European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wants to take advantage of the US withdrawal from the continent in order to "crush" national administrations. This is written by columnists of the European edition of Politico Gregorio Sorgi and Giovanna Fagionato.

Elly Schlein, the leader of the largest member of the opposition, the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said on Tuesday that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's announced plan to 'rearm Europe' in the face of Russian aggression against Ukraine which she said could mobilise close to 800 billion euros was not the right choice for Europe.

The EU is poised to spend up to €800billion (£660billion) on defence thanks to a new major continental funding drive, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has vowed. On Tuesday, Von der Leyen proposed a borrowing drive worth €150billion to lend to EU Governments - which,