Commission names Moldova its top reformer
Welcome, Europeans. 🇪🇺
The Commission has assessed the progress of countries seeking EU membership. Hungary has opened its communist-era files, and Serbia has detained officers over alleged abuse of protesters.
Today in Europe:
- 🇲🇩 The Commission names Moldova its best performer on accession reforms.
- 🇭🇺 Hungary gives citizens access to secret police files.
- ⚡ The Commission publishes its 2027 work programme.
- 🇷🇸 Serbia detains 10 current and former officers over alleged abuse.
- 🚆 Spain’s rail infrastructure chief submits his resignation.
🇲🇩 Commission names Moldova its top reformer
The European Commission has named Moldova the best performer on reforms among four leading candidates for EU membership, EUobserver reports. Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos praised its determination to implement changes and its resilience to Russian interference.
Kos told reporters in Brussels on Wednesday that Moldova, Albania and Montenegro were on track for accession by 2030. The Commission also praised Ukraine’s reforms during Russia’s war. Moldova and Ukraine began accession talks in 2024; Albania started in 2022 and Montenegro in 2012.
Why it matters: Enlargement needs a credible timetable, not a permanent waiting room. Moldova is pursuing reforms amid Russian interference; the EU should be equally serious about assessing progress against clear, public conditions.
Meet the standards, earn the place: that bargain has to work both ways.
🇭🇺 Hungary opens communist-era files
Hungary has given citizens online access to previously restricted communist-era secret police files, Politico Europe reports. People can search for their ancestors’ names, seven decades after the Soviet Union crushed the 1956 Hungarian revolution.
The documents have been debated for decades, partly because a name in the files does not necessarily mean its owner was an informant: some were people the regime monitored. Prime Minister Péter Magyar urged citizens to treat the release with “dignity and humanity”. BBC News reports that critics say the files are incomplete and fear they could cause unnecessary anguish.
Why it matters: Opening the archives is better than leaving the secret police as the final custodians of Hungary’s history. But a name in a file is not a verdict, and transparency without context can turn scrutiny into suspicion.
Publish the records, and give families the tools to understand them.
⚡ Commission sets out 2027 work programme
The European Commission has published a 2027 work programme focused on energy prices, defence and cutting red tape, EUobserver reports. The programme contains 23 policy initiatives.
Among them is a proposed clean heat market mechanism that the Commission says would support heat-pump deployment, reduce households’ upfront costs and limit exposure to high fossil-fuel prices. It also plans a housing simplification package for building and renovation, and a European Corporation on Critical Raw Materials intended to reduce reliance on China. The programme warns that Europe’s ambition to be militarily ready by 2030 is at risk.
Why it matters: Cheaper clean heat and fewer critical-material dependencies are security policies as well as economic ones. Simplification should get homes renovated and equipment built faster, not become an excuse to quietly discard useful safeguards.
Cut the paperwork; keep the accountability.
🇷🇸 Serbia detains officers over alleged protester abuse
Serbian authorities have detained nine serving police officers and one former officer over alleged excessive force against detainees, The Guardian reports, citing the interior ministry. The alleged abuse took place during anti-corruption protests in Belgrade last year.
The ministry says the suspects tortured and intimidated protesters detained in a government compound’s garage. The protests spread across Serbia in 2025 and 2026 after 16 people died when a concrete canopy at a renovated railway station in Novi Sad collapsed on 1 November 2024. Serbia is a candidate for EU membership.
Why it matters: Police accountability is a test of the rule of law, not an optional extra on the road to EU membership. Allegations of abuse in custody deserve a thorough investigation and a fair legal process.
Serbia’s institutions need to show that a uniform is no shield from scrutiny.
🚆 Spain’s rail infrastructure chief steps down
The president of Spain’s rail infrastructure operator Adif has submitted his resignation to new transport minister Carlos Cuerpo, Politico Europe reports. Luis Pedro Marco de la Peña’s departure follows last week’s crash near Urda, Toledo, which killed 69 people.
Adif is responsible for rail infrastructure, signalling and traffic control. Cuerpo took office after transport minister Óscar Puente resigned on Tuesday. The Guardian reports that a high-speed Renfe train struck a stationary Iryo train near Urda, injuring more than 100 people. It was Spain’s second fatal rail crash this year, after 46 people died near Adamuz in January.
Why it matters: Leadership changes cannot substitute for a rigorous account of what failed. Two fatal crashes in one year demand answers that passengers, railway workers and bereaved families can examine.
Make the findings public and act on them.
📰 In Other News
- 🚢 An EU court kept restrictions on Russian-certified ships using docks and locks, EUobserver reports.
- 🩸 Hackers affected cold rooms storing blood, the French Blood Establishment told BBC News.
- 🇫🇷 French unions have called a nationwide strike amid protests over education and living costs, The Guardian reports.
- 🇺🇦 Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet US first lady Melania Trump at the White House on Thursday, BBC News reports.
- 🔬 CERN scientists have found evidence of a rare particle decay, Euronews reports.
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Written with the help of AI from the reporting linked above.