In a slow Brussels week, attention has been on the “Board of Peace,” attended on Thursday by, erm, 14 EU countries and the European Commission. All bar Bulgaria and Hungary, of course, joined merely as observers. France led opposition to the Commission’s participation, which happened anyway – a reminder of the centre-right EPP’s influence over Brussels’ policymaking.

Barring a military escalation by Trump against Iran, this weekend’s European political spotlight will shift to the annual French agricultural salon, a battleground of presidential jockeying, with Emmanuel Macron himself to attend.

TGIF. You’re reading Rapporteur on 20 February. This is Eddy Wax, with Nicoletta Ionta in Brussels.

Need-to-knows:

🟢 MAGA envoys test Europe’s patience

🟢 Qatargate suspects’ legal challenge fails

🟢 Norway denies it will host Board of Peace meeting

Donald Trump’s ambassadors across Europe appear to have embraced a brief that extends well beyond traditional diplomacy: promoting Melania the movie, organising extravagant celebrations for America's 250th year of independence, and stirring controversy MAGA-style.

In Belgium this week, US ambassador Bill White made national headlines after accusing the government of antisemitism in a row over Jewish circumcision. Summoned by the Belgian foreign minister, he doubled down, rather than being cowed.

Trump’s envoys have proved similarly contentious elsewhere.

In Poland, ambassador Tom Rose picked a fight with the left-leaning parliament speaker, who refused to endorse Trump’s bid for the Nobel peace prize. In Denmark, ambassador Ken Howery caused a storm for removing flags honouring fallen NATO soldiers.

The newly appointed ambassador to Luxembourg managed to provoke condemnation in both the Duchy and Beijing before even arriving, after saying she would “humbly educate” the Luxembourgers about the threat from China. In Malta, controversy followed Trump’s ambassador after her husband turned up in the Epstein files, asking the sex offender if a woman he was apparently seeing was a “hooker.”

Such undiplomatic forays are not surprising. The US administration’s strategy is a “revival of spirit” in Europe, in which it encourages the continent to “correct its current trajectory.” Hosting receptions is no longer the sole measure of the job.

A discernible trend has also emerged in the use of antisemitism as a political wedge.

In that sense, White’s remarks in Brussels followed a script. Charles Kushner, the father of Trump’s son-in-law Jared, invoked Parisian wrath last summer when he accused France of not doing enough to combat antisemitism.

A notable share of Trump’s picks in Europe are conservative Jewish figures, posted to countries including Belgium, France, Estonia, Romania, Hungary, Luxembourg and Finland. Interestingly, in Ireland, among the EU’s most vocal critics of Israel, ambassador Ed Walsh – who is not Jewish despite being a keen golfer – has kept his head down.

Qatargate probe cleared to continue

Belgium’s Indictment Chamber has dealt a setback to defendants in the Qatargate corruption investigation, rejecting claims that the probe was legally flawed.

In a 113-page ruling, the Brussels Court of Appeal body found the investigation to be “regular” and declined to halt the case, my colleague Elisa Braun reports. The decision allows investigators to proceed after months of procedural challenges. Those under investigation include former S&D MEPs Pier Antonio Panzeri and Eva Kaili, as well as Kaili’s partner Francesco Giorgi.

Judges also declined to examine complaints concerning leaks to the press, saying these were being handled in a separate inquiry.

It’s Norway or the highway

At a White House event on Thursday, Trump pledged $10 billion to launch the “Board of Peace" and said members had committed a further $7 billion.

The Commission was represented by Dubravka Šuica, a move rattled several EU capitals. France publicly condemned the decision, with EU Minister Jean-Noël Barrot saying that the Commission “should never have attended” without Council approval.

Trump also suggested Norway would host the next meeting. Oslo swiftly rejected the claim. “There will not be a Board of Peace meeting organized in Norway,” a press spokesperson for Norway told NRK.

EU opens visa office in India

The EU will open a new office in New Delhi to fast-track Schengen visas for Indian ICT specialists, European Commission Executive Vice President Henna Virkkunen said on Thursday.

The “European Legal Gateway Office” – the first of its kind in a partner country – was announced during Virkkunen’s visit to India for the AI Summit, my colleague Théophane Hartmann reports. The move comes as Brussels and New Delhi negotiate a trade deal amid US tariff pressures and mounting concern over Europe’s digital skills shortages.

Spain defends migrant regularisation

Spain’s Migration Minister Elma Saiz has defended the government’s plans to regularise more than 500,000 undocumented migrants, arguing the debate has become "completely politicised.”

Under the proposal, migrants already residing in Spain would be eligible to apply during a three-month window for one-year residence and work permits.

In an interview with colleague Inés Fernández Pontes, Saiz accused the conservative opposition of distorting the discussion with "racist" and "xenophobic" rhetoric.

“We are only talking about people who are already in Spain… many of whom are in the underground economy,” she said. “They must also have the possibility of having rights and obligations.”

ESN + 1: Italian MEP Roberto Vannacci is set to be unveiled as the newest member of the extreme-right Europe of Sovereign Nations group at a press conference next Tuesday. The former general, who became famous for a self-published anti-woke bestseller, quit the Patriots group two weeks ago and has since been courted by ESN. Should he join, Parliament’s smallest group would rise to 28 members.

@POTUS: If there was any doubt about the real intention of Dubravka Šuica’s trip to the White House on Thursday to take part in the Board of Peace, her X account took care of it – tagging Trump in a post featuring herself at the meeting.

Georgia on their mind: Students and alumni of the College of Europe have criticised a decision to invite Georgia’s ambassador to Poland, Diana Zhgenti, to mark Georgian National Day at the institution’s Polish campus on 13 February. Georgian alumni circulated an open letter arguing that the invitation confers legitimacy on what they describe as an anti-EU regime in Tbilisi.

“In the current Georgian context, the institutional visibility and symbolic legitimacy attached to an official representative of the Georgian Dream’s government cannot be treated as politically neutral,” wrote Kristine Pitalskaia, an alumna now working at the German Marshall Fund.

PARIS 🇫🇷 / ROME 🇮🇹

A diplomatic row erupted on Thursday between Giorgia Meloni and Emmanuel Macron after the killing in Lyon of Quentin Deranque, a 23-year-old far-right activist. Macron accused Meloni of meddling in French affairs after she described the death as “a wound for all Europe.” Meloni said she was “surprised” by his remarks, insisting her comments referred to rising political polarisation, not France.

– Nicoletta Ionta

BERLIN 🇩🇪

A year after his election victory, Friedrich Merz faces his CDU party congress on Friday under pressure from weak poll ratings, a sluggish economy and advances by the far-right AfD. While he has taken a prominent role abroad, backing Ukraine and boosting defence spending, at home he has drawn criticism for breaking a no-debt pledge and for reforms seen as too slow or diluted.

– Christina Zhao

MADRID 🇪🇸

Spain’s opposition Popular Party said on Thursday it will summon former PM José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to testify before the Senate’s Koldo commission over his alleged links to the state-backed rescue of airline Plus Ultra. The pandemic-era bailout is under judicial investigation after the carrier’s chief executive was arrested in a probe into suspected procurement irregularities and money laundering.

– Inés Fernández-Pontes

WARSAW 🇵🇱

President Karol Nawrocki on Thursday signed legislation phasing out a 2022 special act on assistance to Ukrainian refugees, incorporating its provisions into the broader law on foreigner protection. Nawrocki said he had vetoed an earlier draft for failing to reflect public concerns, forcing amendments. The revised rules end what he called “unconditional privileges” while extending legal stay until March 2027 in line with the EU’s temporary protection framework.

– Charles Szumski

ATHENS 🇬🇷

Culture ministry experts will meet a Belgian collector in Ghent on Friday who says he holds unpublished photographs of the execution of Greek communists during the Nazi occupation. The claim has stirred sensitivities in Athens, touching on divisions that resurfaced during the post-war civil conflict. Officials will assess images attributed to German lieutenant Hermann Heuer and may submit a purchase offer if their authenticity is confirmed.

– Sarantis Michalopoulos

BUDAPEST 🇭🇺

Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party drew criticism on Thursday after releasing an AI-generated campaign video depicting a wartime execution and warning voters not to “let others decide your family’s fate.” The clip, showing blindfolded men shot by a soldier in a Nazi-style uniform, echoes Fidesz’s narrative that an opposition victory in April’s elections could drag Hungary into war. Opposition leader Péter Magyar called it “terrifying and unforgivable.”

– Charles Szumski

France’s pesticide battle is back, as centre-right Senator Laurent Duplomb renews his push to authorise acetamiprid, arguing French farmers are being undercut by EU rivals still allowed to use it. The dispute – framed by supporters as a competitiveness issue and by opponents as a scientific and environmental red line – is fast becoming a proxy for the country’s deeper agricultural divide.

A succession of winter storms has pushed Spanish wind generation to record levels, driving wholesale power prices down to an average of €12 per MWh in February – far below the €90-€120 seen elsewhere in the EU.

But the Iberian Peninsula’s limited interconnection with France, with cross-border capacity equal to just 3.6% of peak demand, is trapping much of that surplus at home and entrenching its status as Europe’s energy island.

Contributors: Elisa Braun, Théophane Hartmann, Inés Fernándes-Pontes, Magnus Lund Nielsen

Editors: Christina Zhao, Sofia Mandilara, Charles Szumski