EUROPE II

GERMANY

Far-right German Party Elects Its Leaders

The national convention of the far-right, pro-Nazi political party, Alternative for Germany, or AfD, was held in the weekend (July 3, 2026 Friday weekend) at the German city of Erfrut. The current leaders of the party were re-elected, showing the broad unity. Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla won as co-leaders by receiving nearly 81% and 70%, respectively. 

G7 BLOC

******************* EVIAN-LES-BAINS SUMMIT (JUNE 15-17, 2026) *******************
Iran War Overshadows G-7 Summit

President Donald Trump on June 15, 2026 arrived at French Alpine resort of Evian-Les-Bains to attend the summit of industrialized world. This year's summit has a long shadow of Iran War cast as Iran and the U.S. has agreed to a deal a day ago (June 14, 2026) to end the war. French President Emmanuel Macron greeted President Trump on June 15, 2026. 

G-7 Summit Concludes with a Show of Support for U.S.-Iran Agreement to End Conflict

The three-day G-7 summit ended on June 17, 2026 as the pall of long shadow of the Iran-U.S. agreement fell on the rest of the summit's agenda items. 

******************* EVIAN-LES-BAINS SUMMIT (JUNE 15-17, 2026) *******************

NATO

********************* NATO Summit in Ankara (July 6-7, 2026)

Greenland Overshadows the Summit, Trump Lifts Arms Sanctions on Turkey

The Ankara summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is witnessing U.S. President Donald Trump's temper-tantrum as he, sitting beside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at a press conference in Ankara, has said that Greenland should be part of the USA. 

Also, Trump declared on July 7, 2026 that the U.S. would lift sanctions under the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions, or CAATS, Act imposed on Turkey after Ankara had bought S-400 missiles from Russia in 2019. The S-400 transactions strained the relationship of two NATO allies. Removing the CAATS Act doesn't mean that Turkey will automatically be approved to buy American F-35 fighter jets. That requires approval from the U.S. State Department. Removal of the CAATS Act is a slap on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who personally appealed to Donald Trump not to make it easy for Turkey to participate in the F-35 weapons program. 

Journalists Subpoenaed for Reports Related to Aircraft's Potential Security Flaws

That President Donald Trump was targeted by Iran, and thus, his use of an older Air Force One aircraft was necessitated instead of a new aircraft gifted by Qatar might not have made much news if the  administration didn't issue subpoenas against the four The New York Times reporters. President Donald Trump flew in the new Air Force One, a plane gifted by Qatar that required additional security upgrades worth $400 million, to Turkey last week to attend the NATO summit. On his way back home on July 8, 2026, Trump flew in an older Air Force One jet from Turkey to Mildenhall, a Royal Air Force base in Suffolk, England after a reported Iranian plot to target the president. Despite an investment of $400 million in security upgrades, White House was not confident in flying Trump in the more luxurious aircraft, which flew separately to Mildenhall to pick up Trump there for the last leg of the flight to the Joint Base Andrews, given as a gift by Qatar. 

The potential security deficit in the more luxurious Air Force One gifted by Qatar seemed an embarrassment to Trump despite such a high price tag, $400 million, for security upgrades. On July 10, 2026, FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice officials met and decided to take action to uncover the administration source of the leaks. Right after that meeting, federal agents knocked at the doors of four journalists of The New York Times--Julian E. Barnes, Eric Lipton, Tyler Pager and Eric Schmitt--to serve  subpoenas, according to the Times, in a chilling incident of curbing the press freedom. The subpoenas seek to force the journalists to testify next week before a federal jury in Manhattan. 

********************* NATO Summit in Ankara (July 6-7, 2026)

UNITED KINGDOM

British Defense Minister Resigns

That Premier Keir Starmer's government is facing headwind and turbulence is an understatement. Right now it's facing mini-rebellion over Former British ambassador's [to the U.S.] Jeffrey Epstein connection and what Starmer knew when he had appointed Peter Mendelson. Then came the Labor Party's electoral reverses in May 7, 2026, local polls.

On June 11, 2026, John Healy unexpectedly quit as defense minister, complaining that Starmer was reluctant to allocate enough in Defense spending in the face of multilateral threat. 

Greater Manchester Mayor's Win in Parliamentary By-poll Spells Trouble for Starmer

That Premier Keir Starmer will face more strident calls to quit is a matter of time as Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, a rising Labor Party leader, has won decisively in a parliamentary by-election from Makerfield constituency. Burnham won the special election held on June 18, 2026 by securing 55% vote and edging past convincingly U.K. Reform Party candidate Rob Kenyon. 

Although Prime Minister Keir Starmer vowed to lead the Labor Party government, an intra-party challenge from Andy Burnham, who is ruling Greater Manchester since 2017, is likelier than ever.

Starmer Resigns after Internal Pressure

It is a long line of departures since the Brexit a decade ago. Six premiers stood outside the 10 Downing Street in the past 10 years to announce their untimely resignations. The last one was Keir Starmer who called it quits on June 22, 2026 after two years of leading the Labor government. Starmer faced calls for quitting after scandal erupted over Epstein File that implicated Former British Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson. In addition, Starmer administration was not able to tame inflation, manage migration and improve the economic condition of blue collar working class people.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, who won a special election last week, is poised to become the new premier. The popular leader is able to garner support from various factions of the Labor Party. 

President Donald Trump in a manner so uncharacteristic of the U.S. presidency wrote on the social media that Keir Starmer had "failed" in two main areas: immigration and energy because his administration had failed to open up North Sea for oil exploration. 

Starmer received plaudits, though, from other European leaders and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for steadfast support to Kyiv and steady foreign policy leadership. 

ENGLAND

Starmer Refuses to Resign after Heavy Losses in Local Polls

After significant losses in the May 7, 2026, local polls in which anti-immigrant U.K. Reform Party made inroads, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on May 8, 2026 that he won't resign, instead trying to pursue policies to help people. 

SCOTLAND

Ex-husband of Former Scottish Premier Pleads Guilty to Theft

One time they were Scotland's power couple. It's the story of Former Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her husband Peter Murrell, 61. Scottish National Party at one point of time became synonymous with the rising profile of the First Couple. After more than five years of investigation, Murrell on May 25, 2026 pleaded guilty to theft of 400,000 pounds to fund lavish lifestyle. Nicola Sturgeon said that she had been unaware of the embezzlement. 

VATICAN

Breakaway Church Defies Vatican, Consecrates Four Bishops in Defiance of Pope

The latest defiance shown by the Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX, came on July 1, 2026 as the group consecrated four bishops. The conservative group was founded by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 opposing the decisions of the Second Vatican Council in 1960s. The reforms promoted by the Vatican II eventually led to the redefining of the Catholic Church's relations with other religions as well as allowing the Mass to be celebrated in vernacular instead of Latin. 

On July 1, 2026, SSPX consecrated four bishops at its seminary in Econe, Switzerland in front of 15,000 attendees and their children. Earlier in the week, Pope Leo urged the group not to hold the consecration ceremony for the sake of the Church's unity. Despite Papal call for desisting from the consecration ceremony, the group was defiant and went ahead with a rituals-filled five-hour ceremony. That had sapped all the patience of Vatican. 

On July 2, 2026, Vatican announced that SSPX had performed "schismatic acts" and excommunicated its bishops and priests and warned its faithful not to attend its masses. However, this is not the first excommunication of the order. After the order's founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops in 1988, the order was excommunicated. Pope Benedict XVI restored the order as part of the Catholic Church in 2009. However, the relationship between SSPX and Vatican started to sour after the death of Pope Benedict XVI. 

Papal Focus on the eve of America's Semi-quincentennial Birthday: Recommit to Founding Ideals

On the eve of the U.S.' 250th Independence Day, Pope Leo XIV addressed the National Constitution Center [via video call] on July 3, 2026, urging Americans to recommit to the founding principles of the Republic. Pope Leo XIV received this year's Liberty Medal from the Center. History's first pope from the America stressed on compassionate migrant policy and religious freedom, urging Americans to welcome newcomers. 

Pope Leo XIV will spend 4th of July this year in the Sicilian island of Lampedusa to underline Vatican's embrace of refugees and migrants.