Four years after Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine began, support from European neighbours along its border is weakening.

In Poland, the wave of solidarity seen in February 2022 has given way to a new policy towards Ukrainians.

From Thursday, their special refugee status will end, placing them on the same footing as other foreigners.

Political shift

Nationalist leader Karol Nawrocki campaigned for the presidency last August with the slogan: “Poland first, Poles first”, describing Ukrainians as “ungrateful” and “a burden on society”.

Amid growing anti-Ukrainian sentiment in Poland, he said the country needed to end “a completely incomprehensible and unacceptable situation” that allowed “foreigners to benefit from aid at taxpayers’ expense without contributing themselves”.

In September, Nawrocki vetoed a law that would have extended the special status, preventing parliament from renewing it.

Under the revised rules, Ukrainians must obtain work permits for employers who want to hire them. They will also lose access to social benefits and healthcare if they cannot prove they have a job.

The government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk defended the change.

“Most of those who reside in Poland work; their children go to school. We can therefore now gradually eliminate these extraordinary measures and move from temporary solutions to systemic ones,” the government said.

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Employers worried

Marija Jakubowicz, who handles administrative formalities for refugees, said the change is bad news for both employers and Ukrainians.

“Employers no longer needed additional resources to hire Ukrainians. And Ukrainians were no longer forced to accept poor jobs or work for unscrupulous employers,” she told RFI’s correspondent.

Ukrainians make up 66 percent of the immigrant workforce in Poland. Employers’ associations say the new conditions will make it harder to hire workers they need.

Nadia lives in Poland with her two children and relies on the disability allowance received by her 16-year-old daughter, who has cerebral palsy. She says the support is not enough to cover medical treatment, including an operation on her daughter’s leg in January.

“After paying my rent, I have barely €200 left to live on. Of course, the assistance has to stop at some point. But I have nowhere else to go,” she said.

Ukrainian refugees in France face uncertainty as emergency protection phased out

Unable to work, Nadia has considered leaving Poland for what she called a more “generous” country. If she stays, she has one year to apply for a residence permit, something Ukrainians were previously exempt from.

Kajetan Wroblewski volunteers with an organisation helping refugees who continue to arrive in Poland.

Some newcomers hope similarities between Polish and Ukrainian will make integration easier. But Wroblewski says he often discourages them.

“It’s better to understand nothing in Finland but have a bed and food to eat than to sleep under a bridge in Poland,” he told RFI, criticising what he described as the state’s disengagement and public apathy.

According to a CBOS poll released in early January 2026, 46 percent of Poles now oppose accepting Ukrainian refugees, compared with 3 percent at the start of the war.

The survey’s authors say this is the worst result recorded since the poll began in 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea.

This article was partially adapted from the original version in French

Tens of thousands of US troops are stationed across Europe on around 50 bases – a presence that dates back to the period after the Second World War, when Washington chose to keep forces on the continent to prevent another major conflict.

Many of those bases now carry out missions linked to NATO.

But in recent days, Washington has sought to use some of these facilities as part of its war in Iran, triggered by US-Israeli strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and set off retaliatory Iranian attacks on US bases across the Middle East.

Host countries can refuse, because the bases remain under the full sovereignty of the states where they are located.

What was once a technical detail of military cooperation has suddenly become a political question, exposing divisions across Europe.

Some governments have refused to help, while others have offered political backing – and one leader has changed course after initial resistance.

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UK U-turn

The United Kingdom was initially reluctant to support the US operation. Prime Minister Keir Starmer refused requests to use British military bases for the first strikes on Tehran, saying over the weekend that the UK did not believe in “regime change from the air”.

Trump reacted angrily. Speaking to British tabloid The Sun on Monday, he said it was “sad to see” that the US-UK relationship was “not what it used to be”.

Starmer had not been “helpful”, Trump said – adding that while the United States did not actually need the UK, “he should have helped”.

He contrasted the British position with that of other allies. “France has been great,” Trump said, adding that Germany and NATO had also been supportive. “They’ve all been great. The UK has been much different from the others.”

France and Germany have offered political backing for the strikes and suggested they could play a defensive role in the region.

Starmer later reversed his position and agreed to allow the US to use British bases for attacks on Iranian missile sites.

Europe’s defence dilemma: autonomy or dependence?

Spain holds firm

Spain has taken the clearest stand against the war. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said his country would not participate “in any way in the war waged by Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu in Iran”, calling it “a senseless war with unforeseeable consequences”.

He also banned the use of the Spanish bases at Morón and Rota in southern Spain.

The Spanish government said US actions were “unilateral and do not have the backing of multilateral organisations”.

“The bases will provide no support, except in the event of humanitarian necessity,” the country’s defence minister said.

The Pentagon has since withdrawn several refuelling aircraft from its bases in Spain.

The dispute has also drawn in the European Union. After Trump reportedly threatened economic retaliation against Spain, EU industry commissioner Stéphane Séjourné said: “Any threat against a member state is by definition a threat against the EU.”

France draws nuclear red lines as Macron explores wider European deterrence role

A longstanding presence

The dispute highlights the scale of the American military presence in Europe.

US troops are stationed across Europe, operating from dozens of installations including major air bases, ports and training areas. In early 2025, the US had nearly 84,000 service members on the continent, according to the US European Command.

The American military footprint in Europe dates back to the aftermath of the Second World War and expanded dramatically during the Cold War, when US troop numbers on the continent peaked at around 475,000 in the late 1950s.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, their presence fell sharply to the tens of thousands.

Today the largest concentrations of US forces are in Germany, Italy, the UK and Spain, with smaller or rotational deployments in countries including Poland and Romania. Because the bases sit on host-nation territory, governments retain full legal authority over how they are used.

Franco-German defence project under strain as Berlin signals possible exit

As conflict escalates, European leaders have called for restraint.

“The developments in Iran are greatly concerning,” European Council President António Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a joint statement on 28 February.

They urged all sides to exercise “maximum restraint”, protect civilians and respect international law.

European countries have begun reinforcing their defences in the eastern Mediterranean. France and Greece have moved naval assets towards Cyprus, and France has reinforced air defence systems after drones targeted a British base on the island.

President Emmanuel Macron has also called a new defence and national security council meeting for Wednesday evening to assess the rapidly evolving situation in the Middle East, the government said.

France is reinforcing its military presence in the region, including deploying the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Mediterranean.

The first flight organised to repatriate French nationals stranded in the Middle East since the start of the war arrived early on Wednesday morning at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport from Oman.

The aircraft chartered by Air France left Muscat, Oman, in the early evening and landed shortly before 3am on Wednesday in Paris.

The Minister for French Nationals Abroad Éléonore Caroit told journalists at the terminal that around 100 places had been reserved by the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to bring back “the most vulnerable” people.

Families first

The flight was carrying customers and staff of the airline as well as families, young children, pregnant women, participants of a holiday camp and other passengers who were mainly in Dubai.

“The idea is to increase the number of such arrangements so that as many French citizens as possible can return home safely,” she added.

Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on France 2 television that there would be “several flights” on Wednesday, including one carrying French nationals from the United Arab Emirates and “another leaving from Egypt to bring back some of our most vulnerable compatriots (…) from Israel”.

French authorities said additional repatriation flights were planned on Wednesday as the government steps up efforts to help citizens leave the region.

Barrot also said French Rafale jets had intercepted and destroyed Iranian drones aimed at the United Arab Emirates, underlining France’s military presence in the region.

Paris says its military involvement in the region is “strictly defensive”, aimed at helping partners such as the United Arab Emirates protect their airspace from Iranian attacks.

Following the Israeli-American attack on Iran on Saturday and the Islamic Republic’s retaliation against Gulf monarchies and Israel, the airspace of many countries has been closed.

Caroit warned the “highly volatile” situation meant the airspace “could open and close, and corridors that are set up but can be suspended”.

France mobilises to help 400,000 nationals stranded due to Middle East war

Long journeys home

French tourist Xavier Figuls and his family’s holiday was cut short: this night-time landing at Roissy marked the end of a long journey, after “10 hours on a bus from Dubai to Muscat”.

The couple, originally from Perpignan, arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday morning with their 4- and 9-year-old children “almost at the start of the bombings,” Marie recalls.

“We were cut off from the outside world, and we were in a part of the city where we couldn’t hear the bombing,” she says.

“We heard from our families in France that things were starting to look very bad,” adds the Air France employee.

When the first bombs hit Dubai, 18-year-old Emmy Coutelier was in the hotel swimming pool joking with her boyfriend Adam, “far from imagining what was about to happen”.

Fear and uncertainty

After a long hug with her sister, who had come to pick her up at the airport, she recounts, still very emotional, her deep fear when “an alarm sounded in the middle of the night telling us not to stay near the windows”.

“We went down to the basement: we never thought it would happen,” says the young woman, who, when she took the repatriation flight, felt “as if she were fleeing danger, even though it’s a relatively safe country”.

Some 400,000 French nationals are present in the 15 or so countries affected by the conflict, and more are reporting to the consular authorities, “but not all of them want to return to France,” the minister said.

The government is also closely monitoring the situation of two French nationals detained in Iran since 2022 – Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris. Officials say the aim is to bring them back to France as soon as possible.

In four days, the war in the Middle East has caused the cancellation of 19,000 flights, according to specialist data provider Cirium.

(with newswires)

“What I am presenting you today is more than just a change in procedures, it is a change in doctrine,” European Commission vice president for industrial strategy, Stephane Sejourne, told a press conference in Brussels. 

The new regulations – officially known as the Industrial Decarbonisation Accelerator Act (IAA) – aim to ensure that public and foreign investments support manufacturing inside the 27-nation bloc, explained an EU official.

To that end, they stipulate that companies that want public money must meet minimum thresholds for EU-made parts. Large investments from dominant foreign firms will also be subject to conditions that include employing EU workers.

EU leaders push to rescue European economy challenged by China and US

The act, originally planned for December 2025, designates up to €500 billion in subsidies over the next decade for electric vehicles, solar panels, batteries and quantum technologies.

Local-content rules require at least 55 percent components that are manufactured within the EU, so as to strengthen European manufacturing and decrease dependence on products imported from non-EU supply chains.

The text does not name China in this regard, although its measures address Beijing’s current clean tech export dominance.

Its proponents point out that rival manufacturers such as the United States, China, Brazil ​and India already have rules on local content in place, and that similar requirements could help fill the EU’s massive investment gap.

However, the “Made in Europe” measures, strongly backed by France, were pushed back several times due to disagreements, with some arguing they run counter to the EU’s pro-free trade spirit.

Much of the discord also revolved around the geographical scope implied by “Made in Europe”. Sceptics – including Germany, the EU’s largest economy – argued trade partners should be included in the definition under a “Made with Europe” approach.

EU moves to reduce reliance on China for rare earth supplies

Concerns across the Channel

Earlier this week, the British Chambers of Commerce warned the new EU regulations could have an adverse effect on the UK economy, saying in a statement that: “As the UK is now a third country supplier, [the IAA] could squeeze British firms out of supply chains, as well as increasing costs and bureaucracy.”

China has not responded to Wednesday’s announcement, but reactions have surfaced over previous weeks via state media and officials, in response to leaks and drafts.

Beijing accuses EU of slapping unfair restrictions on Chinese firms

China’s state Xinhua news agency has labelled similar EU moves “hypocritical mimicry” of China’s industrial approach. The Global Times warned that “Europe preaches open markets but erects barriers”. 

Wang Lei of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade said local-content clauses would “discriminate de facto” against Chinese firms, on top of existing EU electric vehicle duties. 

Beijing retains leverage via rare earth export curbs – key for EU batteries and turbines – and imposing tariffs on European goods such as French cognac.

The IAA extends the EU’s de-risking efforts alongside the Net-Zero Industry Act and Critical Raw Materials Act. The European Parliament and individual EU governments will now start negotiating the final text of the “Made in Europe” rules, before a final draft can be written into law. 

In a change to immigration rules announced on Tuesday, the UK will also cease granting work visas to Afghan nationals.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the ban – the first of its kind – was designed to close a back-door route to claiming asylum. 

“Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused,” she said in a statement.

“That is why I am taking the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity.”

The changes are the centre-left government’s latest effort to harden its immigration and asylum rules as its rivals on the right use the issue to rally support.

UK toughens asylum rules to discourage migration

Student visa statistics

The new policy will apply from 26 March.

According to the Home Office, the number of people claiming asylum after arriving in the UK with a valid visa or other permit has more than trebled in the past five years. Around 39,000 such claims were filed last year, bringing the total to 133,760 since 2021.

People from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan make up “an above average proportion” of asylum seekers accommodated at public expense, the ministry said, reporting that claims by students from the four countries had spiked.

Official figures from 2025 show that the top five nationalities with the largest number of people claiming asylum were Pakistan, Eritrea, Iran, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.

The government has reported an increase in the number of applications from Pakistan and Bangladesh in particular, with over 80 percent of claimants from these countries requesting asylum after arriving in the UK on a work, study or other permit. In contrast, 83 percent of Afghan claimants arrived without documents.

A total of 12,578 people claimed asylum last year after coming to the UK on student visas, the government’s statistics show. A higher number – 13,557 – applied while on a work visa.

Over half of African states subjected to travel bans or visa bonds by US

Asylum overhaul 

The UK’s previous right-wing government also cracked down on student visas, raising financial requirements and barring undergraduates from bringing dependent family members with them to the UK. 

Prime Minister Keir Starmer‘s Labour government has continued the drive to bring down immigration and asylum numbers, especially as polls show rising support for hard-right populist party Reform UK.

Under changes introduced this week, the government made protection for refugees temporary and subject to review every 30 months, after Home Secretary Mahmood argued the UK’s system was too generous compared to other countries in Europe.

In November, the UK threatened to block all visas for Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo unless their governments agreed to take back migrants denied permission to stay.

The Home Office has since signed agreements with all three countries to allow Britain to deport people to their territory.

The suspects, aged 22 and 26, were arrested in the Lyon area and in the Aube region, police sources told French news agency AFP.

“We now believe we have all those who were directly involved in the attack on Quentin Deranque,” they said.

Quentin Deranque, 23, died during a clash between far left and far right supporters on the sidelines of an event at Sciences Po university in Lyon hosted by MEP Rima Hassan, a member of the far-left party France Unbowed (LFI). 

Deranque was part of a group who were in attendance to ensure the safety of activists from the far-right, anti-immigrant Némésis collective.

He died from severe head injuries two days after the incident.

More than 3,000 march in Lyon in tribute to far-right activist

On 17 and 18 February, 11 people were arrested in several French departments, seven of whom were suspected of having participated in the attack. The other four are suspected of having attempted to help them evade justice.

Six men suspected of assaulting Deranque have been charged with voluntary homicide and one with complicity.

Political tensions

Aged between 20 and 26, the seven are, according to a source close to the case, known to be either members of or close to the Jeune Garde (“Young Guard”), a far-left movement founded in 2018 in Lyon by LFI MP Raphaël Arnault, which was dissolved last June.

Two of the seven were parliamentary assistants.

Killing of far-right activist triggers turmoil across French political spectrum

The case has heightened political tensions ahead of municipal elections in March and France’s 2027 presidential race, in which the far-right National Rally (RN) party is seen as having its best chance yet.

President Emmanuel Macron – a centrist barred by term limits from standing for re-election next year – said there was no place in France “for movements that adopt and legitimise violence” and called on all political parties to “clean up” their act.

“Nothing can justify violent action – neither on one side nor the other,” he said.

(with AFP)

Boston Celtics guard Derrick White earned the honour in the Eastern Conference.

It is the first time that 22-year-old Wembanyama has won the player of the month award. NBA analysts also named him Western Conference defensive player of the month for the second month in a row.

He is the first Frenchman since Tony Parker in January 2013 to parade the player of the month prize.

NBA rise

During February 2026, Wembanyama averaged 3.5 blocks per game and lifted his league-leading season average to 2.9. He also ranked second in the Western Conference in defensive rebounds with 9.3 per game.

In June 2023, Wembanyama moved to Texas-based Spurs from the French division one outfit Metropolitans 92 where he had dominated the season’s charts in points scored, rebounds and blocked shots.

The hype framing his voyage from France to the United States described him as a generational talent and one of the sport’s most dazzling prospects since LeBron James in 2003.

Wembanyama, at two metres 21 centimetres, boasts the height of a centre (defender) as well as the shooting and silky ball-handling skills of a guard (attacker).

Wembanyama opts out of basketball World Cup duty with France

Stake in boyhood club

On Tuesday, Wembanyama confirmed he had bought a minority stake in his boyhood club Nanterre 92.

He played for the outfit between the ages of 10 and 17 before leaving in June 2021 to join French top-flight side ASVEL in Lyon in south-eastern France.

“Nanterre shaped me as a player and as a man,” Wembanyama said. “I want to help make it a benchmark club that is ambitious, inclusive and true to its values in the long term.”

The club did not reveal how much Wembanyama had invested. Executives said his stake would help fund training programmes and youth projects.

“This significant and formative decision is a natural continuation of Victor’s commitment to the club that trained him,” the club said in a statement.

French basketball prodigy Wembanyama prepares for NBA ascent

“It reflects a clear desire to make a lasting contribution to the development of a club that has played an important role in his sporting and personal development.”

After a year at ASVEL, Wembanyama moved to Metropolitans 92 before entering the NBA big time for the 2023/2024 season.

At the end of that campaign, he was named 2024 NBA Rookie of the Year. He became the first Frenchman to brandish the award since it was created in 1953 and only the sixth player to receive it by unanimous vote.

On 30 January 2025, Wembanyama was named as one of the reserves for the Western Conference in the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.

In the 2026 showpiece, he was named as one of the five players in the Western Conference’s starting line-up.