Who dares snub the Donald?

The US is throwing a huge invite-only party for more than 5,000 diplomats, politicians and officials in Brussels on 28 June. American ambassadors across the world are throwing these events to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.

In more harmonious times, this party would be the hottest ticket in town. This year, it’s giving Donald Trump-phobic EU politicians and officials the heebie-jeebies.

As it stands, the most powerful EU leaders aren’t planning to attend.

Ursula von der Leyen, the Commission president, can’t make it. Her spokesperson Paula Pinho told Rapporteur that she would be travelling, but declined to say where. As for António Costa, president of the European Council, his team told us his attendance remains undecided, while the cabinet of Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, indicated she’s unlikely to make it.

That would leave Roberta Metsola, the European Parliament president, as the most senior EU representative at the event. Her team confirmed she had accepted the invitation from Andrew Puzder, the US ambassador to the EU.

That may not be the kind of endorsement Washington would have wanted for an event just a stone’s throw from European institutions. The US has rented out the vast Autoworld Museum and surrounding grounds in Cinquantenaire Park for the celebration. Fireworks, a performance by guitarist Nile Rodgers and a possible NATO flypast are among the entertainment planned for guests.

Bill White, the US ambassador to Belgium, dubbed it the “largest celebration of American exceptionalism ever held in Europe” in a letter to tech CEOs seeking corporate sponsorship earlier this year. The event is expected to cost around $4 million.

The celebration comes at a sensitive moment for transatlantic relations. Trade disputes, disagreements over Ukraine and ongoing criticism of European allies by senior Trump administration officials have fanned tensions between Brussels and Washington. Last weekend, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth chose the beaches of Normandy, of all places, to deliver a tirade about the EU’s laxity on illegal migration.

James Kanter, an American-British journalist in Brussels, recently argued EU officials should boycott the party, citing what he described as Trump’s “pernicious” attitude to Europe.

The Americans are outwardly confident that top EU figures will show up. “We have confirmed participation at very high levels from EU, NATO, and the Belgian government. For security reasons we are not releasing their names at this time,” said an embassy spokesperson.

Bart De Wever is expected to attend, as is Mark Rutte. But the absence of von der Leyen, Costa and Kallas may rankle the Americans.

Armenia’s Pashinyan in talks to join EPP

Fresh from storming to victory in Armenia, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is in talks to bring his pro-EU Civil Contract party into the European People’s Party, Rapporteur has learned.

No formal decision has been taken and a timetable has yet to be confirmed, but Pashinyan has signalled his interest and the pan-European centre-right family could approve Civil Contract’s membership later this year.

Other parties set to join the EPP include Hungary’s Tisza, Denmark’s Liberal Alliance, Czechia’s STAN, and Montenegro’s ruling Europe Now Movement (PES), whose leader Milojko Spajić attended an EPP enlargement event in Sarajevo on Monday.

Pashinyan won a commanding victory in Sunday’s election, which was overshadowed by allegations of Russian interference. Enlargement watchers are also looking for signs of when Pashinyan might formally apply for EU candidate status.

As Emma Collet reports, however, the trend away from Russian dominance may be clear but the Armenian authorities are wary of framing the choice facing the country as a binary one between Brussels and Moscow. Read her full story.

Macron and Merz hit eject

Germany and France have abandoned plans to jointly develop a next-generation fighter jet at the heart of the €100 billion Future Combat Air System, ending years of industrial infighting between Airbus and Dassault.

Friedrich Merz and Emmanuel Macron concluded that the companies could not agree on how to build a common aircraft, prompting Berlin to advise against pursuing the project any further, Alice Tidey, Kjeld Neubert and Björn Stritzel report.

The wider FCAS project will survive, however. Germany and France want to preserve the programme’s broader technology architecture linking aircraft, drones and other military systems through a common digital backbone.

The two defence ministries have now been tasked with identifying a small number of "realistic" joint projects, while both sides insist Franco-German defence cooperation remains essential despite the collapse of one of Europe’s most ambitious military-industrial ventures. Read the full story.

EU works with Israel to fight Jew hate

The European Commission held a closed-door meeting with Israeli officials on Monday, stressing efforts to combat rising antisemitism across Europe. The annual EU-Israel seminar has existed since 2007 but was politically upgraded in 2021.

In a joint press release, both sides wrote: “Jews are being attacked, are confronted with hatred on the streets, on campus at work … Many European Jews don’t feel safe showing their identity in public anymore.”

They agreed to deepen cooperation, particularly on tackling online hate. Internal Affairs and Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner and Parliament VP Pina Picierno represented the EU, while Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, delivered a video message.

Not everyone thought it proper for such a conference to take place. Martin Konečný, who runs a pro-Palestine advocacy platform called the European Middle East Project, accused Israel’s government of committing atrocities and of using the term antisemitism as a “slur” to attack EU states, thus “distorting” its meaning.

His post on X was followed by a torrent of … antisemitic comments.

Here are three new stories from Euractiv:

• €1.4 billion later, where is Europe’s Bauhaus?

• Opinion: The cracks in Edi Rama’s image

• NATO turns to digital battlefield simulations

VON DER LEYEN ON LOSS AND CANCER: The Commission president opened up about the childhood trauma of losing her younger sister to a rare cancer, describing how the experience shaped her life and career.

“I was just 13 years old when my little sister died of cancer. She was only 11. She had a reticulosarcoma, a very rare cancer, completely incurable at the time,” von der Leyen said last night at a European Parliament conference on brain cancer and research. “I still vividly remember the helplessness of my parents, but also of the medical staff around her.”

She was speaking alongside Sophie Wilmès, the senior Belgian MEP and former prime minister, whose husband died of brain cancer in 2023.

It’s not the first time von der Leyen has reflected publicly on the death of her sister Eva-Benita, whom she has said inspired her decision to become a medical doctor. In 2020, she suggested her sister’s memory also helped shape the EU’s Beating Cancer Plan, a flagship EPP initiative. Ahead of her 2024 re-election, she told Bild that her sister is buried in an Alpine pasture in Austria, where the family still retreats today.

SOLEMN TRADITION: For the fourth consecutive year, the names of Ukrainians forcibly deported by Russia will be read out at a ceremony next to the European Parliament today. The event, running since 2020, commemorates the victims of Soviet mass expulsions, and will be attended by top EU figures, including Roberta Metsola and Andrius Kubilius, at 1 p.m.

ROME 🇮🇹

Italy’s local elections ended in a dead heat, with six provincial capitals voting in runoffs on Sunday and the centre-left and centre-right each winning three. Giorgia Meloni hailed the result as evidence of her coalition’s enduring local strength. Turnout fell to 52%, down from the first round and continuing a broader trend of voter disengagement.

– Alessia Peretti

ATHENS 🇬🇷

Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Monday appointed Tasos Chatzivasileiou as deputy foreign minister for European Affairs in a minor cabinet reshuffle. While the prime minister insists parliamentary elections will be held on schedule in 2027, pressure for an earlier vote is growing within the ruling New Democracy party amid persistent concerns over the cost of living and a series of political scandals.

– Sarantis Michalopoulos

BRATISLAVA 🇸🇰

Slovakia has received a net €29 billion from the EU since joining the bloc in 2004, but the impact of that spending has been mixed, according to a Supreme Audit Office assessment published on Monday. The watchdog gave the overall effectiveness of EU funds a three-out-of-five rating, warning that cohesion policy has only partially narrowed regional disparities, with eastern Slovakia still lagging far behind the EU average.

– Natália Silenská

KYIV 🇺🇦

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday he held talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during a stopover in Chișinău, focused on reviving diplomacy to end Russia’s war. He said discussions covered preparations for June meetings, including the G7 summit. Zelenskyy also said he spoke with Emmanuel Macron, building on talks held in London a day earlier and discussing his conversation with the US envoys.

– Christina Zhao

PRISTINA 🇽🇰

EU officials urged Kosovo's political parties to quickly form a government following Sunday’s election, with Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos signalling she expects to return soon to advance the country's EU path. Election observers from the Council of Europe said the vote reflected widespread voter fatigue and raised concerns over the alleged misuse of public resources, warning that democracy requires compromise rather than “zero-sum victories.”

– Bronwyn Jones

Contributors: Thomas Moller-Nielsen, Magnus Lund Nielsen, Bruno Waterfield

Editors: Christina Zhao, Sofia Mandilara, Charles Szumski