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Andrew Gray

@andrewramsaygray.bsky.social

European Affairs Editor at Reuters, covering EU & NATO from Brussels. Previously: Lanark, London, Germany, Geneva, Balkans, Iraq, West Africa & Washington. Ex-Politico editor/podcaster.

6,833 Followers  |  1,470 Following  |  181 Posts  |  Joined: 22.09.2023
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Posts by Andrew Gray (@andrewramsaygray.bsky.social)

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European capitals push back as Ukraine seeks fast-track EU membership Ukraine’s push for a fast track into the European Union as part of any ​peace deal has hit stiff resistance from EU governments, who do not want to open the Pandora’s box of problems that they fear a ...

Ukraine’s push for a fast track into the European Union as part of any ​peace deal has hit stiff resistance from EU governments, who don't want to open the Pandora’s box of problems they fear a quick accession would ‌unleash.

New from @liliebayer.bsky.social, me and Kyiv bureau chief Daniel Flynn

03.03.2026 12:29 — 👍 11    🔁 8    💬 3    📌 0
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Hungary's Orban asks EU to go verify Druzhba pipeline damage Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday asked the EU for a "fact-finding mission" to assess damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline in Ukraine, and suggested this could help unblock new EU fundi...

Latest from Reuters' @kateabnett.bsky.social:

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has asked the EU for a "fact-finding mission" to assess damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline in Ukraine, and suggested this could help unblock new EU funding for Kyiv, a letter seen by Reuters showed.

26.02.2026 10:44 — 👍 8    🔁 2    💬 2    📌 1
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Exclusive: Iran nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China Iran is close to a deal with China to purchase anti‑ship cruise missiles, according to six people with knowledge of the negotiations, just as the United States deploys a vast naval force near the Iran...

Exclusive: Iran nears deal to buy supersonic anti-ship missiles from China

Great reporting from Reuters' @irishjreuters.bsky.social @phreuters.bsky.social @gavinfinch.bsky.social

24.02.2026 10:11 — 👍 24    🔁 12    💬 3    📌 1
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EU's Costa urges Hungary's Orban to respect 90 bln euro loan deal for Ukraine, letter shows European Council President Antonio Costa on Monday urged Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to honour an EU deal for a 90 billion euro ($106.11 billion) loan to Ukraine, after Budapest said it woul...

Costa also tells Orban: "When leaders reach a
consensus, they are bound by their decision. Any breach of this commitment constitutes a violation of the principle of sincere cooperation."

("Sincere cooperation" is mentioned in the EU's founding treaties.)

23.02.2026 16:31 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

In a letter seen by Reuters, Costa says he'll raise the issue of oil supplies with Ukrainian President Zelenskiy in Kyiv tomorrow.

But he also says: "No Member State can be allowed to undermine the credibility of decisions taken collectively by the European Council."

(2/3)

23.02.2026 16:31 — 👍 3    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

European Council President Antonio Costa has written to Hungarian PM Viktor Orban, urging him to honour an EU deal from December to give Ukraine a vital 90 bln euro loan.

Budapest has declared it will block the loan until Russian oil is flowing to Hungary again through the Druzhba pipeline.
(1/3)

23.02.2026 16:31 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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Exclusive: Germany seeks more F-35 jets as European fighter program falters, sources say Germany is considering ordering more U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets, two sources told Reuters, a move that would deepen Berlin's reliance on American military technology as its joint next-generation figh...

Big scoop from @sasilink.bsky.social and @michaelstone.bsky.social:

Germany is considering ordering more U.S.-made F-35 fighter jets - a move that would deepen Berlin's reliance on American military technology as its joint next-generation fighter program with France falters.

19.02.2026 08:15 — 👍 5    🔁 3    💬 1    📌 1
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How an unsolved 1971 homicide led to a surprise DNA connection A detective investigating a killing stumbled onto a “case within a case,” as he called it, involving long-lost siblings who hadn’t seen each other for 62 years.

Just caught up with this brilliant, moving story. Based on amazing detective work that became about far more than solving a cold case.

The detective's name is Zufall (chance or coincidence in German), which seems almost unbelievably perfect.

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...

17.02.2026 13:32 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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Europe aims to rely less on US defence after Trump's Greenland push European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen reflected a feeling of profound change among European leaders at this weekend's Munich Security Conference when she said: "Some lines have been cross...

"Some lines have been crossed that cannot be uncrossed anymore."

Analysis from the Munich Security Conference, with @irishjreuters.bsky.social & @sasilink.bsky.social

15.02.2026 16:47 — 👍 13    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0
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NATO has begun "Arctic Sentry", a mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic NATO said on Wednesday it had begun a mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic as part of an agreement to defuse severe tensions within the alliance prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump's d...

NATO says it has begun a mission to strengthen its presence in the Arctic - part of efforts to defuse severe tensions in the alliance prompted by U.S. President Donald Trump's desire for the U.S. to acquire Greenland.

11.02.2026 12:51 — 👍 17    🔁 3    💬 1    📌 0

We may soon need an emergency break from emergency brakes...

...and those who don't know the difference between the two.

02.02.2026 09:41 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Hegseth expected to skip NATO ministers' meeting next month, sources say U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is not expected to attend a NATO defence ministers' meeting in Brussels next month, two sources said, the second time in a row a Trump administration official has s...

Pete Hegseth is not expected to attend next month's NATO defence ministers' meeting - 2nd time in a row that a Trump Cabinet official skips a NATO ministerial meeting.

www.reuters.com/world/hegset...

29.01.2026 16:59 — 👍 4    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 1
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NATO boss Rutte slaps down calls for European army prompted by Trump fears NATO boss Mark Rutte on Monday dismissed calls by some leading European politicians for a separate European army, prompted by doubts over Donald Trump's commitment to the continent's security that wer...

NATO's Rutte deploys Dutch bluntness to slap down calls for a European army - an idea revived recently by Spain's foreign minister and the EU's defence commissioner.

"I think Putin will love it."

"Think again."

"Keep on dreaming."

"Hey, good luck."

26.01.2026 17:06 — 👍 1    🔁 1    💬 4    📌 0
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Very unusual for the head of NATO's military committee to comment like this - a clear response to Trump's remark about NATO troops in Afghanistan, even if it's not explicitly mentioned.

The fact he's done so suggests the strength of feeling in NATO military circles about that remark.

25.01.2026 09:49 — 👍 76    🔁 20    💬 0    📌 1

NATO officials and diplomats also expect there will be a greater NATO presence in the Arctic - through a mission, operation and/or exercises etc.

Again, though, details have not been agreed or decided.

ENDS

22.01.2026 21:36 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Trump touts 'total access' Greenland deal as NATO asks allies to step up President Donald Trump said on Thursday he had secured total and permanent U.S. access to Greenland in a deal with NATO, whose head said allies would have to step up their commitment to Arctic securit...

On Greenland framework agreed by Trump & Rutte, people familiar tell us:

It's "a frame on which to build. Anything being reported on specific details is speculative."

Agreed on US-Denmark talks to update 1951 accord on US military access

Calls for prohibiting Chinese & Russian investments...

1/2

22.01.2026 21:36 — 👍 8    🔁 6    💬 2    📌 1
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Greenland crisis shows time for flattering Trump is over, former NATO boss Rasmussen says The time for flattering Donald Trump is over and Europe should hit back hard economically if the U.S. imposes tariffs on NATO allies that sent troops to Greenland, ex-NATO boss and former Danish Prime...

The time for flattering Donald Trump is over, says former NATO boss Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

"It's really the future of NATO that is at stake," he told me today.

Rasmussen has a unique perspective on the Greenland crisis as a former Danish PM and ex-NATO secretary general.

Interview:

20.01.2026 14:41 — 👍 44    🔁 26    💬 3    📌 0
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NATO's existential bind over Greenland in a nutshell, from our analysis last week.

tinyurl.com/5x8ye7z3

18.01.2026 11:03 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0
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Trump's Greenland push prompts NATO scramble for Arctic security ideas - and survival The NATO security alliance that has protected Europe for decades finds itself with limited power to determine its own fate due to President Donald Trump’s desire for U.S. ownership of Greenland.

NATO is in a bind. Trump's Greenland push threatens its very existence. But NATO's power to influence the standoff is limited.

It is scrambling for more Arctic security measures. But Trump has insisted nothing less than U.S. ownership of Greenland will do.

Analysis by @liliebayer.bsky.social & me.

15.01.2026 14:11 — 👍 6    🔁 4    💬 0    📌 0
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Greenlanders watch nervously for signs from White House talks In a blue wooden house perched above Nuuk's sprawling fjord, Liv Aurora Jensen sat in her living room surrounded by the trappings of Greenlandic life — handmade cutting boards and ceramics, and Greenl...

Recommended reading from @jacobgronholt.bsky.social in Nuuk, focusing on the human side of the Greenland standoff.

15.01.2026 11:12 — 👍 4    🔁 2    💬 0    📌 0

I asked NATO boss Mark Rutte at a @reneweurope.bsky.social event today whether it was acceptable for one member to threaten the use of force to take the territory of another.

He declined to answer, referring to a previous answer about not being able to comment on internal discussions.

13.01.2026 14:56 — 👍 14    🔁 9    💬 5    📌 0
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EU's Ukraine funding deal keeps Kyiv in fight, Russian assets in deep freeze European Union leaders claimed victory after agreeing a 90 billion euro ($105 billion) loan to keep Ukraine financially afloat and in the fight against Russia’s invasion for the next two years – but i...

Moral of the story:

In Brussels, whatever anyone tells you,

there is never only one game in town.

19.12.2025 08:39 — 👍 31    🔁 14    💬 3    📌 1

Just ICYMI last night: European Commission considering a SAFE 2.0…

12.12.2025 06:24 — 👍 3    🔁 1    💬 0    📌 0
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EU Commission considers second SAFE loans scheme for defence projects, sources say The European Commission is considering launching a second edition of its multi-billion-euro SAFE loans scheme for defence projects as Europe seeks to bolster its defences due to growing fears of Russi...

New: European Commission is considering a sequel to its multi-billion-euro SAFE loans scheme for defence spending.

At a Politico event tonight, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said some member states were asking for a second SAFE.

EU officials say it's under active consideration.

11.12.2025 22:20 — 👍 4    🔁 8    💬 1    📌 1
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Trump's push to end Ukraine war raises fears of 'ugly deal' for Europe However Donald Trump’s latest push to end the war in Ukraine pans out, Europe fears the prospect of a deal – sooner or later – that will not punish or weaken Russia as its leaders had hoped, placing t...

Analysis ahead of Witkoff-Putin meeting today:

However Trump’s latest push to end the war in Ukraine pans out, Europe fears the prospect of a deal – sooner or later – that will not punish or weaken Russia as its leaders had hoped, placing the continent’s security in greater jeopardy.

02.12.2025 07:54 — 👍 15    🔁 6    💬 0    📌 0

Of course, ultimately, this is not a decision that will be made by the EU or other European leaders.

But the language may indicate the direction of a compromise - higher than the 600,000 in the US plan, maybe more like 800,000, as some Europeans have suggested.

26.11.2025 10:44 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Worth looking closely at what European leaders say on Ukrainian army limits.

Von der Leyen today: "There can be no limitations on Ukraine's armed forces that would leave the country vulnerable to future attacks."

Not quite a flat 'no limts', leaves open for discussion how high a cap might be. 1/2

26.11.2025 10:44 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 2    📌 1

We've published the full text of a European counter-proposal to the U.S. 28-point Ukraine peace plan, seen by Reuters.

The document, drafted by Europe's E3 powers of Britain, France and Germany, takes the U.S. plan as its basis but goes through point by point with suggested changes & deletions.

23.11.2025 17:34 — 👍 32    🔁 10    💬 2    📌 1

New from us:

Europeans have submitted a modified version of the United States' peace plan for Ukraine that pushes back on proposed limits to Kyiv's armed forces and territorial concessions, according to a document seen by Reuters on Sunday.

Story below, we'll also publish full text.

23.11.2025 16:34 — 👍 12    🔁 8    💬 1    📌 1
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EU foreign policy chief @kajakallas.bsky.social sending a very visual message on Ukraine at EU-Indo Pacific ministerial meeting.

21.11.2025 13:36 — 👍 17    🔁 8    💬 1    📌 0