Closing summary
… and on that note, it’s a wrap for today!
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Senior EU and US diplomats condemned Russia’s threats against Latvia and the Baltic countries after Russia’s representative told the UN security council that “Nato membership will not protect” them from retaliation if Ukraine launches drones against Russia from their territory (17:58, 18:24).
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Russia’s Vasily Nebenzya aggressively floated Moscow’s allegations that Ukraine is looking into using the Baltic countries as a launch pad for attacks on Russia (17:55), despite repeated denials from all parties (12:38, 17:57, 18:10).
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Latvia’s UN representative dismissed the allegations as “pure fiction and pure lies,” with Ukraine’s representative calling them “fairytales” (17:57).
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The tense exchanges come hours after a Nato fighter jet shot down a stray Ukrainian drone over Estonia (12:10, 12:47), which Kyiv said had been jammed and detoured by Russia (14:10).
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At least two air alerts were also separately issued in Latvia.
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The incidents come just days before a key meeting of Nato’s foreign ministers in Sweden on Friday.
In other news,
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Top Nato commanders confirmed that 5,000 US troops will be withdrawn from Europe but insisted these “adjustments” do not impact their ability to deter attacks, even as they warned the continent could see more “redeployment” of US forces in the future, and urged European leaders to ramp up their defence spending (16:18, 16:25, 16:30, 16:41).
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Troels Lund Poulsen, the leader of the centre-right Danish Liberal Party has announced plans to form a right-leaning minority government (10:55, 11:47), despite no clear political backing for his proposal (12:26).
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The former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been placed under investigation for alleged influence-peddling and other offences by a judge examining the state bailout of a Venezuela-linked airline during the Covid pandemic (10:26).
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Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar has landed in Poland as his first foreign trip since taking office earlier this month, where he is due to meet with Poland’s political leaders on Wednesday as he wants to restore bilateral relations after years of tensions with the previous prime minister, Viktor Orbán (15:19, 17:28).
If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com.
I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.
Updated
The EU permanent representative ends on a stronger note as he says that Russia’s aggression is “unacceptable under international law,” and the aggressor “will face accountability and will never be allowed to change borders by force.”
He says that “the future of Ukraine and its citizens lies within the European Union.
“The Ukrainian people have a right to choose their own destiny, including a path towards EU membership. No former imperial power, however irredentist or aggressive, should be allowed to change that or can change that.”
That ends the meeting.
Russia's engages in 'head-spinning distortion of reality,' EU's UN ambassador says
The EU’s UN representative, Stavros Lambrinidis, also offered strong backing for Ukraine as he says “Russia must take full responsibility for the full effect and the consequences of its actions.”
“There should be no doubt in distinguishing between an aggressor and a victim.”
He particularly condemns Russia’s move to “threaten a member of the Security Council and an EU member state” in Latvia (17:55), saying Moscow lost “all pretence of reason, measure, modesty and dignity.”
He adds:
“Accusations, which we often hear in this chamber from the aggressor, that the European Union is prolonging the conflict are a head spinning distortion of the reality on the ground.”
Ukraine’s UN representative Andriy Melnyk is speaking next, outlining the persistent Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities, saying “the first half of May has been one of the deadliest periods for Ukrainian civilians” since the start of the war.
He says Russia should “stop complaining about the suffering of poor Russians,” as what it is witnessing is just the reaction to it’s continued aggression on Ukraine.
“Unlike Russia, Ukraine forces never target civilians,” he stresses.
Listing the numerous Russian attacks in recent weeks, he references that which killed two sisters in Kyiv (15:56).
But he says that “regrettably, all these barbaric crimes committed by Russia against Ukrainian civilians … have still not met with an adequate response from the international community.”
He urges all UN members to “enhance their sanctions regime” and prevent the delivery of components to Russia’s “war machine.”
He says:
“Despite Putin’s boasts about alleged successes, … even Russian pro-war military bloggers are criticising disasters on the battlefield, and many of them openly acknowledge that the current momentum favours Ukraine.
Moreover, some Russian military experts warn that Putin is losing this war, with the frontline stalled, an estimated almost 1.4 million Russian troops dead or wounded, and ordinary Russians under increasing economic pressure.
The war that Putin believed would produce his crowning life achievement will prove to be his final downfall.”
Mocking Moscow’s recent scaled-down Victory Day parade, he says “the illusion of Russia’s invincibility was ultimagtely cracked,” marking “the beginning of the end for Moscow’s imperial ambitions, the imminent collapse of Putin’s rule.”
He rejects Russia’s allegations on Ukraine’s use of drones from the Baltics as “fairytales.”
He also warns about the planned nuclear exercises involving Belarus, saying it “represents an unprecedented challenge to the global security architecture.”
Updated
'No place for threats' against UN security council member, US says in response to Russian comments
US ambassador Tammy Bruce, deputy representative of the US to the UN, is the next speaker as she strongly condemns the Russian threats against Latvia.
“There is no place for threats against a council member. The United States keeps all of its Nato commitments,” she says.
Latvia rejects Russian 'lies and aggressive disinformation' after threats over drones
Latvia’s UN representative Sanita Pavļuta-Deslandes says she has little time for Russia’s “pure fiction and pure lies.”
“I will just repeat that lies and aggressive disinformation and threats are a sign of despair and weakness, and we have seen similar lies addressed against other members of this council in the previous meetings, so I’m very honoured to have the attention drawn to my country today.”
Peace talks with Ukraine 'at dead end,' Russian UN diplomat says as he brushes off responsibility for war in Ukraine and threatens Latvia
The latest air alert over Latvia comes just as the UN security council meets to discuss the latest on Ukraine, with countries expressing their concerns about the state of the conflict.
But Russian permanent representative Vasily Nebenzya is having none of it though as he blames absolutely everyone but Russia for what’s going on in Ukraine.
He says the negotiation process to reach a peace settlement is “at a dead end,” and blames Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy for not ordering his troops to cease fire and withdraw from the regions Russia wants to control.
He says “until [Zelenskyy] realises this, achieving the goals of the special military operation will be done by the armed forces of the Russian Federation.”
He says Zelenskyy’s “stubborness” is “actively supported by European countries,” with honorary mentions to London and Brussels, alleging Europe wants to “drag it out for as long as possible to infict as much damage as possible on Russia.”
He then launches into an extended ridicule of the EU’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, saying suggestions she could be the EU’s negotiator with Russia “can only be called a mockery,” as she has “no understanding whatsoever of what diplomacy is.”
Nebenzya then seeks to advance the same (completely false) theories that Ukraine and Latvia pushed against earlier (12:38) as he alleges that Kyiv will “be launching [drones] from the territory” of the Baltic countries, and particularly from Latvia.
He specifically threatens Latvia by saying “the membership of Nato will not protect your from retaliation.”
Obivously, expect Latvia to strongly deny and protest against all of that.
Updated
Latvia issues another possible air threat alert
Back to Latvia, the country has once again reported possible air threat to Latvian airspace in two counties bordering Russia.
“Seek shelter indoors, close windows and doors,” the authorities said in an alert.
However, no drones have been detected in Latvian airspace so far, the army’s spokesperson Māris Tūtins told Latvija Televīzija.
Magyar wants to restore relations with Poland after years of tensions under Orbán
Meanwhile, beginning his first meeting in Poland, Magyar stressed he was looking to restore bilateral relations with Poland so they can “regain the place they deserve” after years of conflict under Viktor Orbán.
He also said he wanted to reinvigorate the Visegrad Four format – with Czech Republic and Slovakia – and even expand it to include Austria and other regional partners.
As expected, he also had to face awkward questions about the fugitive Polish minister (15:19), revealing he too had learned about his escape from the media.
He said Ziobro most likely left Europe not from Hungary, but from another EU member state, but this is still being looked into.
Earlier, Magyar laid wreaths at the monuments to Polish pope John Paul II and the former, 16th-century king of Poland, the Hungarian Stephen Báthory.
He is currently getting a guided tour of Kraków, which you can follow live (if you speak Hungarian, with some occassional Polish and English) on his YouTube.
In the process, he shows off some of his Polish in the process, greeting locals with cheery (“dzień dobry”) “hello” in Polish and somewhat accidentally telling someone he likes the colours of their football scarf – of Lechia Gdańsk football club – purely on the basis of their colours coinciding with those of his favourite team, Ferencvárosi TC.
Conveniently, both Poland’s PM Tusk and president Nawrocki support Lechia, so guess that’s one more thing to talk about tomorrow.
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Grynkewich's words are intended to reassure and project urgency at the same time - snap analysis
Grynkewich’s words there are not exactly surprising – we have long known that the US was looking to pivot away from Europe and wanted to see more from its European allies – but his clear language on future redeployments of US troops from Europe will only add further urgency to Europe’s attempts to build up its military capabilities.
Behind his reassuring words that the decision to pull out some US troops does not impact “the executability” of Nato’s plans (16:18) and that he remains “very comfortable” with where we are (16:25), there is a clear signal to European allies to get on with the task of expanding its military, quickly.
Nato's top Europe commander hints at future 'redeployment' of US troops from Europe
Grynkewich gets asked for his comments on potential future redeployment of US troops or, in plain speak, even more US troops moving out from Europe.
He says that is a consequence of the US National Defence Strategy that “as the European pillar of the alliance gets stronger, this allows the US to reduce its presence in Europe and limit itself to providing only those capabilities that allies cannot yet provide.”
“And so we should expect there to be a redeployment of US forces over time as allies build their capacity,” he says.
He says this will be process going on for “several years” and will “vary broadly across a number of different capabilities as nations meet their Hague spending commitments and meet their capability targets.”
And with two more brief questions, that ends the presser.
Updated
'Everything worked,' Nato's chief commander says after Nato jet shot down stray drone over Estonia
The three Nato leaders get asked about today’s incidents in Estonia and Latvia.
Grynkewich says that Nato’s response to the incursion in Estonia shows the system worked “exactly how our defence design is supposed to work.”
He says Nato is “still assessing the situation, but it looks at initial glance like everything worked.”
He then responds to a broader question on whether Nato poses any threat to Russia.
He says:
“It’s a standard Russian trope, right? They constantly say that Nato is doing something in an offensive manner, but we all know you can read the treaty: Nato is a defensive alliance. We are not a threat to Russia, and they know we’re not a threat to Russia. If they thought we were a threat to Russia, they wouldn’t have emptied the Leningrad military district to go and invade Ukraine.”
He also responds to Russian disinformation suggesting the Baltics are allowing for Ukrainian drones to take off from there when attacking Russia (12:38).
“If we were allowing drones to go through Baltic airspace in order to get to Russia, we wouldn’t be shooting them down.”
Updated
The speakers get pushed on whether Europe should expect more decisions on troops deployment in Europe, and whether there will be move to replace some of the capabilities and troops removed by the US.
Grynkewich says that the allies are “in constant contact” discussing their options.
He says he can’t get ahead of political decisions in the US, and “the redeployments that we have so far are all that’s been announced; it’s all that I’m expecting in the near term,” but he says there could be further changes “as Europe continues to build capabilities.”
Updated
Grynkewich also talks about recent exercises involving Ukrainian drone teams, which reportedly revealed vulnerabilities in the Nato’s ability to fight back.
The answers are pretty complex, but Grynkewich effectively says that too much attention is paid to the first days of the exercises and their outcomes, and not to what’s learned by the end of the week, which he said showed “rapid increase” in their ability to fight back with “real results” on the battlefield.
5,000 US troops to be pulled out of Europe as per Trump's plans, Nato commander confirms
Asked about how many US troops will be pulled out of Europe, Grynkewich confirms it will be 5,000 troops, as previously announced by Trump.
Grynkewich says “a fair number of those will come from the armoured brigade combat team that is returning” – that’s the troops from Germany – “and the US has also already announced that the previously planned deployment of a long-range fires battalion will be curtailed.”
That’s a reference to the rotational deployment to Poland which got cancelled, prompting confusion among the Polish civilian and military leadership.
Grynkewich explains this is possible because “a lot has happened in the alliance” in recent years, with the Baltic and Polish allies “building up their ground combat power, so there is substantially more capability in the ground domain that was previously.”
He says he remains “very comfortable with where we are.”
Nato’s Pierre Dominique André Vandier joins in with calls for Europe to ramp up its defence spending, turning it into “real capability, real interoperability, real deterrence.”
He says that “Russia and its allies have adapted,” and the alliance needs to recognise these changes.
And we’re going straight into the Q&A. Expect Grynkewich to be pushed on the US presence in Europe.
US 'adjustments' do not 'impact executability of our regional plans,' top Nato Europe commander says
Nato’s supreme allied commander in Europe, Gen Alexus Grynkewich, addresses this point in his remarks.
He says the meeting looked into “how European allies and Canada are taking more responsibility for the conventional defence here in Europe, with continued backing from American capabilities,” although with “adjustments.”
He insists that the US decision “does not impact the executability of our regional plans.”
He turns to Ukraine, hailing its fight against Russia and “extraordinary resilience and innovation” in the fifth years of the war. He insists that “everything allies have paid for is flowing,” despite reported delays in deliveries.
“By investing in Ukraine, we are not only protecting their population and defending their critical infrastructure and sustaining their fight. This is also an investment in European security beyond Ukraine,” he says.
This may feel like a routine press conference, but this is a pretty big moment as we are going to hear on what the alliance’s top commanders make of the US changes to its defence posture in Europe amid increased fears on how this could impact the regional security.
'We are not at war, but not at peace either,' Nato military committee chair says
Meanwhile, we are hearing from top Nato commanders in Brussels after their meeting with military chiefs from the alliance.
Opening the briefing, the chair of the Nato Military Committee, Adm Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, speaks about the need for “fairer burden sharing” in the alliance as part of the broader reform.
He says “the expectation by military authorities are extremely high” ahead of the Nato summit in Ankara in July as they want politicians to “turn all those pledges into tangible results with faster delivery in order to achieve higher readiness and stronger deterrence.”
He pointedly says “the rate of delivery and fielding of all capabilities necessary for our deterrence and defence require dramatic increases and improvement.”
“We are not at war, but we are not at peace either,” he says.
The funeral has taken place in Kyiv for sisters Liubava, 12, and Vira Yakovlieva, 17, who were killed in a missile strike on an apartment block in the city’s Darnytskyi district on 14 May.
As Agence France-Presse reports, the girls were among two dozen killed in the early hours of Thursday when Russia launched its deadliest attack of the year on the Ukrainian capital, with 675 combat drones and 56 missiles.
The girls’ mother, Tetiana Yakovlieva, attended the service in Saint Michael’s church. Their father, Yevhen Yakovliev, volunteered to fight when Russian forces invaded Ukraine and was killed in combat three years earlier.
Hungary's Magyar begins his first foreign trip as prime minister in Poland
In other news, Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar has landed in Poland today as he makes his first foreign trip since taking office earlier this month.
In a post on social media, he confirmed he was en route to Poland on a commercial flight from Vienna. He is joined by six cabinet ministers, covering foreign policy, economy, energy, transport, defence, culture and agriculture.
During the trip, Magyar is expected to visit the Wawel castle in Kraków to pay tribute to Polish Pope John Paul II and the shared Polish-Hungarian history, before meeting with Poland’s key political leadership in Warsaw and Gdańsk.
Poland’s prime minister Donald Tusk invited Poles to join the pair during an afternoon walk in Gdańsk on Wednesday, saying it will be an opportunity to “congratulate” him on the election win last month.
Magyar is understood to be keen to reinvigorate close relations with Tusk as he hopes to tap into Poland’s experience of accessing EU funds frozen during the rule of his illiberal predecessor, Viktor Orbán.
But the relationship saw an early setback as Poland’s fugitive former justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, who claimed asylum in Budapest under Orbán’s government, left the country evading Polish prosecutors who hoped that a change of government in Hungary would help to bring him to justice.
Magyar had pledged that his administration would unblock his extradition to Poland, but just before the government changed, Ziobro unexpectedly left Hungary for the US, raising questions about how a high-profile fugitive managed to escape scrutiny so easily.
Reuters reported last night that the US deputy secretary of state, Christopher Landau, instructed senior officials to facilitate and approve Ziobro’s visa to flee to the US, ignoring pointed warnings from the Polish authorities.
Speaking at a press conference earlier today, he insisted that Ziobro could not travel to the US directly from Hungary, adding that “at present, his whereabouts are unknown even to the Hungarian authorities.”
Ziobro’s sudden departure has left both Warsaw and Budapest grappling with the fallout. Expect the issue to come up in this week’s talks, although primarily behind the closed doors.
After Poland, Magyar will visit Austria on Thursday, before going to Brussels next week, where he hopes to sign off on a political agreement with the EU marking a new era of relations with Brussels.
Updated
Caretaker Latvian prime minister Evika Siliņa also posted on the incident confirming that “Latvia, together with Romania, helped neutralise a drone in Estonia.”
“The Latvian Air Force Control and Reporting Center coordinated a drone neutralisation operation in Estonia. The interception was carried out by Romanian F-16 fighter jets participating in Nato’s Baltic Air Policing mission.”
She added:
“This operation demonstrates the allies’ readiness to cooperate closely and respond quickly to security threats in our region.”
The incident over Estonia and air alerts in Latvia will no doubt make this afternoon’s UN security council session on Ukraine even more lively – particularly given that Latvia was among those calling for the meeting in the first place.
Nato investigates Estonian drone incident, 'ready' to react to air threats
Nato has also confirmed the Estonian incident and said its investigation was ongoing.
The alliance is “ready and able to react to any potential air threats,” it added.
Ukraine blames Russia for 'electronic warfare' to divert Ukrainian drones into Baltics
Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi blamed Russia for the “use of electronic warfare” to jam and redirect Ukrainian drones into the Baltics after a Nato fighter jet shot down a drone over Estonia.
Tykhyi added:
“We apologise to Estonia and all of our Baltic friends for such unintended incidents. We have been and remain in close cooperation between our specialised institutions to get to the heart of the matter in each case and seek ways to prevent them, including with the direct engagement of our expert groups.”
Responding to Russian claims, he added that “neither Estonia, nor Latvia, Lithuania, of Finland have ever allowed to use their airspace for strikes against Russia,” and “Ukraine has never requested such a use.”
He continued:
“Ukraine exercises its right to self-defense under Art. 51 of the UN Charter; our legitimate military targets are located in Russia; and we use the Russian airspace to get to them.
The Russians have no right to blame Ukraine, the Baltic states, or Finland for the consequences of its actions and, more broadly, its war of aggression.
We are grateful to our partners in Estonia, Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania for their support and solidarity.”
Meanwhile, Latvia has lifted its earlier alerts over potential drone activity.
“Together with Nato allies, we are continuously monitoring the airspace to ensure the ability to respond immediately to potential threats,” the Latvian army said in a statement.
“As long as Russia’s aggression in Ukraine continues, a recurrence of such incidents in which a foreign unmanned aerial vehicle enters or approaches Latvia’s airspace remains possible,” it added.
Estonia’s defence minister Pevkur also warned against Russia’s potential attempts to use today’s incident to fuel its propaganda alleging the Baltics’s involvement in Ukrainian strikes on Russia, ERR reported.
Latvia’s former – up until last week – defence minister Andris Spruds offered a bit of operational background into what goes into taking down a drone, explaining that “shooting down targets is not a national decision – it is carried out with Nato command approval.”
He noted that using fighter jets remains “relatively high-cost,” but continues to be the most effective way to intercept drones.
A local resident told the Estonian public broadcaster, ERR, that he saw two fighter jets flying in the area before a “loud bang” that brought the drone down.
He claimed the drone crashed some 30 meters from the nearest residential building.
Romanian fighter jet shot down drone over Estonia, defence minister confirms
Estonia’s defence minister Hanno Pevkur has just confirmed that a Romanian fighter jet shot down a stray drone over Estonia today.
In quotes carried by Reuters, the minister says it was “most likely” a stray Ukrainian drone aimed at Russia that got jammed and ended up in the Estonian airspace. It was not directed at Estonia, he stresses.
He adds that he immediately spoke with the Ukrainian defence minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, stressing that Estonia has not granted permission to use its airspace.
He says the authorities are looking for the drone’s wreckage, and need to ensure it does not poses any further danger.
Updated
Ukraine, Latvia refute Russia's 'lies' about alleged Ukranian attacks from Latvian territory
The latest drone alerts come as Ukraine and Latvia were this morning forced by Russia to repeatedly refute Moscow’s claims that Kyiv was preparing attacks against Russia from Latvia.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesperson confirmed that Ukraine does not use the territory of Latvia for its operations against Russia and refuted Moscow’s claims.
“Ukraine does not use the territory or airspace of Latvia in its operations against Russia and does not intend to do so,” Heorhii Tykhyi, the ministry’s spokesperson, said on X.
“There is no truth in Moscow’s latest set of falsehoods accusing Ukraine of preparing attacks against Russia from the territory of Latvia. We officially refute them,” he added, saying it was “merely an extension of [Russia’s] broader propaganda campaign aimed at destabilising public opinion in Latvia and the wider Baltics.”
Latvia’s president Edgars Rinkēvičs earlier said:
“Russia is lying about Latvia allowing any country to use Latvian airspace and territory to launch attacks against Russia or any other country.”
Caretaker prime minister Evika Siliņa, who resigned last week over one of the drone incidents, called the claims as part of Russia’s “yet another disinformation campaign against Latvia.”
“Latvia has never given Ukraine permission to use its territory or airspace for defensive strikes against Russia or any other country,” she said.
She added that “Russia is the aggressor, and Ukraine has every right to defend itself.”
Updated
'I consider it a test balloon, and it can't fly,' Rasmussen says as he rejects minority government plans for Denmark
Nordic correspondent
Briefly going back to Denmark, pipe-smoking kingmaker Rasmussen is not convinced by the proposed minority government (10:55, 11:47).
In his first public reaction, he appeared unimpressed by the proposal, accusing Lund Poulsen of giving up on attempts to form a government when he still has four days remaining.
“I consider it a test balloon, and of course it can’t fly,” he said.
Nato military jet shot down reported stray Ukrainian drone over Estonia
Meanwhile, we are getting a line from Estonia that Nato’s Baltic Air Policing fighter jets shot down a drone that appeared in the Estonian airspace.
The drone was shot down over Lake Vörtsjärv in southern Estonia.
Estonia’s defence minister Hanno Pevkur confirmed the news to the Estonian news website Delfi and the public broadcaster, ERR.
He said it was most likely a Ukrainian drone aimed at targets in north western Russia - with hits reported in the area this morning – that had its systems jammed and strayed into the wrong direction.
This theory was also separately confirmed by the chair of the foreign affairs committee in the Estonian parliament, Marko Mihkelson.
Estonian prime minister Kristen Michal was reported to have confirmed the news to the Estonian parliament, saying that the shooting down shows that “I guess we can still handle things.”
No civilian casualties or damage was reported.
Around midday local time, both Estonia and Latvia issued drone alerts for parts of its territory.
Latvia again reiterated its alerts in the last few minutes, with train and language exams reported as disrupted as a result of the warning.
Worth remembering that several Baltic and Nordic Nato member states reported stray drone incursions in recent months as the Russian war of aggression on Ukraine continues, with the Latvian government collapsing last week over its response to one of these incidents.
Updated
Lund Poulsen's plan for minority government shocked political establishment - snap analysis
Nordic correspondent
Troels Lund Poulsen, the leader of the centre-right Danish Liberal Party (Venstre), has shocked the political establishment with a surprise announcement in which he said he wants to form a right-leaning minority government.
The proposed coalition consists of his own party, the right-leaning Liberal Alliance and Conservatives would only have 44 seats and would work on a case-by-case basis, he said.
The plan would require the support of the Moderates leader and “kingmaker” Lars Løkke Rasmussen, who has refrained from sharing his opinions on it publicly so far.
Lund Poulsen invited the Moderates and three other parties – the far-right Danish People’s Party and Danish Democrats and the centrist Danish Social Liberal party – to take part in talks, but not the Social Democrats, Denmark’s biggest party. Social Democrat leader and acting prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, failed to form a government after being given the first attempt in the first round of talks.
Lund Poulsen said it “looks extremely difficult” for his party to enter into government with the Social Democrats, but that he did not want to make a final decision on it yet.
The proposed government would, he said, lower taxes, increase wealth, bring in deportation reform and continue rearming the armed forces.
His announcement comes a record eight weeks after Denmark went to the polls in an apparent attempt to capitalise on fears over closed door talks between the US and Greenland about increasing US presence on the Arctic territory after his repeated threats to invade it and the presence of Trump’s special envoy for Greenland, Jeff Landry, in Nuuk.
Landry is there with an American doctor who has said he is there to “assess the medical needs” of Greenland and the US ambassador to Denmark, Kenneth Howery.
Since Denmark’s outgoing foreign minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen will play a defining role in deciding it Poulsen’s ambitious arrangement could even work, let’s bring you his profile by our Nordic correspondent, Miranda Bryant.
If you need any further encouragement, just check the amazing title of his profile:
Yes, it’s worth your time.
Poulsen hopes to form minority centre-right government in Denmark
Back to Denmark, Troels Lund Poulsen says he will try to form a minority government formed by Venstre, the Conservative party and the Liberal Alliance (or a “VLAK” government).
Speaking from a hotel in Copenhagen, Poulsen lamented that the government formation talks are taking too long, and insisted that further talks “should not drag on unnecessarily,” as the government has lots of things it needs to get on with.
But the proposed administration would be miles away from a majority in the new parliament.
By the sound of his comments, Poulsen is betting on there not being a negative majority that would be prepared to bring it down, as he hopes to present a government programme that could be partially acceptable to some of the parties formally not entering the arrangement.
For example, he argued that there was a clear support for reformist economic policy looking to lower taxes and duties and help businesses, strengthening the country’s military, and tightening immigration and deportation laws.
It is a political framework that a majority in Folketing should not oppose; at least if it is about the policy, and not about individuals.
For what it’s worth, the leader of the far-right Danish People’s party, Morten Messerschmidt, has just declared publicly he’s fine with this arrangement.
Let’s see what Lars Løkke Rasmussen’s centre-right Moderates say about it.
Updated
Former Spanish prime minister Zapatero investigated in influence peddling case
Meanwhile, over in Spain, the country’s High Court said that the former Spanish prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, is being investigated for alleged influence peddling and related crimes, Reuters reported.
Zapatero’s office in Madrid was being searched alongside three other premises, the court said in a statement, adding the former premier had been summoned to testify on 2 June.
The investigation is part of the so-called Plus Ultra case, linked to a state rescue worth €53m in 2021 of the domestic airline Plus Ultra through state holding company SEPI during the Covid-19 pandemic, Reuters said.
The bailout became politically controversial because critics said Plus Ultra was not clearly strategic, had weak finances and links to Venezuelan shareholders. The High Court is examining whether the aid was properly approved.
Reuters notes that Zapatero is a key ally of current Socialist prime minister Pedro Sánchez and the case piles more pressure on Sanchez, who is already dogged by a corruption investigation into alleged kickbacks involving key members of his inner circle, as well as probes involving his wife and his brother.
Zapatero led Spain between 2004 and 2011, winning two absolute parliamentary majorities. AFP notes that this is the first time that a former Spanish prime minister has been placed under formal investigation since the country returned to democracy following the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
Expecting update on new Danish government this morning
It also looks like we are going to get an update on the Danish government formation process this morning, with the current “investigator”, Troels Lund Poulsen, hosting a press conference in the next half hour.
I will let you know if we hear something new.
Trump envoy Landry gets cold welcome in Greenland
I am also keeping an eye on Greenland, where the US envoy, Jeff Landry, is planning on attending a conference on the future of the territory today.
For all the attention on his visit, so far the only scene that cut through involves him walking around and promising “chocolate chip cookies” to deeply unimpressed Greenlandic children, who also outright rejected his suggestion they take a picture together. The clips went viral globally since.
Ouch.
Or, as Ulrik Pram Gad, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies somewhat poetically said, “it’s a bit difficult to become good friends with someone you have kicked in the balls first.”
Greenlandic prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and foreign minister Múte B. Egede will speak at the conference later today.
Morning opening: UN security council to discuss Ukraine
The UN security council is meeting to discuss the situation in Ukraine today in response to recent brutal Russian attacks on the country and joint nuclear weapons drills starting in Russia and Belarus.
The meeting – called by Denmark, France, Greece, Latvia, Liberia, and the UK – is expected to cover the latest on the “peace and security” situation in Ukraine.
It coincides with three days of nuclear weapons drills involving tens of thousands of troops across Russia and Belarus, AFP noted, and comes just hours before Vladimir Putin is expected in China for a two-day visit.
Not very subtle.
Elsewhere, I will keep an eye on the new Hungarian prime minister Péter Magyar’s first foreign trip as he is expected in Poland today for a two-day visit, the EU negotiators who are finally finalising the implementation of the bloc’s trade deal with the US, and on the meeting of Nato military chiefs in Brussels.
I will bring you all the key lines here.
It’s Tuesday, 19 May 2026, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.
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