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Good morning from Brussels. I\u2019m Mared Gwyn.<\/p>\n
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Europeans are today pushing for diplomacy and de-escalation amid signs that the conflict in the Middle East is spiralling further, with targets on both sides of the conflict widening to include civilian infrastructure \u2013 including key energy sites.<\/p>\n
Bahrain\u2019s state oil company Bapco has just declared force majeure after a suspected Iranian drone hit its refinery, while oil depots in the Tehran area were also hit over the weekend, engulfing the Iranian capital in black smoke.<\/p>\n
Crude prices have now soared<\/a> to over $100 (\u20ac87) per barrel for the first time since August 2022, threatening to further push up consumer prices.<\/p>\n In response, G7 finance ministers will \u200clater today mull jointly releasing oil from emergency stocks in coordination with the International Energy Agency (IEA), according to a Financial Times report, citing sources who claim that the idea is backed by the US.<\/p>\n Also meeting later today are the Eurozone’s finance ministers, with talks expected to centre on the economic fallout of the war.<\/p>\n Speaking live on Europe Today earlier, Eurogroup President and the Greek economy and finance minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said that the EU is being \u201ctested\u201d but that the extent of the war\u2019s impact on its economy will depend on the conflict\u2019s \u201cduration\u201d and the extent of \u201cdisruption\u201d to global energy supplies and supply chains.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are being tested, this is obvious. We are very concerned about how things are evolving on the ground,\u201d Pierrakakis said, adding that the economic \u201ctoolkit\u201d developed in 2022 in response to the war in Ukraine means Europe is \u201cbetter prepared.\u201d Watch.<\/a><\/p>\n Economists are warning that a prolonged conflict could set back European growth forecasts and further squeeze households by pushing up prices beyond oil and energy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also suggested the extent of economic damage will depend on the war\u2019s duration, the damage inflicted on key infrastructure in the region and the knock-on effect on energy prices, indicating central banks should intervene if needed.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, on Sunday, Iran chose Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father<\/a>, Ali Khamenei, as Supreme Leader — a hardliner Trump has already described as an \u201cunacceptable\u201d successor, igniting fears the war could further escalate.<\/p>\n Telephone diplomacy from European capitals is now intensifying, amid increasing signs the war is spiralling and threatening to severely disrupt the global economy.<\/p>\n The Presidents of the European Council and Commission, Ant\u00f3nio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, will hold a video conference with \u200cMiddle Eastern leaders later today to assess the situation in the region and discuss \u201cways to bring the current conflict to an end,\u201d according to Costa\u2019s office.<\/p>\n Last night, in the first call between a Western leader and Tehran since the war in the Middle East broke out over a week ago, French President Emmanuel Macron urged Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to halt strikes on countries in the Gulf and restore free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, while vowing to keep the diplomatic channel between Paris and Tehran open.<\/p>\n President Macron will also visit Cyprus later today in a show of \u201csolidarity\u201d with the EU island nation, which was last week caught in the crossfire of the war in the Middle East, stirring fears Europe could be further dragged into the conflict.<\/p>\n He is expected to hold talks with his Cypriot and Greek counterparts and detail moves to “strengthen security around Cyprus and in the eastern Mediterranean”, the \u00c9lys\u00e9e said on Sunday.<\/p>\n An Iranian-made Shahed drone struck the British Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Akrotiri in southern Cyprus on Sunday 1 March, suspected to have been launched by the Iranian-backed militia Hezbollah, prompting several EU nations to deploy defensive assets to the country. France has also deployed its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the eastern Mediterranean in response.<\/p>\n The targeting of the British base in Cyprus has also triggered protests against the UK\u2019s presence on the island, with hundreds taking to the streets in protest in the capital of Nicosia in recent days.<\/p>\n Despite the UK government sending a warship to bolster defenses around its base in Cyprus, Cypriot officials have voiced disappointment with the speed of the UK\u2019s communications after the attack and the extent of the defensive assets it has provided. <\/p>\n In other news: Slovakia\u2019s Prime Minister Robert Fico has said he will meet Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tomorrow, as the dispute with Ukraine over oil flows through the Soviet-era Druzhba pipeline drags on. <\/p>\n The pipeline was hit in a strike in Ukraine late January, disrupting Russian oil flows to Slovakia and Hungary. Hungarian premier Viktor Orb\u00e1n and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy have since exchanged in a war of words that dramatically escalated on Friday, when Hungary detained, then released, seven Ukrainian bank workers transporting gold and cash via his landlocked country. We\u2019ll have more on the planned talks between Fico and the Commission chief in tomorrow\u2019s edition.<\/p>\n Senior UAE official outlines country\u2019s defence strategy<\/p>\n As Iranian drones and missiles continue to rain on the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) says it is defending its territory while working to prevent the conflict from spreading further across the region, our correspondent Jane Witherspoon reports.<\/p>\n Jane was one of a small group of journalists briefed by senior Emirati officials on the situation in Abu Dhabi over the weekend. They say the country had been preparing for instability long before the latest escalation.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been getting ready. Not expecting war but getting ready for a sort of emergency, such as the one that we are facing today. The UAE is a country that prepares, and we have been preparing now for a long time because of our readout of the situation in the region. We\u2019ve been preparing in terms of food stock, in terms of facilities, and so on,\u201d one of the officials said.<\/p>\n The remarks offer rare insight into how the country anticipated the possibility of a broader regional crisis even as it pursued diplomatic engagement with Tehran.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been acting in a very, let\u2019s say, constructive way with Iran, along with other GCC countries,\u201d the official said, but added that they had not expected Iran to attack and \u201crisk its relations\u201d with its neighbours.<\/p>\n Jane has the full report<\/a>.<\/p>\n More from our newsrooms<\/p>\n Explainer: Who is Mojtaba Khamenei and how did he succeed his father? Iran\u2019s Assembly of Experts has formally announced that Mojtaba Khamenei has become the successor to Ali Khamenei and the third Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic. Alain Chandelier takes acloser look<\/a>at his background and rise to power.<\/p>\n Iceland plans August referendum on resuming EU membership negotiations. The Icelandic government is proposing to hold a referendum on 29 August on the resumption of negotiations for accession to the European Union. Gr\u00e9goire Lory has more<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hungary’s opposition leader P\u00e9ter Magyar calls on Russia to refrain from election interference. Magyar has called on Russia to stop interfering in Hungary’s April parliamentary elections, following a report exposing an alleged Kremlin team operating from Budapest’s Russian embassy to keep Viktor Orb\u00e1n in power. Russia denied those allegations. Sandor Zsiros has the story<\/a>.<\/p>\n We’re also keeping an eye on<\/p>\n European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, and the EU\u2019s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas deliver speeches at the 2026 EU Ambassadors\u2019 Conference.
\nEurozone finance ministers gather in Brussels.
\nEuropean Parliament plenary session kicks off in Strasbourg.<\/p>\n