Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party is picking a fight with the country’s influential central bank over gold reserves, stepping up a conflict between the government and the country’s technocratic elite. Last month, Lucio Malan, who is chief whip for the Brothers of Italy in the Senate and a close ally of Meloni, introduced an amendment to the 2026 budget that would assert the Italian state’s ownership of close to €290 billion worth of gold reserves held by the Bank of Italy.  At first glance, it seems clear enough why this amendment came into being. Italy has a staggering amount of debt on its books, around 140 percent of the national gross domestic product, and is under strict EU orders to rein in its deficit, resulting in a perennial budget squeeze.  So it might seem logical to raid the world’s third-largest reserve of gold to pay down Europe’s second-largest debt pile. The temptation to do so has been getting stronger by the day: The value of the Bank’s hoard has risen 60 percent over the past year, thanks to a global rally driven largely by other central banks’ buying. But as usual in Italy, it’s not so simple. For one, the amendment doesn’t imply putting the gold to any specific use, but merely claims that the gold is property of the Italian people. “Nothing is going to be transferred,” Malan himself told POLITICO over the weekend. “That gold has always belonged to the Italian people, and that’s going to stay the same.” He pushed back at “even the most distant hypothesis that even the smallest part of the gold reserves are going to be sold off.”  Just as well. Three previous prime ministers — Romano Prodi, Silvio Berlusconi and Giuseppe Conte — have all had a sniff at similar schemes to bring the gold under more direct government control. But those schemes — the last of which was only six years ago — all foundered on the objections of the European Central Bank. The ECB published a withering opinion on the legality of the proposal on Wednesday, bluntly reminding Rome that the EU Treaty gives the Eurosystem exclusive rights over holding and managing the foreign reserves of those countries that use the euro (and pointing out that it said exactly the same thing six years ago). “This proposal has no chance of materializing,” said Lucio Pench, a professor specializing in economic governance and a fellow at the think tank Bruegel, pointing to the “clear conflict” with the EU treaty. But if the amendment is essentially just gesture politics, the question arises — what exactly is its purpose? A SHOT ACROSS THE BOW Some see in it a warning shot at the Bank of Italy, arguing that Malan, as Meloni’s chief Senate whip, is unlikely to have acted without the premier’s consent (Malan himself didn’t comment on whether Meloni approved the amendment). In the corridors of the Bank itself, behind its neoclassical facade on Via Nazionale in the heart of Rome, the move prompted consternation at the highest levels.  “I can tell you that people at the bank are furious,” fumed one official, adding that the proposal is illegal under EU law. “Our government — even if made up of thieves — cannot steal from the central bank, even if it writes it into a law.” Lucio Malan, a close ally of Meloni, introduced an amendment to the 2026 budget that would assert the Italian state’s ownership of close to €290 billion worth of gold reserves held by the Bank of Italy. | Simona Granati/Getty Images The Bank of Italy declined to comment on that point, but several Bank officials admitted privately that the move is consistent with a growing sense of antagonism from Meloni’s government. The Bank has always drawn the ire of the populist right, which blames it variously for the erosion of real wages over three decades and for the fall of the late Silvio Berlusconi.  But such antagonism is also consistent with a broader trend across the Western world, where deeply indebted governments are leaning on their central banks, as fiscal needs become more pressing and as dissatisfaction with the technocratic management of the economy grows. U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve this year have been the clearest example of that but, as one ECB official told POLITICO, the “independence of central banks is not only the problem of the U.S. — there is some encroachment globally happening.” There have been signs that the once close relations between Meloni the Bank’s governor Fabio Panetta — whom she brought home expressly from ECB headquarters in Frankfurt — have cooled. Indeed, Panetta was initially derided by some within the Bank for his apparent deference to the premier. However, some officials believe that relationship was strained when the Bank’s head of research, Fabrizio Balassone, criticized a government budget draft last month, suggesting that tax cuts aimed at the middle classes were more beneficial to wealthy Italians than poor ones. Bank officials maintained the analysis was purely technical and apolitical — “It was, like, two plus two,” one said in defense of Balassone — but it caused a storm in the right-wing, Meloni-supporting press.  The Bank’s leadership worried that the government was not respecting the 132 year-old institution’s “traditions of independence,” said another. Others see the amendment as being of a piece with a broader struggle against Italian officialdom: Francesco Galietti, a former Treasury official and the founder of political risk consultancy Policy Sonar, noted that in recent months, Meloni has pushed through a bill to rein in what she sees as a politicized judiciary, and also clashed with the head of state, President Sergio Mattarella, over an article that suggested he was plotting to prevent her from being reelected. Malan himself insisted that the gold initiative was not directed “against anybody at all.” He nevertheless described the move as emblematic of the Brothers of Italy’s “battle” — without elaborating. BROADER PLAY  Toothless though the bill is now, it still represents an interesting test case for how robustly the EU is willing to defend its laws against national governments who, across the continent, are becoming more and more erratic as they struggle with the constraints of economic stagnation and demographic decline. Earlier this year, the European Commission stood by while Meloni’s government strong-armed UniCredit, one of Italy’s largest banks, into abandoning a takeover that didn’t suit it. EU antitrust authorities only launched an infringement procedure after UniCredit dropped its bid in frustration. Reports also suggest that pressure from Rome is set to scupper a planned merger between the asset management arm of Generali, Italy’s largest insurer, with a French rival, out of fear that the new company would be a less reliable buyer of Italian government debt. If unchallenged, the latest initiative could soon become an existential challenge for the Bank of Italy, said a former official who maintains close connections to Bank leadership. “If you take the gold from the Bank of Italy, it no longer has any reason to exist,”he said. And while Governor Panetta collaborated happily with Meloni at first, “there’s always a limit,” the official said. “When it comes to independence, that’s where it ends — this is only the beginning of a war.” This article has been updated to include the ECB’s legal opinion.

PARIS — Marine Le Pen is trying to quash mounting speculation that she could get sidelined by National Rally President Jordan Bardella on her road to the Elysée after a series of flattering polls for her protégé.  Le Pen, who is currently banned from running in the 2027 presidential election pending an appeal of her embezzlement conviction, is in an increasingly awkward situation after two recent polls showed that 30-year-old Bardella is gaining traction as a presidential candidate at Le Pen’s expense. Asked Tuesday on TV station BFMTV why Bardella was only a plan B candidate considering his favorable polling, Le Pen said: “Because we decided as much.”   “We are the ones who decide, Jordan and me,” she said. Le Pen was found guilty last year of embezzling European Parliament funds and sentenced to an immediate five-year ban from running for public office. She will return to court in January after appealing all charges, which she has repeatedly denied and framed as politically motivated. She has said Bardella will run in her place if the appeal court upholds the election ban, but a decision won’t be known before spring.  SHIFTING DYNAMIC But while Bardella is officially his party’s plan B, polls show he is starting to outshine his boss. In an IFOP-Fiducial poll unveiled Tuesday, 44 percent of respondents said they wanted Bardella to run in the 2027 presidential election against 40 percent for Le Pen. Last week, a survey from pollster Odoxa showed Bardella winning against all the other candidates polled, beating the likes of center-right Edouard Philippe to leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Le Pen wasn’t even polled. While polls this early before an election have to be taken with a serious grain of salt, the dynamic hasn’t gone unnoticed. Renaud Labaye, the National Rally group’s secretary-general in the National Assembly and a close adviser to Le Pen, said the poll was good news for the party, showing “the dynamic was on [their] side.”  Privately, party heavyweights say they don’t doubt Bardella’s loyalty but admit his rise raises uncomfortable questions for their camp.  While Le Pen must constantly face off questions over her viability as a candidate, Bardella is triumphantly touring the country to promote his newest book, drawing crowds in what many see as an ideal launching pad for a presidential run.  A National Rally lawmaker close to Le Pen, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said Le Pen’s truly believes Bardella supports her. But, the lawmaker admitted, the book tour can also be seen as Bardella laying the groundwork for his own presidential candidacy.  

Spain’s Supreme Court has just taken its battle with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to a whole new level.  The court on Tuesday banned Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz from holding public office for two years for allegedly leaking details of a tax probe involving the partner of Madrid’s regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso, a rising star among the country’s conservative voters. Justice Minister Félix Bolaños said that the government was obliged “to abide by the sentence” and appoint a new attorney general. But he stressed the executive’s disagreement with the conviction, and reaffirmed its belief in García Ortiz’s innocence. The ruling risks turning that feud into a constitutional crisis, with the judiciary seemingly taking aim at members of the executive running Europe’s fourth-largest economy. The clash has taken a toll on Sánchez, who has long claimed to be the target of “lawfare,” accusing conservative judges of pursuing baseless cases against his allies and family.  Last year the prime minister briefly considered stepping down after his wife was named as the target of a judicial investigation that is ongoing, but widely considered to be baseless. His brother, meanwhile, is due to face trial next year on influence-peddling charges linked to a civil service post he took before Sánchez came to power. Both of the prime minister’s family members deny wrongdoing and say the cases are politically motivated. A FAKE STORY AND AN ALLEGED LEAK The case against García Ortiz dates to early 2024, when Spanish media began reporting on a tax fraud investigation into Ayuso’s partner, businessman Alberto González Amador. In March of last year, Spanish daily El Mundo published an article alleging the Madrid prosecutor’s office had offered González Amador a plea deal — a fake news story that Ayuso’s chief of staff, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, later admitted he spread to selected journalists. When reporters sought confirmation, the prosecutor’s office clarified that it was actually the defense who proposed a plea deal by which the accused would admit to committing tax fraud in exchange for a reduced sentence. But several journalists published articles with that information ahead of the clarification’s release, sparking an investigation into whether emails between prosecutors and González Amador had been leaked. In a surprise twist, García Ortiz was charged over the alleged disclosure. At last week’s Supreme Court trial, the attorney general denied leaking the messages, with his defense attorneys demonstrating that dozens of officials had access to the allegedly leaked emails. Several journalists also testified that García Ortiz was not their source. JUDICIAL TENSION García Ortiz’s case was tried by a panel of seven judges, with the five conservative judges backing the conviction and the two progressives dissenting. The verdict was announced unusually quickly — even before the court had drafted its legal reasoning. It remains unclear how the judges will justify the decision, but it’s possible they were swayed by González Amador’s lawyer, who argued that the journalists who testified had a vested interest in protecting García Ortiz — if he was their leaker. In a surprise twist, García Ortiz was charged over the alleged disclosure. | Gustavo de la Paz/Europa Press via Getty Images Speaking later at an event marking the 50th anniversary of dictator Francisco Franco’s death, Sánchez appeared to allude to the case, warning that “democracy is not a permanent conquest: it is a privilege we must defend every day from unfounded nostalgia, economic interests and attacks that constantly evolve.”  “Today, these attacks take the form of disinformation campaigns and abuses of power,” he added. The leader of the conservative opposition, People’s Party boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo, cheered the conviction, describing the attorney general as “someone who was supposed to be prosecuting crimes, but instead committed them.” He demanded Sánchez step down immediately. But Sánchez’s ruling coalition has rallied around him, accusing the judiciary of being weaponized by conservative political forces. Health Minister Mónica García, from the left-wing Más Madrid party, called the ruling an “affront” to all citizens.  “This is a lethal blow to the rule of law, the requirement to present incriminating evidence, [and] the presumption of innocence,” she added.

PARIS — The scene at Le Carillon before kickoff when football powerhouses Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich faced off earlier this month probably looked a lot like it did 10 years ago — right before 15 people were gunned down at the bar while watching another Franco-German soccer match. Perhaps the only difference was that the crowd on the terrace of the Parisian bar in 2025 were themselves being watched by an armada of surveillance cameras installed in the aftermath of the Nov. 13, 2015 terror attacks. Though it’s been a decade since the tragedy that left more than 130 people dead across Paris and environs, silent traces of a national trauma — such as the omnipresence of cameras — still shape France. The attacks forever changed the country and its politics, tipping the balance of protecting civil liberties versus ensuring public safety in favor of the latter. Since 2015, France has passed a slew of laws meant to ensure such an event could never happen again. Members of parliament have expanded the state’s surveillance powers and its ability to impose restrictive measures without prior judicial approval. They’ve also reshaped France’s immigration policy and oversight of religious — particularly Muslim — organizations. “Successive governments — left-wing or right-wing — have reinforced the legal arsenal on anti-terror policy, and it’ll likely continue in the future to remain as close as possible to emerging challenges,” said Jean-Michel Fauvergue, who in 2015 was the head of the police RAID unit — France’s equivalent of SWAT. After going so many years without a major terror incident, it’s unlikely any politician will try to pare back this new reality of heightened alerts, increased surveillance and the omnipresence of armed soldiers. | Pierre Suu/Getty Images Proponents of what Fauvergue, who served as a lawmaker for President Emmanuel Macron’s party from 2017 to 2022, described as France’s “beautiful shield providing excellent protection” argue that it has helped prevent mass casualty incidents since the attack in Nice in 2016. Nicolas Lerner, the head of France’s foreign intelligence service, said in a radio interview Monday that while authorities remain extremely vigilant, the probability of another massive, complex attack organized by extremists abroad has “considerably diminished.” A former adviser to another interior minister, granted anonymity as they were not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, reiterated that sentiment to POLITICO. After going so many years without a major terror incident, it’s unlikely any politician will try to pare back this new reality of heightened alerts, increased surveillance and the omnipresence of armed soldiers. “History has shown that it never happens, that governments go back and scrap measures taken in the name of anti-terrorism or security,” said Julien Fragnon, a French political scientist who researches anti-terror policies. “There’s a ratchet effect: The law, on the scale of gradation, goes up a notch … and no politician wants to go back on it for fear that future attacks could be blamed on them.” WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY Fragnon said it’s common for governments to pass stricter anti-terror policies, previously seen as unpopular, during a “window of opportunity” following a devastating attack, when worried populations are looking for security assurances. That appears to be what happened in France. A law passed in 2017 gave the government the ability to enact certain security measures that were only possible during a state of emergency, including setting up security perimeters around public events, as well as ordering movement restrictions for individuals and the closure of places of worship suspected of promoting extremism, both without prior judicial approval. The “separatism bill” proposed in 2020, which tightened rules on foreign funding of faith-based groups and introduced new offenses against incitement to hatred, was highly controversial and criticized as anti-Muslim. But even so, the legislation was approved the following year with support from across the political spectrum. Opinion polls at the time also showed widespread public support for measures combating “separatism.” French voters today remain concerned about the threat of terrorism, and are overwhelmingly supportive of the idea that public safety requires some sacrifice when it comes to personal freedoms, according to a survey from respected pollster Elabe conducted in July. “Even with an open question and no suggested answers on what are the biggest threats they face, French people will spontaneously mention terrorism,” said Frédéric Dabi, director general of the polling firm IFOP. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, which has largely approved of measures directly strengthening the fight against the terror threat, wants to go a step further by “banning all expression of Islamist thought in France,” said a high-ranking official from the far-right party, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. French voters today remain concerned about the threat of terrorism, and are overwhelmingly supportive of the idea that public safety requires some sacrifice when it comes to personal freedoms, according to a survey from respected pollster Elabe. | Hans Luca/Getty Images Critics of the status quo, like lawmaker Pouria Amirshahi, fear that an illiberal government could one day use tools aimed at security threats to target political opponents — especially in France, given the National Rally’s steady rise in recent decades. Amirshahi was among only six of 577 lawmakers to vote against extending the state of emergency six days after the Nov. 13 attack, due to concerns that France would be “weakening the rule of law” by handing the executive more ability to bypass the judiciary. He said France should have taken inspiration from Norway’s decision to respond to the 2011 attack there with “more democracy, more openness and more humanity.” “In all countries that have shifted toward illiberalism — both historically and today, in Hungary and Argentina — heavy security measures came first to prepare the ground,” Amirshahi said. “There are currently no bills to roll back the measures adopted after 2015, and little concern for rights and liberties among legislators.” “The headwinds against us are extremely strong,” he concluded.

Slovakia’s transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine was not a criminal offense, the Bratislava prosecutor’s office said Monday. Slovakia donated its entire fleet of Soviet-era MiG-29 fighters and two anti-aircraft systems to Ukraine in the spring of 2023, making it the first country to send warplanes to Kyiv after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s all-out invasion in February 2022. The current defense ministry — in Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government, which has maintained warm ties with Russia despite its ongoing assault — last June lodged a criminal complaint against former Prime Minister Eduard Heger and his Defense Minister Jaroslav Naď, who had taken the fighter jets decision. Both pushed back against the ministry’s allegations that they had committed sabotage, abuse of power and breach of duty in the management of public property. The Bratislava investigator halted the criminal prosecution on Oct. 30 “because it was sufficiently established that the act in question does not constitute a criminal offense and there is no reason to refer the case further,” a spokesperson for the prosecutor’s office told POLITICO. The probe concluded that the donation of military equipment to Ukraine hadn’t caused any harm to Slovakia, as defined by the country’s Criminal Code, the spokesperson said. “Nor was it proven that members of the government acted with the intent to obtain an unlawful benefit for themselves or others, or that they exercised their authority in a manner contrary to the law or exceeded their powers,” she added. In a post on Facebook, Naď said: “It has been confirmed what I have repeatedly said: that the government of Eduard Heger, with me as Minister of Defense, acted not only morally correctly but also in the national interest of the Slovak Republic and fully in accordance with applicable laws and the constitution in connection with the donation of the MiG-29 aircraft.” Naď added that he expects an apology from Fico’s government.

Italy’s Senate on Thursday approved Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s flagship justice reform, marking significant progress for the right-wing plan to overhaul the country’s judiciary. With 112 votes in favor, 59 against and nine abstentions, the Senate passed the constitutional amendment in what officials described as the fourth and final reading. The judicial reform is one of the Meloni government’s key initiatives, alongside plans to strengthen the prime minister’s powers, redefining the balance between Italy’s branches of government. It seeks to create separate career paths for judges and prosecutors, ending the possibility of moving between the two roles, and to create distinct governing councils, one for judges and one for prosecutors, responsible for appointments, promotions, transfers and disciplinary procedures within their respective branches. The Italian government says the changes will improve accountability and efficiency within the judicial system, but critics — including opposition parties and judicial associations — warn they could weaken prosecutorial independence and politicize the judiciary. Meloni has long been at odds with the country’s judiciary, accusing magistrates of blocking her government’s priorities and framing the reform as part of a broader institutional reset. Thursday’s stage was crucial: Under the Italian constitution, amendments require multiple votes, and Senate approval marks the final parliamentary step. The reform now moves to a confirmatory referendum, where Italians will decide its fate. If approved, the changes will enter into force. Meloni described the vote as a “historic milestone,” affirming that both the government and parliament had “done their part” before leaving the final decision to Italian citizens. Opposition senators from the Democratic Party, 5Star Movement and other parties staged protests in the chamber, warning against granting what they called “full powers” to the executive. The reform, long championed by late Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, was celebrated by his Forza Italia party as the fulfillment of a historic ambition. After the vote, party members took to the streets in Rome in celebration, carrying large portraits of Berlusconi and chanting slogans in his honor. Forza Italia Senator and former MEP Licia Ronzulli invoked Berlusconi’s legacy, declaring: “Our president up there must be very happy; the magistrates have even brought down governments!” Giulia Poloni contributed to this report.

PARIS — Five additional suspects have been arrested over their potential involvement in the spectacular heist at the Louvre Museum, prosecutor Laure Beccuau said Thursday. Beccuau said in an interview with RTL radio that one of the individuals detained Wednesday evening is suspected of having directly taken part in the robbery in which the perpetrators smashed a window and grabbed an estimated €88 million worth of jewelry once belonging to members of France’s royal and imperial families, before fleeing on scooters. She did not clarify what role the other four are suspected of having played in the theft. The arrests took place in and around Paris, Beccuau said. She added that if the stolen goods — which have not been found — are returned, judiciary authorities “will take that into account” and reduce sentences of any suspects found guilty. Beccuau told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that two other suspects arrested Saturday had partially admitted involvement in the theft. The duo was identified by DNA traces left on an abandoned scooter and on the window they allegedly broke. Both men are in their 30s and hail from the northeast Parisian suburb of Aubervilliers, Beccuau told reporters. One is an Algerian man who had booked a one-way ticket back to his home country. He was arrested at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport. The other is a French national who had already been sentenced for theft in 2008 and 2014 and is set to be tried in November in a third case. He was arrested at home, Beccuau said. The brazen daylight robbery at the world’s most-visited museum drew global attention and quickly turned political in France, with strong reactions notably from far-right politicians. The president of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally, Jordan Bardella, called the incident a “humiliation” and the result of a “breakdown of the state.” Culture Minister Rachida Dati and Louvre President Laurence des Cars came under fire after the break-in, with critics accusing them of failing to allocate sufficient resources to museum security — though concerns about the Louvre’s decaying infrastructure have been brewing for years. Dati told lawmakers in the French Senate’s cultural committee on Tuesday that “security failures had existed” and pledged an additional €80 million to install more surveillance cameras in the Louvre. Victory Goury-Laffont contributed to this report.

ANTWERP — Prime Minister Bart De Wever needs to get serious about the fraying rule of law in Belgium, a top judge said Tuesday. Bart Willocx, whose role is first president of the Antwerp Court of Appeal, told POLITICO in an interview that the Belgian justice system must be funded properly — after “decades” of under-financing — to fight a rising tide of drug-fueled violence and corruption. “Help us to secure the functioning of justice … We need budget, otherwise there are problems for normal citizens and functioning and it won’t end in a good way,” Willocx said, when asked what message he had for the Belgian government, which is currently locked in intractable budget talks. Willocx said that the rule of law in Belgium, like elsewhere in Europe and the U.S., is under pressure. “A very simple way to suppress the courts is when you don’t give them enough budget, because then they are not working well, they can’t do what they should do,” he said. His blunt intervention comes the day after another Antwerp judge published an anonymous letter decrying that Belgium was on the verge of becoming a “narco-state.” De Wever, prime minister since February this year, spent more than a decade as mayor of Antwerp demanding more federal money to address narcotics-related issues, but Willocx notes action hasn’t been forthcoming since he ascended to the Belgian premiership. “He was the mayor and now he is the prime minister. I’m sure that safety and security and these kind of things are very important to him, but we ask his government to invest more, to stop this,” said Willocx. “As a mayor he said we need money from the federal government, but now he is the prime minister … We are waiting and he refers to the minister of justice, and the minister of justice refers to the government, but we are waiting for more support,” he added, exasperatedly. De Wever’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the judge’s criticism. The massive Port of Antwerp acts as a gateway for illegal narcotics — particularly cocaine coming from Latin America — to enter Europe, and turf wars have spilled onto streets across Belgium, with shootings and bombings taking place both in Antwerp and Brussels. Complicating the quest to solve the problem, De Wever is embroiled in tense negotiations with coalition partners to hammer out a new budget to balance Belgium’s strained finances. He has given the parties until Nov. 6 to resolve the budget crisis and threatened to quit if there is no agreement. Belgium is one of four eurozone countries that failed to deliver its draft budget by the European Commission’s Oct. 15 deadline. In Willocx’s opinion, gangs have been successful in corrupting officials like port workers, police and customs agents, and in order to tackle the society-wide problem, money must be invested in overcrowded prisons and social rehabilitation. Employees of the courts and the public prosecution service have been leading a campaign to highlight the issues for months now, and recently published a list of 100 proposals to be addressed. “We have a certain power and responsibility and we want to do it in a way that is serving our society and in this moment we see important risks. If this doesn’t change, we won’t be able to do what we should do,” Willocx warned. “We don’t do this only for ourselves. When you become a magistrate, it’s not to become rich or get power, but to push things in a better direction. We want to secure normal citizens so they are not afraid,” Willocx said.

LONDON — Former British Prime Minister Theresa May laid into her own political party Monday night, accusing it of taking a populist tilt to the right that risks emboldening Nigel Farage. May criticized the Conservatives’ decision to repeal the Climate Change Act 2008, which requires the government to cut carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050, as an “extreme and unnecessary measure”  that would “fatally undermine” Britain’s leadership on climate issues. The U.K. committed to reaching net zero under May’s administration, something Tory Leader Kemi Badenoch has since called “impossible.” Badenoch has also advocated extensive oil and gas extraction from the North Sea. “This announcement only reinforces climate policy as a dividing line in our politics, rather than being the unifying issue it once was,” May told fellow members of the House of Lords. “And, for the Conservative Party, it risks chasing votes from Reform at the expense of the wider electorate.” May also lambasted the “villainization of the judiciary” by politicians “peddling populist narratives” and said this would “erode public trust in the institutions of our democracy and therefore in democracy itself.” Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick, who narrowly lost the Tory leadership contest last year, used his conference speech earlier this month as a tirade against “dozens of judges with ties to open-borders charities” and said “judges who blur the line between adjudication and activism can have no place in our justice system.” Though May recalled “frustrating” experiences coming up “against the courts” as a minister, she urged her party to “tread carefully.” “Every step we take to reduce our support for human rights merely emboldens our rivals and weakens our position in the world,” the former prime minister said. “Those politicians in the Western world who use populism and polarisation for their own short-term political ends risk handing a victory to our enemies.”

Drug-trafficking is turning Belgium into a narco-state and the rule of law is under threat, an Antwerp judge wrote in an anonymous letter published Monday asking the federal government for urgent help. “What is happening today in our district and beyond is no longer a classic crime issue. We are facing an organized threat that undermines our institutions,” the investigating judge wrote in the missive published on the official website of the Belgian court system. “Extensive mafia-like structures have taken root, becoming a parallel power that challenges not only the police but also the judiciary. The consequences are serious: are we evolving into a narco-state? No way, you think? Exaggerated? According to our drug commissioner, this evolution is already underway. My colleagues and I share that concern,” the judge added. The massive Port of Antwerp acts as a gateway for illegal narcotics to enter Belgium — and Europe more widely. Brussels, the country’s capital, has been plagued by a spate of drug-related shootings, with more than 60 incidents this year alone, 20 of them occurring just this summer. In response to the bloodbath, Belgium’s Interior Minister Bernard Quintin said he wants to deploy soldiers on the streets of Brussels. Earlier this year, the Belgian government approved a merger of Brussels’ six police zones into a single unit, set to take effect in early 2027, to tackle the scourge of violence. In the anonymous letter, the judge goes on to note that a narco-state is characterized by an illegal economy, corruption and violence — conditions that Belgium fulfills, in the judge’s opinion. The judge notes that money-laundering networks drive up real-estate costs, the corruption penetrates state institutions and kidnappings can be ordered on Snapchat. “This bribery seeps into our institutions. The cases I have led in recent years — and I am just one of 17 investigative judges in Antwerp — have resulted in arrests of employees in key port positions, customs officers, police officers, municipal clerks, and, regrettably, even justice system staff, both inside prisons and right here in this building,” the judge’s letter reads. “A home attack with a bomb or weapons of war, a home invasion, or a kidnapping are all easily ordered online. You don’t even need to go to the dark web; a Snapchat account is all it takes,” the judge added.