The paper, circulated among member states by the EU’s diplomatic service, proposes resuming the bloc’s 1978 cooperation agreement with Syria and initiating a High-Level Political Dialogue with transitional authorities starting May 11. The move signals a departure from years of limited engagement following the country’s prolonged conflict.

The EU also intends to “reframe and adapt” its sanctions regime to retain leverage while engaging Syria’s leadership, focusing restrictions on actors seen as obstructing the political transition. Most Western sanctions were lifted late last year as Damascus sought reintegration into the international system under interim President , who assumed power after the removal of former leader in 2024.

The document outlines plans to expand economic ties through trade and investment frameworks, including mobilising private sector funding and establishing a technical assistance hub to support regulatory and business reforms. The EU also aims to facilitate the safe and voluntary return of refugees, with more than one million Syrians currently residing in Europe, around half of them in Germany.

Brussels is additionally exploring Syria’s integration into regional connectivity initiatives such as the , positioning the country as a potential hub for transport, energy and digital links amid shifting global supply routes.

Syria has gained strategic relevance as an emerging transit corridor following disruptions linked to tensions affecting the . A tanker carrying Iraqi oil recently departed from the Syrian port of Baniyas after overland transport, highlighting evolving logistics patterns.
On security cooperation, the EU is considering support for training Syrian police forces, strengthening institutional capacity within the interior ministry, and coordinating efforts on counterterrorism, organised crime and drug trafficking.

The document also reaffirms EU backing for a political agreement between Damascus and Kurdish-led authorities aimed at integrating northeastern institutions into the state framework and expanding rights for Kurdish populations. Recent steps include the appointment of a senior Kurdish commander to a deputy defence role overseeing eastern territories.

The policy shift reflects a broader recalibration by European governments seeking stability, migration management and economic engagement following more than a decade of conflict and isolation.

Wang told Tajani that China is prepared to work with Italy to unlock further “potential” in bilateral ties, signalling interest in deepening collaboration despite broader shifts in global trade dynamics.

China is open to expanding cooperation in areas including e-commerce, agriculture and food, healthcare and the development of industrial parks, the commerce ministry said, outlining sectors seen as key to future engagement.

The meeting reflects ongoing efforts by Beijing to sustain and diversify trade relationships with European partners, as global supply chains and geopolitical alignments continue to evolve.

Speaking at Tsinghua University, Sanchez said trade flows between China and the EU were “imbalanced” and called on Chinese authorities to open their markets to address a widening deficit. “We need China to open up so that Europe does not have to close itself off,” he said, adding that the deficit grew by 18 percent last year and posed risks over the medium to long term.

Sanchez’s visit, his fourth to China in four years, comes as Madrid seeks to position itself as a bridge between Beijing and the 27-member EU amid signs of strain in transatlantic relations. Recent tariff measures and policy shifts under Donald Trump have prompted several Western governments to pursue closer economic engagement with China.

Spain recorded a trade deficit of 42.3 billion euros ($49.1 billion) with China last year, with Sanchez noting that the shortfall accounts for 74 percent of the country’s overall trade deficit. Spain’s population of roughly 50 million contrasts with China’s more than 1.4 billion, underscoring the structural imbalance in bilateral trade.

The Spanish government is seeking improved access for agricultural and industrial exports and exploring opportunities for joint ventures in the technology sector. Officials also aim to attract Chinese investment into Spain and secure access to critical raw materials.

During the visit, Sanchez is scheduled to tour facilities linked to Xiaomi and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, before holding talks with senior Chinese leaders including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang.

The trip follows a period of diplomatic friction with Washington after Trump threatened to reduce trade ties with Spain, citing Madrid’s refusal to allow use of its military bases for U.S. strikes against Iran, a key Chinese economic partner.

Spain’s exports to China rose 6.8 percent in 2025, according to government data, reflecting strengthened bilateral engagement. During Sanchez’s previous visit in April 2025, Beijing agreed to expand market access for Spanish products including pork and cherries.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning described Spain as “an important partner of China within the EU,” signaling Beijing’s willingness to deepen bilateral cooperation.

France, host of this year’s G7 summit, has scheduled the gathering in Evian-les-Bains from June 15 to 17. The dates were adjusted to accommodate an event Trump is hosting at the White House on June 14 to mark his 80th birthday, according to sources familiar with the planning.

Trump’s relations with several G7 leaders have deteriorated amid tensions over his administration’s war with Iran and broader disagreements on security and diplomacy.

He has also issued repeated criticism of NATO, a defense alliance that includes all G7 members except Japan.Sources said it was not yet confirmed whether Trump would attend the Evian summit, and his absence would risk undermining the meeting at a time when Washington has expressed skepticism about multilateral forums.

The invitation to Versailles, a 17th-century palace built under Louis XIV near Paris, is intended as a high-profile diplomatic gesture highlighting longstanding ties between France and the United States ahead of America’s 250th anniversary celebrations on July 4.

A senior White House official confirmed that Macron had extended the invitation, but said Trump had not yet decided whether to attend the G7 summit or the Versailles event.

Macron’s office declined to comment. A French official said planning for any bilateral visit remains at an early stage and that the format of the reception has yet to be finalized.

Orban, in power for 16 years and widely seen as Moscow’s closest ally within the European Union, has framed Ukraine as a source of instability while positioning his government as a guarantor of peace and security.

Analysts say the approach seeks to shift focus away from domestic economic concerns that have boosted support for opposition leader Peter Magyar.“The campaign’s rhetoric is deliberately binary peace versus war portraying Ukraine as a risk and the incumbent Hungarian government as seeking stability,” Csilla Fedinec, a historian at ELTE University’s Center for Social Sciences, said.

Tensions between Hungary and Ukraine have escalated in recent months, including disputes over a Russian oil pipeline supplying landlocked Hungary. Budapest has accused Kyiv of delaying its reopening, while Ukraine says the infrastructure was damaged by Russian air strikes in January.

Hungary has also delayed approval of a 90-billion-euro European Union loan package for Ukraine and opposed additional sanctions on Russia, underscoring divisions within the bloc over support for Kyiv.Analysts and cybersecurity experts say disinformation has featured prominently in the campaign.

Pro-government media outlets circulated AI-generated images exaggerating the scale of valuables seized from Ukrainian bank employees detained briefly by Hungarian authorities.

Social media posts featuring such content recorded high engagement, with signs of coordinated activity including accounts lacking identifiable information.Separately, fabricated images depicting vandalism of a Hungarian memorial in Ukraine’s Transcarpathia region circulated online, prompting hostile reactions despite later being identified as artificial.

Experts say such incidents reflect broader patterns of election-related disinformation.Ferenc Fresz, former head of Hungary’s Cyber Defense Service, said there is ongoing evidence of attempts to influence voters through coordinated messaging, including deepfakes presented as news content.

He said narratives attributed to Russian-linked actors often align with pro-government messaging, reinforcing their impact.Hungarian officials, including Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, have rejected claims of Russian interference as unfounded.Orban has also sought to portray his main rival as aligned with foreign interests, including Ukraine and the European Union.

At a rally in Budapest, he framed the election as a choice between his leadership and that of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.Shortly after, images circulated of individuals displaying a Ukrainian flag at an opposition event, which were later linked to affiliates of Orban’s own party, prompting accusations of staged political tactics.

Opposition leader Magyar dismissed the incident as a “false flag operation.”AI-manipulated imagery has also been used to target Magyar directly, including altered visuals suggesting his support for Ukraine.

Billboards critical of Zelensky have appeared across Hungary over the past year, sometimes alongside depictions of opposition figures.Despite contested claims and fabricated content, analysts say the campaign resonates with segments of the electorate concerned about being drawn into the Ukraine war.

Political scientist Eszter Kovats of the University of Vienna said such messaging taps into broader anxieties amplified by discussions across Europe on rearmament and conscription.

She said the ruling party’s strategy appeals to voters’ desire for stability, presenting continuity as a safer option in an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment.

Jorgensen said the bloc is assessing “all possibilities” as it braces for sustained disruption, warning that energy prices are likely to remain elevated for an extended period. “This will be a long crisis energy prices will be higher for a very long time,” he said in the interview.

He added that for certain critical energy products, market conditions could deteriorate further in the coming weeks, underscoring concerns about supply constraints and volatility linked to the conflict.

The European Union has previously relied on coordinated measures such as strategic stock releases and demand reduction during periods of supply stress. Officials are now evaluating whether similar or more stringent interventions may be required if the crisis deepens.

The developments come as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East continue to disrupt global energy flows, raising risks for import-dependent economies and adding pressure to inflation across the region.

The three-day visit, which started on Tuesday, comes days after the EU agreed to overhaul its customs system, targeting largely Chinese e-commerce platforms with stricter safety checks and potential fines for selling illegal or non-compliant goods.

A nine-member delegation led by Anna Cavazzini, chair of the European Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee, met officials from China’s market regulator and members of the National People’s Congress in Beijing, according to statements from the parliamentary body.

During discussions with China’s State Administration for Market Regulation, EU lawmakers highlighted concerns over what they described as a high influx of dangerous and non-compliant products entering the European market from China.

The talks also covered the liability of online marketplaces and the need to ensure fair competition.The delegation raised broader issues including forced labour, protection of minors online and longstanding concerns about access for European companies to the Chinese market, the parliamentary committee said.

Beijing welcomed the visit as an opportunity to stabilise relations following its decision last year to lift sanctions on several EU lawmakers, a move seen as an attempt to ease trade tensions at a time of growing friction with the United States.

China had imposed sanctions in 2021 on 10 EU individuals and four entities in response to European measures targeting Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

The EU is grappling with a surge in low-value e-commerce imports, with 5.8 billion parcels entering the bloc in 2025, more than 90% of which are estimated to originate from China.

Under current rules, parcels valued below 150 euros are exempt from customs duties, a threshold that has supported the rapid expansion of platforms such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress.

EU lawmakers are expected to meet representatives from major Chinese e-commerce firms during the visit, including Shein, Alibaba and Temu.

The meeting with Shein follows a February investigation into the sale of child-like sex dolls on its platform, adding to regulatory scrutiny of online marketplaces operating across borders.

Speaking alongside Syrian transitional President Ahmed Al-Sharaa in Berlin, Merz said both governments were seeking to create conditions that would allow more Syrians to return voluntarily to their homeland.

Germany hosts the largest Syrian diaspora in the European Union, with more than one million Syrians, many of whom arrived during the 2015–2016 migrant influx.“We are working jointly toward more Syrians being able to return to their homeland,” Merz said at a joint press conference.

Sharaa said Damascus and Berlin were exploring a “circular” migration framework that would allow Syrians to participate in rebuilding their country while retaining the option to remain in Germany.

Such a model would enable returnees to contribute to reconstruction efforts without permanently relinquishing the economic and social stability they have established abroad, he said.

Merz said Germany intended to support Syria’s reconstruction after years of civil war, adding that a German delegation would travel to Syria in the coming days to advance cooperation.

However, he stressed that deeper bilateral engagement would depend on progress toward establishing rule-of-law institutions.

“Many joint projects in the future will depend on our finding a state governed by the rule of law,” Merz said, adding that he was confident such conditions could be achieved following discussions with Sharaa.

Speaking alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra, von der Leyen said the impact of the crisis was already being felt across economies through rising oil and gas prices.

“We all feel the knock-on effects on gas and oil prices on our businesses and our societies,” she said, highlighting the broader economic repercussions of prolonged instability in a region central to global energy production and transit.

Her remarks come as the Middle East conflict disrupts key supply routes and raises concerns over sustained volatility in energy markets.

The region accounts for a significant share of global oil exports, making it highly sensitive to geopolitical tensions.Von der Leyen emphasized that continued hostilities risk compounding inflationary pressures and undermining business confidence, particularly in energy-importing economies.

She urged all parties to pursue a diplomatic solution, stressing the urgency of de-escalation. “It is of utmost importance that we come to a solution that is negotiated, and this puts an end to the hostilities that we see in the Middle East,” she said.

Her comments reflect growing international concern over the broader economic fallout of the conflict, as governments and institutions monitor its impact on global trade, energy flows and financial markets.

Speaking at the annual China Development Forum in Beijing, Li said China would expand imports of high-quality foreign goods and work with trading partners to promote more balanced global trade, according to state media.

Li’s remarks come as China faces mounting concerns from major economies, particularly the United States and the European Union, over its trade practices, industrial overcapacity and reliance on Chinese exports.

While he did not directly reference the record surplus, his comments indicated an effort to address imbalances that have strained international economic relations.The forum, which brings together foreign business leaders, policymakers and economists, is a key platform for Beijing to outline its economic priorities and signal openness to global investors.

In a separate address, central bank governor Pan Gongsheng said assessments of global imbalances should account for both goods and services trade, as well as financial flows. He noted that while China runs the world’s largest goods surplus, it also posts the largest services deficit.

Pan added that China does not intend to gain a competitive trade advantage through currency depreciation, responding to longstanding concerns from trading partners over exchange rate policies.

Beijing is also attempting to reverse a decline in foreign direct investment, which fell 5.7% year-on-year to just over 92 billion yuan ($13.36 billion) in January, following a 9.5% drop in 2025.

In December, authorities expanded incentives for foreign investors by adding 200 sectors eligible for benefits such as tax breaks and preferential land use, focusing on areas including advanced manufacturing and modern services.

Efforts to stabilise trade ties come as geopolitical tensions persist. U.S. President Donald Trump recently postponed a planned visit to Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping due to the Iran conflict, delaying talks aimed at easing economic tensions between the two countries.