the European Commission on Wednesday. Conversion therapy is the name given to any effort to change, modify or suppress a person’s sexual orientation or gender. These numbers are “shocking,” Commissioner for Equality Hadja Lahbib said at a press conference. “This must stop.” Lahbib on Wednesday presented the LGBTIQ+ Strategy for 2026-2030 to combat growing attacks against members of the community. “It seems we are moving backwards,” she said, adding that this is a “worrying trend.” Half of EU countries currently have a national strategy for LGBTQ+ equality, and eight countries (Belgium, Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Malta, Portugal and Spain) have banned conversion therapy, with the Netherlands discussing following suit. Meanwhile, in the United States, the Supreme Court is considering overturning Colorado’s ban on the practice. As part of its new strategy, which is not legally binding, the Commission wants to focus on tackling hate speech against LGBTQ+ people, both online and offline, and will be coming up with a plan to combat cyberbullying. The Commission is also considering drawing up a law to harmonize the definition of online hate offenses. Several European countries have cracked down on the LGBTQ+ community. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico successfully pushed last month to enshrine into his country’s constitution that there are only two genders (male and female), and to ban surrogacy and adoption for same-sex couples. Hungary’s leader, Viktor Orbán, has been in a standoff with Brussels over a series of anti-LGBTQ+ laws and his unsuccessful attempt to ban this year’s Budapest Pride — an event that celebrates the LGBTQ+ community. The EU’s top court is expected to rule soon on whether these actions violate EU law, but a recent legal opinion suggests that the court is likely to side with Brussels. “The Commission will not hesitate to take further action,” including going to court, to protect people’s rights, Lahbib said, adding that there are 10 ongoing infringement procedures against Hungary for violating EU fundamental rights. The Commission has also frozen €18 billion in EU funding for Hungary as a result of these breaches. “We don’t want to punish the citizens for the actions taken by their governments,” Lahbib said, adding that in the next EU long-term budget, she proposed that frozen funds for rule of law violations be directly redistributed to civil society organizations.

BRUSSELS ― The European Commission has partly rejected a Hungarian plan to unblock €545 million in frozen EU funds as tensions escalate again between Brussels and Budapest. Of that amount, Hungary will only receive €163.5 million in advance payments ― and even that can be clawed back by the Commission if they are deemed to be misspent. National capitals are increasingly frustrated with Hungarian right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orbán over his threats to torpedo tougher sanctions on Russian energy and block Ukraine’s EU membership bid and a €140 billion EU loan to the war-torn country. These issues are taking center stage at an informal summit in Copenhagen on Wednesday, where leaders are discussing moving from unanimity to qualified majority voting precisely to overcome Orbán’s veto. Against this backdrop, the Commission is holding firm against releasing a significant part of the €18 billion in EU funds it has withheld from Hungary over breaches of academic freedoms and minority rights, among other deficiencies. As a workaround, the Hungarian government proposed moving €545 million from university schemes to “strategic” industrial projects, but the plan was not fully embraced by Brussels. “We are not disbursing any funding before the horizontal enabling conditions are fulfilled and for now they are not fulfilled,” said Commission spokesperson Maciej Berestecki, referring to the broad conditions that member countries must meet in order to receive EU funds. STRATEGIC PROJECTS Nevertheless, the EU executive decided last Thursday to release €163.5 million out of the €545 million as advance payments. In this instance the Commission was bound by its own rules, which compel it to put forward 30 percent of total funding for strategic projects including critical infrastructure and biotechnology. Releasing the entire amount would likely have triggered a backlash from the European Parliament and EU capitals ― especially those in Northern Europe, which are the most annoyed at Orbán’s antics. Given Hungary’s repeated threats to use its national veto to block some of the EU’s biggest initiatives, keeping most of the funds frozen gives Brussels more leverage to secure concessions on strategic files, said a Commission official with knowledge of the process who was granted anonymity to speak freely. The Commission’s official reason for keeping most of the €545 million blocked is that it fears Hungary could still siphon that cash toward universities. The Commission has repeatedly urged Budapest to restore academic freedoms in order to unblock the money stream. “The Commission considered that the horizontal enabling conditions can be fulfilled only if the universities run by so-called public interest trusts are clearly excluded from these new priorities, or the issues raised by the Commission in the past concerning the public interest trusts are resolved,” Berestecki wrote in a statement. Hungary’s request predates a midterm revamp of regional funding that makes it easier to reshuffle funding across different policy areas. Critics claim that Budapest will use this loophole to try to unblock other funding in the future.

The French and Swedish militaries will help fortify Copenhagen against aerial threats as European leaders converge on the city for two crunch summits this week. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced Monday his government had deployed “the Swedish Armed Forces to support Denmark with military anti-drone capabilities in connection with this week’s summits in Copenhagen,” including a specialized unit that will embed with the Danish military. Stockholm would also “lend a handful of powerful radar systems to Denmark for a period of time,” he added. Denmark was rattled by a wave of drone sightings at major airports and military air bases last week, disrupting air traffic and stranding thousands of passengers. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said the airspace breaches amounted to “hybrid war” and hinted Russia was responsible. The incidents, which occurred ahead of Wednesday’s European Council meeting in Copenhagen to discuss defense and Ukraine, led the Danish authorities to take the dramatic step of closing the country’s airspace to civilian drones. France said Monday it had also sent its armed forces to shore up Copenhagen’s defenses. Paris deployed “35 personnel, a FENNEC helicopter, and active counter-drone assets” to Denmark “in response to the recent upsurge in unidentified drone flights in Danish airspace,” the French defense ministry said in a statement, adding the drones were a “serious threat.” In addition, a German frigate — the FSG Hamburg — arrived in Copenhagen over the weekend to assist with airspace surveillance. Along with Wednesday’s summit, Copenhagen will host the European Political Community on Thursday, bringing together leaders from across the continent.