Supreme Court justices make case for more security funding

• Rikard Jozwiak's "Wider Europe Briefing" highlights the EU's "Super Tuesday" regarding enlargement and the status of Ukrainian civil detainees held by Russia. • A coalition of nations, including Belgium, Bulgaria, and Sweden, criticized the European Commission for allegedly "sugarcoating" Serbia's progress on necessary reforms.

• South Korea's Minimum Wage Commission has approved a 3.7% increase in the national minimum wage for 2027. • The new hourly rate is set at 10,700 won (approximately US$7.19), marking a continued upward trend in labor costs.

• A historic agreement signed in Brussels on July 14 removes border checks for Schengen area travelers between Spain and the British enclave of Gibraltar. • The deal effectively ends more than a century of restrictive border controls between the two territories.

• The European Parliament’s Committee on Culture is calling for social media platforms to implement stricter safety measures to better protect children. • Lawmakers argue that digital platforms must "adapt to the real world" to mitigate the risks associated with youth usage of social media.

• The Greek government has announced a national plan to fast-track legislation that would ban children under the age of 15 from accessing social media platforms. • This move is part of a broader effort to accelerate several pieces of legislation, though the specific implementation date for the ban has not yet been finalized.

• Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett met with lawmakers on Tuesday for a regular budget hearing on Capitol Hill to discuss security funding. • Democratic Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro used the occasion to advocate for a bill banning most gifts and the implementation of an enforcement mechanism for the Court's ethics rules.

• Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Elena Kagan appeared before Congress on Tuesday to discuss judicial security, the emergency docket, and ethics. • Justice Barrett made a personal plea for increased security funding, citing specific threats directed at her and her family members.

• Maine Senate candidates have publicly condemned a fatal shooting involving ICE agents, bringing increased political scrutiny to GOP Senator Susan Collins during her current re-election campaign. • Republicans are pursuing a third partisan reconciliation package to fund priorities such as the war in Iran and the "Save AMERICA Act" election overhaul bill.

• Russian Ministry of Defense recruitment efforts are reportedly failing to keep pace with rising casualty rates resulting from costly military advances in Ukraine. • On July 13, 2026, ten nations—including the UK, France, Germany, and Ukraine—signed a joint declaration in Paris to establish the Integrated Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition.

• The European Union advanced membership accession talks for Albania, Montenegro, Moldova, and Ukraine on Tuesday, signaling a renewed commitment to enlargement. • Ukraine and Moldova have now opened a second cluster of negotiations focusing on trade policy, humanitarian aid, and foreign security and defense policies.

• Hungarian MPs have voted for a constitutional amendment that allows them to remove the president from office, targeting an ally of former leader Viktor Orban. • The new rules introduce a 12-year or three-term limit for legislators, a move designed to block several prominent opposition figures from seeking re-election.