The European Union needs a NATO-like mechanism to better respond to drone incidents, acts of sabotage and cyberattacks across Europe, many of them blamed on Russia, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday (September 16, 2026).

“Europe needs its own counter-hybrid playbook. We urgently need a consensus on how to respond to certain incidents,” Ms. von der Leyen said, particularly for acts that “fall below armed aggression but clearly threaten our national security.” Officials in Germany, Denmark, and Poland have in recent weeks accused Russia of involvement in drone incursions, sabotage, arson, surveillance of defence facilities and planning to use a drone carrying explosives to attack an airport.

Italian fighter jets working with NATO shot down a drone over EU member Lithuania earlier this week, the first time one has been downed in its airspace. It was believed to have entered from Russia’s ally, Belarus.

But Europe and NATO are struggling to know how best to respond to acts that fall short of outright aggression.

Ms. Von der Leyen said that the system should be similar to Article 4 of NATO’s founding treaty, which allows countries believing that their territory is under threat to convene emergency meetings.

“When triggered by one member state, all member states would convene to coordinate a European response, to deter further escalation, and to mitigate the impact,” she said.

NATO’s Article 4 is separate from Article 5, the collective security guarantee that obliges all member countries to come to the aid of an ally under attack.

Ms. Von der Leyen also said that the EU Commission will “set out our ideas to make a European Security Council a reality.”

It would involve other international partners like Britain, Canada, Norway and Ukraine, she said. No details were provided.

India and the European Union will sign the ambitious free trade agreement by the end of this year, top EU leader Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday (June 17, 2026) after holding talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In the meeting, held on the sidelines of the G7 summit in this French commune, the two sides also resolved to step up security and defence cooperation.

G7 Summit updates on June 17, 2026

Besides Ms. Von der Leyen, the President of the EU Commission, the meeting was joined by European Council President Antonio Costa.

“Since we have concluded the mother of all trade deals, we have been moving fast to deliver on our commitments. We will sign the Free Trade Agreement by the end of the year. And accelerate work on an investment agreement,” Ms. Von der Leyen said on social media.

“We will also step up security & defence cooperation. And join forces for better connectivity by advancing IMEC, the India–Middle East–Europe Corridor,” she said.

India and the EU announced concluding negotiations for the mega trade deal at their summit meeting in January in New Delhi.

The ripples from war in the Middle East are already being felt in Europe, with rising energy prices and NATO allies targeted, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said Monday (March 9, 2026).

Oil prices soared on Monday (March 9, 2026), peaking just short of $120 a barrel as the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran continued into a second week, with Tehran launching fresh retaliatory strikes in the Gulf.

“We are now seeing a regional conflict with unintended consequences. And the spillover is already a reality today,” the European Commission president told EU ambassadors, ahead of a midday call with Middle Eastern leaders.

“Our citizens are caught in the crossfire. Our partners are being attacked,” she said, citing an Iranian-made drone hitting a British base on EU-member Cyprus, trade disruptions and the “displacement of people”.

While Iran has not officially shut off the Strait of Hormuz — through which a fifth of the world’s crude supplies and a substantial amount of gas run — shipping through the critical waterway has all but dried up.

European gas prices also jumped as much as 30 percent% Monday (March 9, 2026), albeit remaining well below the peaks reached in the aftermath of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Ms. Von der Leyen stressed that “there should be no tears shed for the Iranian regime”.

“The people of Iran deserve freedom, dignity, and the right to decide their own future — even if we know this will be fraught with danger and instability during and after the war”.

The “longer-term impact” of the war posed “existential questions” on the future of an international rules-based system and the 27-nation’s bloc place in the world, she told the annual gathering of European Union diplomats in Brussels.

“The idea that we can simply retrench and withdraw from this chaotic world is simply a fallacy,” she said.

Mr. Von der Leyen also addressed the Ukraine conflict and assured the gathering that Brussels will see through a vital 90 billion euro ($104 billion) loan to Kyiv that is being blocked by Hungary.

“We will deliver on our commitments, because our credibility — and more importantly, our security — is at stake,” she said.

The European Union is on the cusp of signing a historic trade agreement with India that is being called ‘the mother of all deals’, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Tuesday (January 20, 2026), asserting it will create a market for 2 billion people or about one-fourth of the global GDP.

In a special address in Davos at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, she said the real would crucially provide a first-mover advantage for Europe with one of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic continents.

Follow World Economic Forum 2026 highlights

“Right after Davos, I will travel to India. There is still work to do. But we are on the cusp of a historic trade agreement. Some call it the mother of all deals,” she said.

“Europe wants to do business with the growth centres of today and the economic powerhouses of this century.”

“From Latin America to the Indo-Pacific and far beyond, Europe will always choose the world. And the world is ready to choose Europe,” she said.

President of the European Council, Antonio Costa and Ms. von der Leyen will be in India from January 25 to 27 to grace the Republic Day celebrations as chief guests and hold summit talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The two sides are set to announce the conclusion of negotiations on the much-awaited Free Trade Agreement at the India-EU summit on January 27.

European Commission President said the EU is also working on a new free trade agreement with Australia.

“We are also advancing with the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, the UAE — and more,” she added.

She also said Europe will always stand with Ukraine until there is a just and lasting peace.

The European Union is India’s biggest trade partner, with bilateral trade in goods recording $135 billion in the financial year 2023-24. The free trade agreement is expected to significantly enhance trade ties.

The proposed agreement is expected to bring a qualitative change in deepening the overall bilateral ties in a range of sectors, as well as at a time when the world is witnessing trade disruptions in view of Washington’s tariff policy.

Besides firming up the free trade agreement, the two sides are likely to unveil a defence framework pact and a strategic agenda at the summit.

India and the European Union have been strategic partners since 2004.

The ambitious FTA is being firmed up at a time amid increasing concerns over Washington’s trade and tariff policies, which have impacted both India and the 27-nation EU.

India and the EU are also expected to unveil a joint comprehensive strategic vision that will govern their relationship for the period 2026-2030.

The EU and India had first launched negotiations for the free trade agreement in 2007, before the talks were suspended in 2013 due to a gap in ambition. The negotiations. The negotiations were relaunched in June 2022.

The proposed Security and Defence Partnership (SDP) will facilitate deeper defence and security cooperation between the two sides.

The SDP will bring interoperability in the defence domain, and it will open up avenues for Indian firms to participate in the EU’s SAFE (Security Action for Europe) programme. The SAFE is the EU’s Euro 150 billion financial instrument designed to provide financial support to member states to speed up defence readiness.

At the summit, India and the EU are also set to launch the negotiations for a Security of Information Agreement (SOIA). The SOIA is expected to boost industrial defence cooperation between the two sides.

The GPS system of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s airplane was jammed while en route on Sunday to Bulgaria, an EU spokesperson said on Monday, adding that Russian interference was suspected.

“We can indeed confirm that there was GPS jamming, but the plane landed safely in Bulgaria. We have received information from the Bulgarian authorities that they suspect that this was due to blatant interference by Russia,” the spokesperson said.

The Russian government did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

The EU gave no further details, but the spokesperson said the incident would reinforce the bloc’s “unshakable commitment to ramp up defence capabilities and support for Ukraine” against Russia’s three-and-a-half-year-old invasion.

It did not address the question of whether the EU believed Ms. von der Leyen’s airplane had been deliberately targeted.

In a statement, Bulgaria’s government said the GPS signal was lost as Ms. von der Leyen’s plane approached the southern city of Plovdiv, prompting air traffic controllers to switch to ground-based navigation systems to ensure a safe landing.

It said Ms. von der Leyen had been travelling on a plane chartered by the European Commission.

Last year Estonia accused Russia of jamming GPS navigation devices in airspace above the Baltic states. Finnair had to divert two flights back to Helsinki after GPS interference prevented their approach to Tartu in eastern Estonia.

EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said on Monday the 27-nation bloc would increase its number of satellites in low orbit to enhance detection of interference.

GPS jamming uses a frequency transmitting device to block or interfere with radio communications, usually by broadcasting signals from the ground that are stronger than satellite-based signals.

When a system is jammed, it might have to be switched off for the duration of the flight, which can cause stress and delays for take-off and landing because certain procedures require GPS to function.

But major airports have a variety of navigation tools available if GPS isn’t working.

The incident with Ms. von der Leyen’s plane occurred while she was on a four-day tour of EU member states that border Russia, Belarus or the Black Sea.

“There she has seen first-hand the everyday challenges of threats coming from Russia and its proxies,” the Commission spokesperson said.

“The EU will continue to invest in defence spending and in Europe’s readiness even more after this incident.”

The dollar gained against major currencies, including the euro and yen, on Monday (July 29, 2025), with sentiment lifted by a trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU, which brings market certainty and averts a global trade war.

U.S. President Donald Trump and European Commission President Donald Trump reached a framework trade agreement, which provides for an import tariff of 15% on EU goods, half the rate Trump had threatened from August 1.

That follows last week’s U.S. agreement with Japan, while top U.S. and Chinese economic officials will resume talks in Stockholm on Monday, aiming to extend a truce by three months and keep sharply higher tariffs at bay. The dollar rose against the safe-haven Swiss franc, up 0.82% at 0.80155 francs. It rose against the Japanese yen , up 0.29% at 148.12.

The euro was last down 0.81% at $1.164275, set for its biggest daily loss since mid-May, reversing an initial knee-jerk rise in Asia trade as investors’ focus shifted to what an easing in global trade tensions meant for the dollar overall.

“While the USD’s strength today may reflect the perception that the new US-EU deal is lopsided in favor of the US, the USD’s strength may also reflect a feeling that the US is reengaging with the EU and with its major allies,” Thierry Wizman, global FX & rates strategist at Macquarie Group, said in an investor note.

“Rather than the ‘divorce’ between the U.S. and its partners that was seemingly foretold in February-June, the US and its key partners are instead in ‘marriage counselling’, and thus still ‘talking about their feelings.’” The dollar tumbled sharply earlier this year, particularly against the euro, as fears that dramatically higher tariffs on trade with most of its major partners would hurt the U.S. economy caused investors to consider shifting out of U.S. assets.

Normally, the gap between yields on government bonds is a major factor for currency moves, but at present the euro is significantly higher than the gap between U.S. and eurozone yields would imply.

“If you think about what we expected in the beginning of the year, no one really thought that the euro is going to be so strong. We all thought that, especially post Liberation Day, that the dollar will remain strong,” said Anthi Tsouvali, multi-asset strategist at UBS Wealth. “We continue to see the dollar weakening; it has consolidated recently a little bit but we think that in the long term it will get weaker.”

The euro fell against the yen and sterling, having hit a one-year high on the Japanese currency and a two-year high on the pound at the start of trade.

The dollar strengthens against the pound, which was 0.24% lower at $1.3422.

As concerns subside about the economic fallout from punishing tariffs, investor attention is shifting to corporate earnings and central bank meetings in the United States and Japan in the next few days.

Both the Fed and the Bank of Japan are expected to hold rates steady at policy meetings this week, but traders will watch subsequent comments to gauge the timing of the next moves.

Investors will also be watching to see Mr. Trump’s reaction to the Fed’s decision. The U.S. president has been putting the Fed under heavy pressure to make significant rate cuts, and Mr. Trump appeared close to trying to fire Powell last week, but backed off with a nod to the market disruption that would likely follow.

In addition, quarterly results are due in the coming days from Apple, Microsoft, Amazon and Facebook parent Meta Platform, four of the “Magnificent Seven” whose stocks heavily influence benchmark indexes.

They matter for currency investors if strong results cause an acceleration of flows back into U.S. assets.