The EU confronts its enlargement dilemma – POLITICO

• The European Payments Initiative has launched Wero, a new payment app replacing Payconiq to facilitate cross-border transactions across Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. • The app saw more than 34,000 downloads at launch in Luxembourg.

• EU foreign ministers met in Ireland but failed to reach an agreement on imposing trade sanctions on Israel or increasing military support for Ukraine. • Four nations, including Poland and Sweden, renewed calls to use frozen Russian sovereign assets to fund Ukraine's military efforts.

• Europe is facing an increasing series of Russian sabotage plots, including attempts to place incendiary devices on DHL cargo planes and destroy Polish railroad tracks. • Multiple targets have been identified across the continent, including warehouses and shopping centers throughout Europe.

• European governments are increasingly attributing a surge in sabotage, including drone threats at Germany's Leipzig airport and attacks on defense facilities, to Russia's "hybrid war." • Over the past month alone, multiple incidents of suspected sabotage and unexplained fires have targeted European infrastructure supplying Ukraine.

• Mass migrant arrivals in Ceuta have triggered a political crisis, leading some European leaders to propose Spain's exclusion or suspension from the Schengen open-border arrangement. • Italy has already suspended the Schengen free-movement regime for its maritime and air links with Spain for a period of one month.

• Spain plans to request that its North African exclaves, Ceuta and Melilla, be recognized as outermost regions of the EU to integrate them into the bloc's financial and security architecture. • Two Spanish cities are targeted for this special legal status to grant them access to the EU's economic zone.

• North Carolina has begun mailing the first absentee ballots for the 2026 general election while President Donald Trump appeals a challenge to his mail-voting restrictions to the Supreme Court. • Ballots are being distributed across all 100 North Carolina counties to voters who requested them.

• The Department of Justice has asked the Supreme Court to allow a Trump-era USPS rule regarding the handling of mail-in ballots to proceed before the midterm elections. • A federal judge previously issued a temporary restraining order blocking parts of the rule from being implemented for the November 2026 election.

• Ukraine's Finance Minister is urging the European Union to "think outside the box" regarding the use of Russia's frozen state assets. • The proposal seeks to establish a mechanism to channel these immobilized funds directly to Kyiv to support its ongoing war efforts and reconstruction.

• Reform UK officials Dan Jukes and James Orr have stepped down from their roles following an undercover report concerning party donations. • The party has launched an internal investigation into the allegations raised by the report to determine if any rules were breached.

• Russia is actively targeting European citizens and leaders with campaigns designed to spread fear and create division within the European Union. • In Spain, Prime Minister Sánchez is managing a deepening crisis in Ceuta following the entry of thousands of irregular migrants last month.