Gerardo Fortuna

EU’s Costa warns US against interference in Europe The European Council president said allies must respect each other’s sovereignty.

António Costa's remarks were some of the first to come from EU leadership since the unveiling of the U.S. National Security Strategy. "Allies don't threaten to interfere in the democratic life or the domestic political choices of their allies. They respect them.”
www.politico.eu/article/eu-c...

The EU Commission unveils the legal proposals to fund Ukraine's financial needs putting forward two options: joint borrowing (which requires unanimity in the European Council) and reparation loans using immobilized Russian assets (which can be voted by qualified majority)

Latest on 'reparation loans' with two commitments from the EU Executive side (on something we kinda knew already but still good to have them announced):
-it'll happen this week
-there'll be proposalS (so not just on the use of frozen assets but probably joint borrowing too)

Europe strives for one voice on Ukraine peace plan POLITICO’s must-read briefing on what’s driving the day in Brussels, by Gerardo Fortuna and Nicholas Vinocur. By GERARDO FORTUNA Send tips here | Contact us on X @gerardofortuna @NicholasVino…

Find more about it in today's Brussels Playbook:
www.politico.eu/newsletter/b...

The appointment of Maasikas puts to rest speculation about Selmayr’s comeback to Brussels in Kallas’s team. This stopgap suggests a long-term solution that won’t include former Berlaymonster (though someone with his experience/ability may still resurface in some other capacity)

Final grade: 6.5/10. There’s a clear concept behind it, definitely not just a rogue random-ingredient generator, but not fully developed either.

(And no, this post isn’t sponsored. If anything, I’m risking my citizenship by doing this for free and without biases)

Things that don’t work: The color. It adds nothing except fear. Also, the random spinach leaves look like they fell onto the pizza by accident during packaging. Maybe swap them for something with a bit more personality? (Also the size is remarkably small)

Room for improvement: The toasted chickpeas were supposed to be the crunchy element, but after freezing, they completely gave up on that mission. And the ingredient distribution felt like a lottery, as mentioned.

That stracciatella is actually more like béchamel, which turned the whole thing into something halfway between a pizza and a lasagna (and honestly? I didn’t hate it). The overall flavor was also strangely close to (I know it sounds insane) mortadella

Taste test: Surprisingly… balanced? The problem is you rarely get all the components on a single slice, but when you do, it kind of works. The stracciatella absolutely does not taste like itself (unsurprising, considering it survived a trip through the frozen-food dimension)

Speaking of red flags… this pizza was red. Like, aggressively red. I didn’t realize just how red until I opened the box. But hey, this is supposed to be a space free of biases and preconceived ideas, so there we go

...the frozen pizza I ate yesterday, topped with basil hummus, stracciatella di burrata, and raspberry vinaigrette. The n.31 on the box was a red flag. Could it be the name of the creation? Maybe. The number of attempts it took before they produced something edible? Also possible

Building on last week’s diplomatic incident involving that infamous carbonara jar found in the EU Parliament’s shop, I’ve decided to launch a new series where I try foodstuffs that would emotionally devastate an Italian (not necessarily an Italian in power, though)
Episode 1...👇

It was already in the air, but the European Parliament’s environment committee will lose its chair: Antonio De Caro is set to become governor of Italy's region Puglia. With roughly half of the sections counted, he’s still above 65% of the vote

For anyone who thought the U.S. tariff diplomacy would’ve stopped at Turnberry: now the condition for the EU to avoid new steel and aluminium tariffs is rolling back its tech rules (a non-negotiable for Brussels)

“Since they’re responsible for destroying Gaza […] Israel should be held responsible for what happened,” he said replying to a similar question asked in the same building by an Italian journalist being dismissed from his post after posing it

“Israel should contribute significantly —if not fully— for repairing the damage and contributing to the reconstruction [of Gaza],” PM of the Palestinian Authority Mohammad Mustafa told reporters in Brussels on the sidelines of the EU’s Palestine donor event

Haiti reach 2026 World Cup despite coach having never been to the country Haiti coach Sebastien Migne guides the country to their second World Cup, despite having never been able to visit the country.

(out of the joke, it's unfortunately a sad story, BBC has more on this)
www.bbc.com/sport/footba...

New on LinkedIn: What Haiti’s World Cup qualification taught me about working remotely

Say something that gives off more Common Agricultural Policy vibes than this Japanese word

One day it'll happen and I'll be there

I knew it would happen sooner or later: Costas Kadis has arrived on the coast of Cádiz

Commission launches first Annual Migration Management Cycle under the Pact on Migration and Asylum Today, the European Commission is taking a further step in implementing the Pact on Migration and Asylum by launching the first Annual Migration Management Cycle.

Border militarization klaxon.

Merging of migration and defense policies in Europe continues apace with announcement of €250mln purchase of drones to stop hybrid threats like incursions by other drones, and presumably migrants.

h/t @gerardofortuna.bsky.social

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

What the EU does for you? Just making you feel old...

No media left behind: with this entry, I’ve officially liveblogged the EUCO for all three outlets doing live coverage of the EU summit. Not sure if that makes me the only one with a liveblog grand slam, but there can’t be that many

Two unwanted men Presented by Amazon By GERARDO FORTUNA with ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Contact us on X @gerardofortuna @NicholasVinocur | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser CIAO. This…

Read more on this morning's Brussels Playbook (he's definitely not listed as one of the two unwanted men of the newsletter's title)
www.politico.eu/newsletter/b...

There’s a new EU president in town: Séamus Boland elected this morning as @eesc-president.bsky.social. Yesterday, I had a chat with him — a farmer who, as he put it, “also happens to be very involved and loves drama, acting, writing plays and... showing off.”

There's an Insta video too!
www.instagram.com/reel/DQFX_mE...

Fascinated by how the idea of Martin Selmayr and Bjoern Seibert both roaming Brussels at once feels like Grindelwald and Lord Voldemort coexisting in the same magical era