An international immersive exhibition dedicated to the works of Van Gogh will open at Telliskivi Creative City in Tallinn on June 18.

The overwhelming majority of uncovered terrorist attacks in Ukraine were carried out by people using the Telegram messaging app, the Military Intelligence Center of Estonian Defense Forces has said.

Several important promises in the coalition agreement between the Reform Party and Eesti 200, will remain unfulfilled during this parliamentary term, the opposition said as the summer break approaches.

The Center Party officially backed President Alar Karis for a second term on Saturday but also called for direct elections where the head of state is chosen by the people, not the Riigikogu.

History teaches us that crimes left unpunished give rise to new crimes, Minister of Foreign Affairs Margus Tsahkna (Eesti 200) said on the 85th anniversary of the June deportation of Estonians to Siberia by the USSR.

A new observation tower was opened earlier this week in Meriküla, Harku Municipality, which connects the clifftop and the seaside area.

Lähme Chongqingi! Kuhu? See on ilmselt maailma suurim linn, millest enamik meist pole kuulnudki. Kesk-Hiinas, Jangtse jõe ja mägede vahel laiub 32 miljoni elanikuga linn-regioon, mis on korraga Hiina sotsiaalmeedia kuum sihtkoht, maailma üks pöörasemaid linnalabürinte ja riiklik tööstusprojekt. Chongqingis on üle 20 000 silla; rong, mis sõidab läbi elumaja; hotpot’i-kultuur, mis paneb suu põlema; palju linnaloodust ja sama palju tööstust.

2022. aasta 24. veebruaril alustas Venemaa režiimi juht Vladimir Putin sissetungi Ukrainasse. Pärast seda, kui Ukraina lõi tagasi pealetungi Kiievile, on lahingute kese kandunud Ida- ja Lõuna-Ukrainasse. Postimees kajastab 1573. sõjapäeva sündmusi allolevas blogis.2026/ukraina-kalender 

Nearly 55% of participants voted against the proposal to cap population by cutting migration, results show.

Marines were joined by National Crime Agency officers in the six-hour long operation in the early hours of Sunday.

Under the agreement, the key Strait of Hormuz waterway will be reopened, US President Donald Trump said.

Lower social tariffs allow many people on benefits to get cheaper deals for water, broadband and phone.

BRUSSELS — Jordan Bardella was never meant to be his party’s presidential candidate. The 30-year-old member of the European Parliament is the protégé of Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader of France’s National Rally. For years, the two complemented each other. Le Pen was the party’s face and standard-bearer; Bardella ran its operations, led its delegation in Brussels and waited for his mentor to win so he could become prime minister. Le Pen’s 2025 conviction for embezzling EU funds changed everything, handing her a five-year ban from public office and propelling Bardella into the presidential fray. On July 7, an appeals court will decide whether to uphold the conviction — and, with it, which of the two will be the party’s candidate. As the French far right’s possible standard-bearer, Bardella is being forced to clarify where he stands on defining issues: the party’s pivot toward economic moderation, its approach to the European Union and how he would manage France’s nuclear arsenal. Bardella, long used to being grilled by the media, appeared unfazed as he discussed all this and more in an exclusive interview in POLITICO’s Brussels office ahead of a trip to Poland — the kind of high-profile visit once reserved for his mentor. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. You’re quite selective about your international trips. You’ve been to the United Kingdom, Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Why did you choose Poland as your next stop?  Poland is a country that counts, and each day it counts a little more on the European stage. Poland is now the sixth-largest economy in the European Union, and on a number of issues in recent years, Poland has made a very clear commitment to protecting its borders in the face of migration flows that pose a significant challenge to European nations. Faced with the need to regain strategic autonomy, Poland has been making very clear efforts in terms of rearmament and defense.  I am scheduled to meet with leaders of the PiS to discuss and prepare for the Europe of tomorrow.  Do you see PiS, the Law and Justice Party, as natural partners if they win Poland’s general election next year?  Today, the PiS party sits in the European Parliament within the ECR group, which is also [Italian Prime Minister] Giorgia Meloni’s group, with whom we regularly work.  Our ambition is to think big and to build a new European architecture capable of addressing the major challenges of the 21st century — and we will certainly need the largest group possible.  Jarosław Kaczyński of Poland’s Law and Justice party is pictured before testifying in front of a parliamentary committee on March 15, 2024. | Wojtek Radwanski/AFP via Getty Images Is this alliance already a done deal, then? Can there be two big dogs in the same group?   It’s not a done deal. The European Parliament involves complex balances. It’s driven both by alliances and ad-hoc coalitions but influenced by the people. Giorgia Meloni will be an indispensable partner for France if we win the next election.   You have also recently reached out to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, even though he is not from your political camp. Are these visits, your numerous references to Giorgia Meloni, a way of saying that if the National Rally comes to power, it’s not the end of the European Union?   We do not wish to leave the European Union. We wish to change everything without destroying anything.  For several years now — for a decade — we have been witnessing all over the world the return of everything the European Union has sought to deconstruct, dismantle and even destroy: the nation, borders, the defense of the national interest, the people in their fully sovereign capacity. We are seeing all these grand concepts, which also pertain to national pride, making a comeback across the major powers operating within globalization.  So we simply say that Europe must change the way it functions.  Do you still want to withdraw from NATO’s integrated command, and if so, when?   I am a French sovereigntist. I defend my country’s freedom. We are not in favor of leaving NATO. But we are in favor of leaving NATO’s integrated command to regain room for maneuver, to regain freedom and independence on diplomatic and military matters.   But as I have said, we do not wish to leave the integrated command as long as there is war at Europe’s doorstep.  Marine Le Pen recently said withdrawal during the next five-year presidential term, which isn’t exactly the same wording. Do you still hold that France should not withdraw before the end of the conflict?  One doesn’t redefine the framework of treaties in times of war.   Our priority — if tomorrow we win the presidency — will be to work, through new French leadership, to restore peace at Europe’s doorstep, first through a ceasefire in Ukraine and then to the establishment of security guarantees that would allow Ukraine to defend its borders.  Ukrainian servicemen take part in military training. | Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP via Getty Images Is Russian President Vladimir Putin a danger to France?  President Putin’s Russia is today a multidimensional threat to French interests and to European interests. But Russia is a nuclear power. France is a nuclear power. This reality gives us a unique responsibility in how we approach dialogue with powers that possess the ultimate weapon.  There was recently an update to France’s nuclear doctrine, and Poland is one of nine countries that have joined an advanced form of cooperation put forward by President Emmanuel Macron. Would a National Rally-led France be willing to launch a nuclear strike to come to the aid of allies such as Poland?  We adhere strictly to the philosophy and doctrine of [France’s former president General Charles] de Gaulle, who rightly reminded us that the defense of the French nation’s vital interests does not stop at France’s borders. He said that France’s vital interests are threatened from the moment the Benelux region itself is potentially in danger.  But we are extremely attached to national sovereignty in matters of defense, and therefore the nuclear launch button must remain exclusively in the hands of the French president.  Regarding deterrence — and this must be emphasized — before being nuclear, it is first and foremost conventional. We are bound by defense agreements with our European partners that include mutual assistance clauses, particularly within the framework of the European Union but also under Article 5 of NATO. And so, if a European Union country were to be attacked tomorrow, this would elicit a reaction from all the other European countries.  You would honor these commitments?  Yes, of course. But France must restore its defense capabilities, and that is why we support the NATO objectives to gradually increase defense budgets.  I want to show you this editorial from 1939 in a French newspaper called “Dying for Danzig?” The author argues that France shouldn’t die for the Polish city now known as Gdańsk. What do you think?   It’s extremely dangerous to draw parallels between that period of history and what we’re experiencing today. There’s no Nazi army. There’s no Third Reich today.  No, but there are parallels.  It’s extremely perilous to compare situations that, strictly speaking, have absolutely nothing in common. What is certain is that there are European interests today that are being challenged, a resurgence of Russian ambitions in Eastern Europe. Faced with this, the only viable and acceptable policy is to prevent France and European nations from transferring their defense sovereignty to the European Commission. I refuse to allow the European Commission to have the power to send French soldiers to die.  Members of the French Army Special Forces are evacuated by helicopter as they take part in a tactical display as part of the the Special Operations Forces Innovation Network Seminar in 2025. | Philippe Lopez/AFP via Getty Images We have weaknesses that are very well documented and widely recognized: long-range strike capability, enhanced surveillance using drones, missile defense, for example. So industrial cooperation needs to be on the table.  I regret that the French president was unable to honor the deal that had been negotiated between the French and Germans on FCAS [a flagship Franco-German next-generation fighter jet program.]  Are you saying this is his failure?  It is a failure of Franco-German cooperation, but it is first and foremost a personal failure for the president.  But you were against this program?  From the start, we said we needed to encourage the best-athlete policy. I am in favor of industrial cooperation, but to be free, we must first buy European equipment and buy French equipment.  The message I wish to convey to all our European partners is to buy [French] Rafales rather than [American] F-35s, so you exempt yourselves from the extraterritoriality of U.S., effectively placing in the hands of our transatlantic partners the ability to stop these planes from taking off.  It’s very expensive to develop these sixth-generation aircraft. How do you approach this going forward, if you say we’re staying 100 percent French on the aircraft of the future, but we also have German competition?  We need to support French industry. We need to start by removing all constraints and tax and regulatory barriers currently weighing on the French industry. We must fight in Europe for European preference. Now, you’re right, we need resources, and we need investment.  Let’s get back to Ukraine — you mentioned that many French presidential candidates are visiting Ukraine today.   For them, it’s just a show.  You’re making fun of them a bit. You don’t plan to go there?  Perhaps I’ll have the opportunity to go if we’re in power, but Ukraine is a theater of war. It’s not a stage for political posturing. When you see [centrist presidential candidate] Edouard Philippe getting off the train with his pajamas and moccasins in a war zone, I don’t think that’s very serious.  Edouard Philippe gestures as he visits a makeshift memorial for fallen Ukrainian and foreign soldiers at Independence Square in Kyiv on May 26, 2026. | Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images What about French troops in Ukraine after a ceasefire?  No, we are opposed.  Even after a ceasefire as part of a peace and security guarantee agreement?  The only way we would agree to send soldiers would be as United Nations peacekeepers following a ceasefire agreement.  How would you define the transatlantic relationship today?  The Americans are allies, and they will remain so, but they no longer intend to come to Europe’s rescue or to remain the protector of European countries.  How do you view U.S. President Donald Trump’s attitude today?  It depends on the day. There’s a Monday attitude, a Tuesday attitude, a Wednesday attitude. His positioning is not only erratic, but also extremely unsteady and constantly shifting.   If Trump calls you to offer his endorsement, what would you say?  I don’t need his support. The support I’m seeking, and the support we’re seeking with Marine Le Pen, is the support of the French people, the support of French voters.  You had expressed a certain admiration for him, though. Do you see him differently today?  I find that President Trump’s second term is very different from his first. His first term was defined by a desire to withdraw America from major global conflicts and to defend America First — that is, to prioritize American interests first in terms of the economy, identity and the defense of certain values.  President Donald Trump speaks to the press before boarding Air Force One prior to departure from John F. Kennedy International Airport, in New York, on June 9, 2026. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images President Trump’s second term is based on this U.S. Security Strategy that foreshadows this revival of the Monroe Doctrine, which holds that the United States is no longer a nation but is once again becoming an empire with exclusive influence over the Western Hemisphere.  Is Trump’s second term more dangerous or more threatening?   It is harder to read. It is threatening to Europe in the sense that it impacts many European countries fearful of the United States of America’s disengagement.  The Trump administration also comments on current events in Europe. U.S. Vice President JD Vance commented on a murder in the United Kingdom, saying that the migrant invasion was responsible for this kind of atrocity.  The fact that there is a fear today that tomorrow Europe will no longer be Europe and France will no longer be France, is perhaps shared by the leaders of the U.S. administration, but it is also shared by many people across the world.  There are many countries in the world that are deeply in love with France and believe that the world is what it is today because France exists and because of what France contributes to it, through its beauty, its elegance, its values. There are many people in Europe who are extremely unhappy to see France weakened and submerged by massive immigration that profoundly changes its identity and its values.  You find that their diagnosis isn’t wrong?  The diagnosis is our own. I’m not going to tell you otherwise just because foreigners think the same thing.  One of the flagship measures you have defended many times is to cut France’s contribution to the European Union. The long-term budget is currently being negotiated, and many want to finalize it before the presidential election.  Just by chance.  Do you condemn that?  The idea is obviously to lock in the budget before a potential change in France. The European Union is again pursuing its profoundly anti-democratic policy and philosophy.  We need a new European architecture. The pace at which Europeans and the European Union are moving today no longer matches the pace of the world. What the European Union stands for — globalization, powerful open markets, uncontrolled immigration, economic decline, and excessive regulation — is profoundly outdated. The European Union is completely obsolete and, in its current form and scope, is no longer capable of addressing the major challenges our country will face.  We must change the way the European Union functions, and that is why tomorrow we want France to contribute less to a budget currently projected to increase at a delusional rate on the eve of the presidential election. It is a democratic scandal.   The next French executive, whoever it may be, must have a say.  In practical terms, how does that work? If you’re elected, do you go to Brussels, bang your fist on the table and say, no, we’re not going to pay?  The European Union is like a big co-op, and France has one of the largest apartments with some of the most spacious terraces and the most parking spaces. But France is no longer capable today of defending its interests on the European stage. We saw this with energy. Thanks to nuclear power, France should be able to benefit from the cheapest and most carbon-free electricity.  Germany allows its major industrial firms to benefit from electricity at 50 euros per megawatt-hour. Our hope for the future is that France too can benefit from electricity priced at 50 euros per megawatt-hour.  This does not mean we are leaving the European market. France will continue to export energy, but it will allow French families, French businesses and startups investing in artificial intelligence to benefit from abundant, carbon-free electricity that is among the cheapest in Europe.  I’m sorry, I digressed a bit. On the budget, we will negotiate as Germany did and as the Netherlands did.  But those are a posteriori adjustments  We’ll go see the president of the European Commission and we’ll tell her that France will lower its contribution because we’re asking everyone to make sacrifices.  The French are being asked to make savings in times of crisis. But we’re telling them that the European Union’s budget is increasing 80 percent, that we’re raising the European commissioners’ private jet budget by 50 percent? Don’t you think that’s shocking? Don’t you think that outrages millions of French people?  [The EU says the proposed annual EU budget for 2028-34 is a nominal 38 percent higher than the one covering the previous seven years. POLITICO reported in February that the EU would spend as much as €16 million over the next four years on private jet travel, an increase of €3 million from the previous four-year period and 50 percent higher than the period before that.]  There are 27 countries that have to agree — it’s very complicated. The Commission could say OK, France stops paying, we’ll reduce French returns and freeze CAP subsidies. What would you say to the farmers?  It doesn’t work that way. France’s net contribution to the European Union budget is voted on by parliament. Instead of voting for a contribution to the European Union budget of 12 or 15 billion euros, it will be cut in half. And it’s this money that we’re going to get back.   When we tell French farmers, you’re getting money from Europe, that’s false. That money is France’s money, since France — unlike other European countries — contributes more to the European budget than it receives.  Last question, and it’s more lighthearted. Who is your favorite Italian woman: Maria Carolina de Bourbon des Deux-Siciles [Bardella’s girlfriend, an Italian princess and influencer] or Giorgia Meloni?   Maria Carolina.  And when it comes to politics?  I like Giorgia Meloni a lot. She’s a political leader who knew how to give Italy a fresh start, restore stability to a country that had never known such a stable government since the end of World War II, and who knew how to assert herself and establish new leadership for her country on the European stage.  Could you go on an official trip with her soon?   With Giorgia Meloni? [laughs]  Listen, she [de Bourbon] doesn’t do politics. Now, she is by my side, and she is an extraordinary woman. I am extremely happy and extremely in love. Now will she accompany me on political trips? I don’t know. 

BRUSSELS — If Europe’s mainstream politicians were under the impression that the French far right was preparing to soften its edges and settle into the rhythms of EU dealmaking, Jordan Bardella just shattered their illusions. In a wide-ranging conversation ahead of a trip to Poland, the National Rally leader doused hopes that he might prove a more accommodating European partner than his mentor, Marine Le Pen. Instead, he showed no signs of moderating plans to slash France’s EU budget contribution, deepen ties with nationalist allies and reshape the bloc from within.  Here are five things to know about POLITICO’s exclusive interview with the far-right leader who could be France’s next president.  The full interview is available here. He wants to halve France’s contribution to the EU budget  Cutting back on how much money Paris sends to Brussels has long been a core National Rally demand, but Bardella significantly raised the stakes by calling for a 50 percent cut in France’s contribution. “We will give the French their money back,” Bardella said. The proposed cut — far deeper than figures previously floated — and Bardella’s readiness to confront Brussels over it points to a serious showdown if he becomes France’s president in 2027. Bardella is leading early polls as an appeals court weighs whether Marine Le Pen can run, a decision that could determine which of them becomes the National Rally’s candidate.  Bardella, center, is pictured at a National Rally gathering following the results of the first round of France’s 2026 municipal elections, in Châlons-en-Champagne, on March 18, 2026. | Sameer Al-Doumy/AFP via Getty Images He criticized an effort in Brussels to pass the bloc’s long-term budget by the end of the year as “profoundly anti-democratic.”  “The next French executive, whoever it may be, must have a say in this budget because it will commit France — and thus the future of the French people and the budget of our fellow citizens — for years to come,” he said, vowing to have the French parliament cut the contributions if necessary. He doesn’t want Donald Trump’s endorsement Bardella described the U.S. president’s actions as “not only erratic, but also extremely unsteady and constantly shifting,” a sharp shift in tone from his previous favorable public statements.  “President Trump’s second term is very significantly different from the first,” Bardella said, noting Trump was “harder to read.” Washington, he added, now views itself as “an empire” with a sphere of influence in the Western hemisphere. “It is threatening to Europe in the sense that it impacts many European countries — not France — with this fear of American disengagement.”   Bardella also rejected a potential endorsement from Trump, who has attempted to influence elections in Hungary, Poland and Argentina by backing leaders who align with his politics. “The support we’re seeking with Marine Le Pen is that of the French people, the support of French voters,” he said. “We don’t need to open the door to any form of interference.” He struck a reassuring tone on European defense and NATO Bardella, speaking ahead of a trip to Poland aimed at burnishing his international credentials, sought to reassure French allies concerned about the National Rally’s stance on NATO.  The party is traditionally isolationist, and while Bardella has endorsed Le Pen’s long-standing pledge to withdraw France from NATO’s integrated military command, he has said he will wait until after the war in Ukraine is over.  France’s army personnel secure an area as two armored combat vehicles prepare to the Mureș River during a military exercise in Sântimbru, Romania on Nov. 3, 2025. | Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images “One doesn’t redefine the framework of treaties in times of war,” he said. “Therefore, our priority will be to work, through new French leadership, to restore peace at Europe’s doorstep, first through a ceasefire in Ukraine and then to the establishment of security guarantees that must allow Ukraine to defend its borders.”  The far-right leader also backed raising defense spending to 3 percent of GDP between 2030 and 2035, calling it essential to France’s freedom and security. He said that security commitments made to Eastern flank allies, including Romania and the Baltic states, would be upheld if his party comes to power.  He is reaching out to ideological bedfellows Bardella’s trip comes amid a broader outreach to potential partners in Europe. While he has made overtures to Germany’s conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz, he made clear that he sought to form alliances first and foremost with fellow nationalists, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. Bardella made clear that he sought to form alliances first and foremost with fellow nationalists, such as Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.. | Antonio Masiello/Getty Images The French far-right leader is scheduled to meet with the right-wing Law and Justice party in Warsaw this week. The party is polling second ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for 2027 in the country and could be in a position to form a governing coalition with other rightwing Euroskeptic parties.  “Our ambition is to think big and to build this new European architecture that we envision,” Bardella said.   He’s in love Giorgia Meloni isn’t the only Italian woman on Bardella’s mind.  The far-right leader’s relationship with Maria Carolina de Bourbon des Deux-Siciles, an Italian princess and influencer, has become a tabloid sensation — and fodder for political attacks. “Bardella has never been on the side of the workers; he prefers to drink champagne in Monaco with his princess,” Fabien Roussel, the French Communist leader, said after the couple was photographed in Monaco attending a Formula One race.  Asked if she would accompany him on his travels, Bardella demurred.  “Listen, she doesn’t do politics,” he said. “Now, she is by my side, and she is an extraordinary woman, a remarkable woman. So I am extremely happy and extremely in love. Now will she accompany me on political trips? I don’t know.”

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