European livestock farms: a new strategic resource

The strategy presented by the European Commission in Strasbourg draws on the vocabulary of security policy, and livestock farming – long held up as a problem – is now seen as an asset to be defended rather than a problem to be managed.

Livestock, the text explains, guarantees Europe’s “strategic autonomy”, and grazing protects land from abandonment on the eastern flank of the continent. “Livestock farming is not just about agriculture; it is about competitiveness, food security and the future of Europe,” summarised Raffaele Fitto, Executive Vice-President of the Commission. Agriculture Commissioner Christophe Hansen pointed out that the sector, which employs seven million people and generates 400 billion euros a year, remains a success story but is now under threat, particularly near the eastern border, which he believes poses a risk to Europe’s food security.

This U-turn comes after a period in which Brussels had, on the contrary, been considering reducing livestock numbers for climate reasons, with the Netherlands having begun buying up farms following court rulings on nitrogen pollution, whilst Ireland had at one point mooted the culling of 200,000 cows. Farmers’ protests, which brought several European capitals to a standstill in 2024 and 2025, halted the momentum of the Green Deal, prompting the Commission to prioritise incentives.

On methane – the main gas emitted by livestock farming – the strategy favours precise measurement of emissions per farm rather than binding targets, echoing the Irish and New Zealand argument that this gas, known as ‘biogenic’, forms part of a natural carbon cycle. Around thirty organisations, including Greenpeace, have criticised an approach they say downplays the real impact of methane, whilst industry representatives welcome a strategy that puts an end to “years of negative messaging” from Brussels. Politico

🇷🇺 Russia – 🇺🇦 Ukraine • Russian bombardments left at least 28 people dead and around 100 injured on Monday in Kyiv and Sumy, barely a week after a previous wave of deadly strikes. Moscow launched 68 missiles and 351 drones at Ukraine, the majority of which the Ukrainian army claims to have shot down.

In retaliation, the Ukrainian army claimed responsibility for an attack on the Siberian refinery in Omsk, 2,500 kilometres from its borders – the furthest target to have been hit since the start of the conflict.

🇷🇺 Russia - 🇺🇦 Ukraine • Russia carried out its third missile attack in less than a week against Kyiv today, causing fires in several neighbourhoods and killing three people, according to local authorities. A drone strike also targeted a 25-storey block of flats in broad daylight, whilst another missile attack on Kharkiv left two more people dead. The Ukrainian military failed to shoot down any of the five ballistic missiles launched overnight. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that ballistic missile defence remained his country’s “main weakness” in the face of intensifying Russian strikes.

🇷🇺 Russia – 🇺🇦 Ukraine • Ukrainian drones struck nine oil tankers from Russia’s “ghost fleet” in the Sea of Azov on Wednesday, bringing the total number of tankers hit in 72 hours to 19, the commander of Kyiv’s drone forces announced. Ukraine is stepping up its attacks on energy infrastructure in annexed Crimea, causing fuel shortages on the peninsula.

🇪🇺 Europe • Twelve European countries today announced the creation of a new coalition dedicated to next-generation long-range missiles, a project estimated to cost around 43 billion euros over 10 years. This alliance, unveiled by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, illustrates the Europeans’ determination to strengthen their defence capabilities in the face of the US administration’s overt hostility towards its traditional allies.

NATO • The NATO summit held yesterday and today in Ankara concluded with a declaration of unity, despite Donald Trump’s repeated criticism of the Europeans, whom he accuses of failing to support him during the offensive against Iran. The Allies reaffirmed their “unwavering” commitment to the mutual defence clause of Article 5 and their support for Ukraine.

🇺🇦 Ukraine – 🇺🇸 United States • Donald Trump announced today that he would authorise Ukraine to manufacture its own Patriot air defence systems, which are essential for countering Russian ballistic missiles.

🇩🇰 Denmark – 🇺🇸 United States • Denmark announced on Tuesday the acquisition of two Boeing P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to strengthen its surveillance of the Arctic and Greenland, a “clear signal” of its responsibilities within NATO, according to Defence Minister Jeppe Bruus. This announcement comes as Donald Trump has once again reiterated that the semi-autonomous Danish territory “should be controlled by the United States”, accusing it of being “surrounded by Chinese and Russian ships” and of damaging its relations with the Atlantic Alliance. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen retorted that “Greenland is not for sale” and that she expected NATO allies to respect her country’s sovereignty.

🇪🇸 Spain – 🇺🇸 United States • Donald Trump today ordered, for the second time, the immediate suspension of all trade with Spain, angered by Madrid’s refusal to raise its defence spending to 5 per cent of GDP and to allow the United States to use its airspace for the war against Iran.

🇮🇹 Italy – 🇺🇸 United States • Italian Foreign Secretary Antonio Tajani announced on Tuesday that Rome would cease responding to Donald Trump’s provocations, after the US president once again suggested that Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was constantly seeking his company.

🇬🇧 United Kingdom • Caught up in a scandal over undeclared donations, Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, announced on Tuesday that he was resigning from the British Parliament to stand in a by-election and leave it to the voters to decide.

🇮🇷 Iran - 🇺🇸 United States • The conflict between Washington and Tehran flared up again this week. During the night between Monday and Tuesday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards targeted at least two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, damaging two oil tankers without causing any injuries, whilst a third vessel was struck by an unidentified projectile off the coast of Oman. In retaliation, the US military carried out a series of strikes last night against Iranian air defence systems, coastal surveillance facilities and drone launch sites, before stepping up the offensive on Wednesday by targeting more than 80 sites across the country. Tehran retaliated by striking facilities at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain and by shooting down a US drone. Washington has reinstated its sanctions on Iranian oil, suspending the temporary authorisation granted last month. Today, Donald Trump declared the ceasefire “over” and promised further “heavy” strikes overnight, whilst leaving the door open to negotiations. Oil prices surged by more than 6 per cent, to nearly $79 a barrel for Brent crude.

🇮🇱 Israel – 🇵🇸 Palestine • Israeli strikes have continued at a sustained pace in the Gaza Strip over the past few days. On Tuesday, the Israeli army killed at least seven Palestinians, including a child, during several air strikes in Khan Younis, in the Tel Al-Haoua neighbourhood and near Rafah. Today, further strikes have claimed at least seven more lives, including two children aged six and 10, hitting a tent housing displaced people in Khan Younès and a vehicle near Gaza City. Since the “ceasefire” came into effect, more than 1,070 Palestinians and four Israeli soldiers have been killed, according to figures from both sides. Israeli troops control more than 60 per cent of the territory of Gaza, which Benjamin Netanyahu refuses to withdraw from.

🇮🇱 Israel – 🇵🇸 Palestine • On Monday, Hamas announced the dissolution of its governing bodies in the Gaza Strip, after almost 20 years in power – a decision described as a “ploy” by Israel, which is demanding the movement’s complete disarmament. This move is intended to transfer control of the territory to the NCAG, a committee of Palestinian technocrats based in Cairo, but experts view it as primarily symbolic as long as the Islamist movement does not surrender its weapons.

🇮🇶 Iraq – 🇮🇷 Iran • The funeral of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, killed on 28 February by Israeli-American strikes, continued this week in Iraq following six days of ceremonies that began in Tehran and then moved to Qom. The coffin, received on Tuesday evening in Najaf by Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, was carried on Wednesday through the holy Shia city by a huge crowd chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel”, before reaching the shrine of Imam Ali. The body is then due to pass through Karbala, another holy site of Shia Islam, before being repatriated to Iran for burial on Thursday in Mashhad, his hometown. The Iraqi authorities, who maintain close ties with Tehran, declared Wednesday a public holiday and deployed a major security operation for this event, which has been compared to the funeral of Ayatollah Khomeini in 1989.

🇸🇾 Syria – 🇺🇸 United States • Donald Trump announced today that he was considering removing Syria from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, during a meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Charaa on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

🇻🇪 Venezuela • The death toll from the twin earthquakes that struck Venezuela on 24 June was revised upwards on Monday, reaching 3,535 dead and 16,740 injured, according to an official statement. The United Nations estimates that the number of missing people could reach 50,000. More than 17,000 people are now homeless.

🇨🇺 Cuba • Power was gradually restored in Cuba on Tuesday following another nationwide blackout – the third in less than six months – with 10 of the country’s 15 provinces reconnected to the grid. President Miguel Diaz-Canel blamed US sanctions policy, describing the oil blockade imposed by Washington since January as “genocidal”. On the same day, Human Rights Watch called on both governments to “change course”, condemning both the US sanctions – which are exacerbating the island’s energy and food crises – and the lack of freedom of expression; the NGO estimates the number of Cuban political prisoners at 800.

🇨🇦 Canada – 🇩🇪 Germany • Canada has selected the German group Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems to build its new fleet of 12 submarines, a contract described by Prime Minister Mark Carney as the largest defence contract ever signed by the country. Negotiations are due to be finalised by the end of 2027, with delivery of the first four submarines scheduled for 2034. This decision, which rules out South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean, illustrates Ottawa’s desire to strengthen its European partnerships.

🇨🇳 China • Severe weather that has been battering China for several days has claimed at least 21 lives, including floods in Guangxi, storms in Hubei and a landslide in Gansu that buried 33 people. More than 375,000 residents of Guangxi have been affected by a dam breach and river flooding caused by Typhoon Maysak, forcing the evacuation of 130,000 people. President Xi Jinping has called for a full-scale mobilisation of relief efforts, whilst a super typhoon, Bavi, is now threatening the country’s east coast and could make landfall on Saturday near Shanghai.

🇦🇺 Australia – 🇨🇳 China – 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands • Australia and the Solomon Islands announced on Tuesday that they were strengthening their bilateral relations, following a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile by the Chinese navy from a nuclear-powered submarine in the Pacific. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, on a visit to Honiara, gave assurances that the two countries would continue negotiations towards a comprehensive treaty. The Australian Defence Minister described the Chinese test as “deeply destabilising”, whilst Beijing called for the incident not to be “over-interpreted”.

🇦🇺 Australia – 🇮🇳 India • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Australia today to discuss nuclear energy, mineral resources and defence, against a backdrop of a shared desire to contain Chinese ambitions in the Asia-Pacific. New Delhi is seeking to increase its nuclear power generation and hopes to remove the legal barriers that still hinder the export of Australian uranium. India is also keen to secure Australian lithium, which is essential for electric vehicle batteries. Both countries are members of the Quad, alongside Washington and Tokyo.