Il viaggio ricomincia. Costantino della Gherardesca, “capitano assoluto della spedizione”, torna alla guida di “Pechino Express”, che nel 2027 va in onda in esclusiva su Sky e in streaming su Now. La nuova edizione sceglie l’America Latina: dieci coppie attraverseranno il continente da ovest a est, dall’Oceano Pacifico all’Oceano Atlantico, lungo una rotta che tocca Cile, Argentina e Brasile.
Come da tradizione, il cast mescola mondi molto diversi: musica, sport, web, spettacolo e televisione. Ecco le coppie in gara.
Rocco Siffredi e Rózsa Tassi. Lui è l’attore e regista più famoso del cinema per adulti italiano, lei è la moglie, ungherese, con cui è sposato dal 1993. Una coppia solida nella vita, che dovrà dimostrare di esserlo anche con lo zaino in spalla.
Franceska Nuredini e Ginevra Festa. Un’amicizia nata e cresciuta sotto i riflettori del web, che porta in gara il mondo dei creator. Franceska è la fidanzata di Elodie.
Benji e Fede. Il duo pop di Modena affronta la prova del viaggio più lungo.
Alessia Lanza e Andrea Fratino. Altra coppia in arrivo dal mondo dei social e dell’intrattenimento digitale.
Andrew Howe e Tommaso Marino. Il primo è l’ex campione di salto in lungo, medaglia d’argento ai Mondiali di Osaka 2007. Per un atleta abituato ai pochi secondi di una rincorsa, la corsa sarà molto più lunga.
Cleo Ungarelli e Dani Piccirillo. Sono “Le Bambole di Pezza”, la band rock tutta al femminile di Milano, che ha portato la propria energia anche sul palco di Sanremo.
Angela “Bella Fisica” Lin e Alessandro Zhu. Lei è nota sui social come “Bella Fisica” per il tormentone dilagato sui social e nato nel suo negozio.
Danilo da Fiumicino e Alessandro Pieravanti. Un duo romano che unisce il web e la musica: Pieravanti è il batterista del Muro del Canto.
Riccardo De Marco (DeNa) e Maria Bosco (MeriBì). Coppia di creator che arriva da un pubblico giovane e molto attivo online.
Elisabetta e Marzia Gregoraci. Le sorelle calabresi: Elisabetta, showgirl e volto tv, e Marzia. Una convivenza forzata fra zaini, autostop e imprevisti metterà alla prova il loro legame.
L'articolo Rocco Siffredi con la moglie Rózsa Tassi, Benji e Fede, Elisabetta Gregoraci con la sorella Marzia: ecco il cast di “Pechino Express 2027” e le nuove rotte proviene da Il Fatto Quotidiano.
Euromaidan Press has been impersonated as part of a Russian disinformation campaign. A copycat website was created, with a hyphen added to our name, which published a fabricated article alleging a Ukrainian drone had killed civilians in Kramatorsk that cites anonymous "Ukrainian OSINT channels" amid copies of our real news reports. In reality, that 8 October strike was a Russian aerial bombing of two public buses that killed 33 civilians.
The fabrication is part of a years-long Russian disinformation campaign to impersonate and clone trusted news brands, predominantly in Europe, and publish false reports under their names. The disinformation research project Gnida tied our case to Storm-1516, one of several overlapping Russian operations, alongside the older Doppelganger, and NewsGuard, which reached out to us while preparing its own debunk, attributes the fake to the same operation. The fabricated Kramatorsk report comes amid an ongoing effort to erode Western support for Ukraine, as Russia's war goes on, and to sow distrust among Western political elites.
The fake started circulating on 24 October, one day after the forged publication appeared on our website. It started making rounds on X together with a forged video with a version of our logo claiming that "newly obtained footage" featured the remains of a Liutyi drone that "independent OSINT channels" claimed were "quickly removed from the scene." No specific OSINT channels were named; no sources were linked.
The forged video, apparently produced with AI, and the link were spread by X accounts such as @vick55top, @indiaTales7, @TheWorld_Update, @Wonder_star21, @Theunk5555, @SilentBriefHQ1, and @Suriyakmaps, where it was subsequently removed. The videos on those accounts averaged 400,000 to 500,000 views, far more than the accounts' modest follower counts and their usual engagement would produce, a likely sign of inauthentic amplification.
On 25 October, the Russian disinformation monitor Gnida Project flagged this as a case of the Storm-1516 disinformation campaign. Other recent cases flagged by Gnida included advertisements of Russian Geran drones, claims of the Shamonda virus being leaked from a "Ukrainian biolab," smears against US Democratic candidates, and a fake on a similar copycat "toronto-sun.ca" website alleging that President Zelenskyy purchased a nuclear bunker in Nova Scotia.
The latest Storm-1516 disinformation campaign is targeting Ukraine. The campaign promotes a false narrative that a deadly strike in the Ukrainian city Kramatorsk was performed by a Ukrainian drone based on a fake "Ukrainian OSINT investigation" pic.twitter.com/Klpm9UVCf2
— gnida project (@gnidaproject) October 25, 2026
As for the actual content of the fake, the real event is one of the most thoroughly documented atrocities of the month. On 8 October 2026, Russian forces struck two public buses in Kramatorsk with an aerial bomb, killing 33 people and wounding about 18. Such attacks are, sadly, a daily occurrence in cities on the frontline. There was no Ukrainian drone and no removed wreckage. The fabrication simply reassigns a Russian mass killing of civilians to its victim, which is the entire point.
The fake site was not a single page. It scraped our entire website, mirroring our genuine articles, and injected the fabricated one among them, so the lie traveled under the credibility of real reporting. The look-alike domain was registered on 15 October, eight days before the fake appeared, according to who.is data.
Gnida Project identified the fake as part of Storm-1516, a Russian influence operation that clones trusted news brands to spread fabricated stories, and NewsGuard, which contacted us about the impersonation, attributes it to the same operation. NewsGuard has documented the tactic generating some 900 false reports over three years; the same operation has targeted France and Germany and has recently impersonated other outlets, including in Ukraine, such as this fake report on a copycat website pretending to be the New Voice of Ukraine.
Storm-1516 is one of several overlapping Russian operations that impersonate real media. Since 2022, the Doppelganger network has cloned whole Western outlets and government sites, and it is still active, flooding France with more than 200 fake sites before its 2026 elections. Polish fact-checkers literally call the tactic “attack of the clones.” A second operation, Matryoshka, floods social media with cheap fake videos credited to real outlets. Storm-1516, first identified in late 2023 and later named by Microsoft, grew out of Russia's Prigozhin-era troll operations, is the most elaborate of the three, and has overtaken RT and Sputnik as Russia's main disinformation machine. Its attacks combine cloned websites and fake videos.
NewsGuard counts some 906 fabricated reports impersonating 163 outlets from 21 countries since 2023, Euronews, the BBC, Deutsche Welle, and France 24 most of all, as well as the Kyiv Independent. The fakes nearly all bend one way, to erode Western support for Ukraine. Some smear Ukraine's leaders, a fabricated story that 20,000 Ukrainian soldiers evacuated to France had deserted into criminal gangs, invented claims that first lady Olena Zelenska fled abroad. Others, like the one aimed at us, flip Russian actions onto Ukraine. A separate Storm-1516 fabrication, a false claim that Ukrainian officials bought yachts with misappropriated US aid, was repeated in 2023 by JD Vance, then a US senator.
We filed a copyright and abuse complaint with the host, Namecheap, and a phishing report with Cloudflare, and pressed the registrar. The complaints worked: the clone has been taken down.
Impersonation is cheap to set up, and any outlet can be next, so here is the procedure our technical team used, which other newsrooms can follow to take a clone down quickly.
Be sure to read the automated replies from the host and Cloudflare and answer them promptly. Those acknowledgments often ask for specific additional information, and a fast, complete reply keeps the ticket moving instead of stalling in a queue.
Many users on X called out the signs: a look-alike domain (our only website is euromaidanpress.com, with no hyphen), a claim sourced to unnamed "OSINT channels," and a story that reassigns a Russian attack to Ukraine.
We never publish an image or video without crediting its source, and we never cite anonymous OSINT experts: our reporting traces to a first source. Trust only reports that name the first source of a claim and label the origin of their images and video. If you cannot trace the source, you cannot trust the report.
© Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
© Marko Djurica/Reuters
© Nicole Craine for The New York Times
US President Donald Trump wrote in a Truth Social post on 18 October that he did not want to “drive, foolishly, Russia away from the bargaining table.” He also wrote: “Signing that document at this time will do that, and I can sign it later, or any time that I want!”
Trump was referring to sanctions and tariffs under the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which he waived in an executive order on 16 October, days before the measures were due to take effect. The waiver suspends additional economic penalties intended to pressure Moscow over its war against Ukraine, while leaving earlier US sanctions in place. The decision came weeks before the 3 November midterms, in which Republicans are defending slim majorities in both chambers, and analysts said the penalties could have pushed up oil prices for Americans already paying more, largely because of the US-Israeli war with Iran, Reuters reported.
A week before the waiver, Trump had announced a deal for Russia to increase diesel supplies to global markets. The Treasury also issued a license, valid until 7 April 2027, permitting certain transactions in Russian-origin diesel.
In the Truth Social post, Trump accused Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of targeting Russian diesel refineries, saying the strikes were “seriously hurting the world diesel markets, including those in the United States.” Kyiv had paused its refinery strikes for three days at Washington’s request after Trump declared an energy ceasefire on 11 October, which Russia never confirmed, then resumed them. Since then, Russia has struck Ukraine’s energy sector 76 times, Zelenskyy said on 18 October.
Trump wrote that Zelenskyy “doesn’t want to end this war, and probably never did,” and that he “could have made a better deal two years ago than he can now.”
“His country is in shambles, a large portion of his land is lost, his oceans and seas are gone, and his male population is low, wounded, and/or dead,” Trump added.
He also said Russia was “doing very little, if anything, to help” Iran and that he wanted to keep it that way.
On 17 October, Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago that he had not announced his final decision. “A lot of you don’t know what my decision is yet, but we’ll figure it out, and you’ll figure it out,” he said, Reuters reported.
“I think the president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyze what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters before departing for Uzbekistan the same day.
Zelenskyy called it a “pity” that Trump had waived sanctions under a law named for the late Senator Lindsey Graham, who “really believed in Ukraine.” He said he hoped Trump would change his decisions, NBC News reported.
Discussing the diesel deal on NBC’s Meet the Press, Zelenskyy said US oil prices had risen because shipping through the Strait of Hormuz was blocked, not because of Ukraine.
On 17 October, Zelenskyy told journalists that “the decision to undo all of this, to block all of it, seems wrong to me” and that it “definitely helps only the Russians.” His remarks appeared in Ukrainian on his official Telegram channel.
“Sanctions relief will continue. I think the diesel deal and the move regarding the Lindsey Graham Act are not the end of it. Unfortunately,” Zelenskyy said.
On 19 October, Zelenskyy wrote that partners had again given no warning of Russia’s overnight ballistic attack and that blocking missiles for Ukraine’s air defense while Russia gets sanctions eased or postponed amounts to partners denying reality.
Republican Senator James Lankford defended Trump’s decision on NBC’s Meet the Press, saying the president was “choosing the American people first.”
Senator Darline Graham, Lindsey Graham’s sister, whom Trump has endorsed for a full term, said at a campaign stop on 17 October that she would “choose to keep the pressure on Russia.”
“I don’t trust Putin and I don’t trust Russia,” Darline Graham said.
She did not directly criticize Trump but said she would not have made that choice, Reuters reported.
The US has resumed sharing intelligence on Russian ballistic missile launches with Ukraine after a pause of several days, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NBC News on 18 October. The blackout fell on days when Russia was firing ballistic missiles at Ukraine. Limits on the Starlink satellite service that Ukraine’s forces rely on remain in place, he said.
Russia has leaned on ballistic missiles in this month’s strikes on Ukraine’s grid, firing 39 in a single attack, and Ukraine is short of interceptors to stop them. Washington has used its support as leverage, reportedly telling Kyiv to spare Russian refineries or lose US intelligence and arms.
The sharing had been blocked for some period of time before it was restored, Zelenskyy said on Meet the Press.
“We are very thankful for this. Now it works,” he said.
Ukraine gets other intelligence from Europeans and dozens of other partners, he explained. But only the United States has the data that tells Kyiv when Russia launches ballistic missiles.
“We didn’t get it during ballistic attacks during three days,” Zelenskyy said.
A timely warning gives Ukraine’s air defenses extra minutes to prepare and lets authorities alert civilians, Liga noted. Late on 12 October, Russian ballistic missiles hit Kyiv before the air-raid alert reached people, with no advance data on launches from Russian territory. The next day, US President Donald Trump said Washington was still sharing intelligence. Two days later, Zelenskyy said Kyiv had received no US warnings of incoming ballistic missiles while it paused its strikes on Russian refineries at Washington’s request. That pause followed the energy ceasefire Trump declared on 11 October, which Russia never confirmed.
Starshield, the military version of Starlink, still cuts out above 161 km/h, Zelenskyy said, too slow for Ukraine’s interceptor drones to catch Russia’s jet-powered Shahed-type drones. NBC News, which aired the interview, separately reported that Starlink services had resumed at normal speed. He said Ukraine’s generals and government believe the order came from the US government and SpaceX carried it out, though he did not know who exactly made the call. Ukraine had instead asked SpaceX and Trump to open Starlink over Russia so it could hit ballistic missile launchers, he said.
“If [Trump] will personally decide to lift this decision, it will immediately work as it was before,” he said.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who appeared on the same show, called Zelenskyy’s charge “very reckless” and said Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio had denied any administration role. Asked about the break in intelligence sharing, he said he did not know anything about it but that Zelenskyy should be “very careful about making statements like this that aren’t true.” Reuters had reported, citing three officials, that White House officials ordered the Pentagon to limit the service.
Asked whether Ukraine could win without the United States, Zelenskyy said it would be very difficult.
“But if the United States will support Putin, I mean, it’s unbelievable, it’s tragedy. It’s historic mistake and big tragedy,” he said.
He also said his team had received word that US negotiators wanted to meet, and that he had offered to meet in Brussels or London, hoping the US team would be ready this week.
The warnings are back, but they stopped once without explanation. Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s missiles still runs through decisions made in the US.
Is artificial intelligence growing more rapidly than humanity’s ability to contain it? The EU’s tech chief had a stark warning for the development of AI systems: if we don’t put guardrails in place now, the technology might soon be beyond our control.
In an interview with the European Newsroom (enr), European Commission Executive Vice-President Henna Virkkunen (Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy) said AI systems are becoming more capable and harder to evaluate.
The Finnish politician called for the establishment of international rules, which she said were already being discussed among G7 and G20 countries. She told journalists she was convinced that countries which are currently unwilling to regulate the sector will eventually come around.
China and the United States are currently leading in AI development but are showing no signs of slowing down despite recent warnings from industry insiders. Meanwhile, the EU has already begun to enforce its landmark AI Act.
Virkkunen also spoke about the addictive nature of social media networks and the impact they have on European children, calling on platforms to take greater responsibility. The Commission last month proposed a new law that seeks to limit the use of social media, including restrictions on gaming, for kids under 15.
The interview was conducted by enr news agencies dpa (Germany) and PAP (Poland) on behalf of the enr network.
Read some of our coverage here:
October 9 will be the last day that the well-known newspaper Expreso, one of Ecuador’s most important newspapers, is distributed in print. The newspaper, which has historically maintained a center-right editorial line, according to its statement, will limit its operations to its website, which will result in the layoff of dozens of employees.
The company that owns the newspaper, Gráficos Nacionales (Granasa), states that it is not bankrupt but will have to sell several assets to pay debts owed to its employees: “At stake is not only the rights of the shareholders but, above all, those of each and every employee who gave their all to this publishing house.”
And while the company has been reluctant to mention the reasons behind this decision in its most recent publications, several civil society actors have stated it plainly: pressure from the current right-wing government of Daniel Noboa.
One of them was the Inter-American Press Association (IAPA), which called on the government to cease “state harassment against critical media outlets and journalists.” The demand is based on complaints, dismissals, and investigations reported by the newspaper in recent months. “We regret that a newspaper with more than five decades of history is ceasing print publication. Beyond business decisions that are the sole responsibility of its owners, it is impossible to ignore the context of sustained pressure that has surrounded Granasa.”
Likewise, the Observatory for Rights and Justice (ODJ) stated: “We express our deep concern over the announcement of the discontinuation of the print edition of Diario Expreso. After several months of enduring administrative and judicial harassment, and facing government attempts at corporate takeover and censorship against its columnists and representatives, the publication has decided to stop printing copies.”
For its part, the Noboa administration has categorically denied that it took any steps to provoke the crisis at Diario Expreso, and has instead defended the actions of the relevant institutions in investigating alleged crimes “regardless of where they come from” by independent bodies such as the prosecutor’s office and the SRI.
One of the most surprising aspects of the case is that Expreso has historically maintained an editorial stance closer to the right. It was one of the newspapers most opposed to the progressive government of Rafael Correa (2007–2017), and many of its editorial writers even went so far as to endorse the recently inaugurated Noboa administration.
However, as the months went by, criticism of Noboa’s administration began to appear in the newspaper’s pages, which, according to some allegations, did not sit well with the central government.
According to these allegations, the Internal Revenue Service – the agency responsible for collecting taxes – as well as the Attorney General’s Office, began to “pressure” Expreso’s major financial backers through investigations, which reportedly led those backers to withdraw their contributions to the newspaper, which has been in circulation in Ecuador for more than half a century.
Added to this is a warning issued by the newspaper’s parent company itself, stating that the Ecuadorian Superintendency of Companies intervened in the company with the alleged aim of “monitoring its financial performance and facilitating the correction of the irregularities identified.”
Likewise, Granasa President Galo Martínez told the SIP that the government was “harassing” the newspaper’s clients who advertised their products and services in its pages, a move seen as a tactic to drive the company into bankruptcy, as it relies on sponsors to operate.
According to an investigation by Ecuavisa, the newspaper Expreso lost nearly 70% of its advertising revenue over the months of government pressure. “The cowardice of a large segment of the business community that prefers to pull its ads – whether due to calls from those in power, which have indeed occurred, or simply out of a desire to look good,” said Martín Pallares, editor-in-chief of Expreso.
The truth is that this pressure is nothing new. Several months ago, one of the country’s leading editorial writers, Roberto Andrade, who worked at the newspaper, resigned from the publication, alleging that members of the Noboa administration had requested his departure.
Pallares also spoke about this alleged government pressure in a recent interview with Ecuavisa: “The newspaper had received a message stating that the government would stop its harassment if three people were handed over: Roberto Aguilar, Eduardo Carmigniani, and myself. The newspaper placed its trust in us; it chose to stand by us rather than give in to the pressure.”
Pallares stated about this alleged government pressure in a recent interview with Ecuavisa: “The newspaper had received a message stating that the government would stop its harassment if three people were handed over: Roberto Aguilar, Eduardo Carmigniani, and myself. The newspaper placed its trust in us; it chose to stand by us rather than give in to the pressure.”
In addition, Pallares, one of the country’s most well-known right-wing journalists, said: “Critical voices bother those in power – this kind of narcissistic power where the official truth cannot be questioned. Take the Progen case [the failed sale of power generators]; it’s crystal clear. If it weren’t for the troublesome media outlets that dig up information, data, and publish chats they manage to obtain, that issue would have already been buried.”
This is not the first instance of conflict between the Noboa administration and the press. Early in his term, journalist Alondra Santiago was deported; later, the program Irreverentes was canceled following harsh criticism of the government; journalists Fausto Yépez, Hernán Higuera, and María Sol Borja reported government pressure due to their investigations; attacks against journalists were reported during the 2025 National Strike; the high-profile case of Gisella Bayona, who alleged that the government was investigating her husband because she had reported a shortage of supplies in the public health system – a situation that has triggered one of the most significant crises in the country’s healthcare history; among other incidents.
Other right-wing journalists have also criticized the government for allegedly having a low tolerance for criticism and taking actions that, they claim, are leading to a loss of freedom of expression.
One of them is journalist and political scientist Carlos Rojas, who stated in an op-ed: “What is happening with the newspaper Expreso is a very serious sign that Ecuador’s democratic health is in poor shape. It’s getting worse … a dangerous clash is reigniting between the current government – which is intolerant of criticism and oversight – and the independent press, a pillar of any liberal democracy.”
For his part, Ugo Stornaiolo wrote about new forms of censorship in Ecuador: “Journalistic oversight is undergoing a transformation that places press freedom at a crossroads. There are no shutdowns of radio stations, no buyouts of opposition media outlets, and no physical attacks. Investigative journalism faces sophisticated mechanisms of coercion: fiscal harassment, the manipulation of state entities, and reprisals against family members and coworkers to silence critical voices regarding President Noboa’s administration.”
According to several analysts, there is clear tension not only between centrist and left-wing movements and parties and the Noboa administration (which is clearly aligned with the right and follows the dictates of the Washington Consensus) but also between the Noboa administration (which belongs to the country’s most powerful family) and the critical positions coming from sectors of the right and a segment of the business community. This would demonstrate clear contradictions within the country’s most powerful economic classes.
The most recent case involved the leader of the business association, María Paz Jervis, who stated at a public event (in reference to the Diario Expreso case) that “Rarely in my life have I seen a business sector so afraid. I had never felt such hopelessness and resignation. I am convinced that there is much that needs to change in our country, and saying that there are things that need to change does not make us anyone’s enemies.”
Following these statements, Jervis resigned from her position without specifying the reasons for her decision.
The mass arrival of migrants in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in July sparked a debate about the role of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency’s (Frontex) role in future crisis situations.
In an interview with the European Newsroom (enr), Frontex Executive Director Hans Leijtens said the European Union should improve its “situational awareness” and better connect early warning systems at the bloc’s external borders.
The European Commission this week proposed a new mandate for Frontex that includes setting up a rapid-response team that can deploy within 24 hours.
In addition, a senior EU lawmaker called for Frontex to take operational command in such situations. Leijtens rejected the idea, arguing that responsibility for protecting the EU’s external borders should remain with member states.
Leijtens also addressed pressure on the EU’s eastern borders amid Russia’s ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. He said the issue was not just about migration, but reflected the close links between defence, security, border management and migration.
The Frontex chief also highlighted the drop in irregular migration through the Western Balkans, and called upon EU candidate countries in the region to complete the necessary reforms for membership. “They know that if they want to join the Union, one chapter will be about border management, so why not tick the boxes now,” he said.
The interview was conducted by journalists from European Newsroom partner agencies dpa (Germany), CTK (Czech Republic), and PAP (Poland) on behalf of the entire network.
Read some of our network’s coverage here:
EU cohesion policy becomes tangible when people learn, work, access public services and cooperate across borders. This was one of the key messages of the closing event of EUconomy – Partnerships4Prosperity, a 12-month media initiative by dpa-Custom Content, co-funded by the European Union.
The event took place at the Berlin newsroom of Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) and was streamed live via LinkedIn. Journalists, Interreg project coordinators, students, communication professionals and other stakeholders in European regional cooperation discussed how the impact of EU cohesion policy can be made more visible to regional audiences.
Claudius Schmidt-Faber, Senior Economic Expert at the European Commission in Germany, placed cohesion policy in the context of European integration and future regional development. Looking ahead to the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework from 2028, he also addressed the future architecture of cohesion policy.
“When we speak about cohesion policy, we are speaking about one of the most concrete promises of the EU: that integration should benefit all regions, territories and citizens,” Schmidt-Faber said. Europe cannot be resilient if entire regions are left behind, or united if borders remain barriers. “Cohesion is not a luxury. It is necessary.”
A central topic of the panel discussion was why the impact of cohesion policy is often difficult for citizens to see. Dr Kai Böhme, an expert in European regional policy and territorial development, as well as founder and director of Spatial Foresight, offered a simple explanation: “You don’t see things when they work well.” When cross-border transport, healthcare or education function smoothly, the cooperation behind them often remained invisible. The absence of obstacles could itself be a result of successful cohesion policy, Böhme added.
Izabela Glišić, Head of the Joint Secretariat of the Interreg VI A Brandenburg-Poland 2021-2027 Cooperation Programme, emphasised that Interreg was fundamentally about funding cooperation between regions and countries. A central focus was building trust, creating relationships that can continue beyond individual funding projects.
Interreg supports regions in addressing challenges in areas including innovation, mobility, healthcare, climate adaptation, emergency services and education. “Interreg is not only about funding projects. It is about building habits of cooperation,” said Schmidt-Faber. “It creates trust – and in today’s Europe, trust is a strategic asset.”
Pinar Hepperle, Coordinator of the Sustainable Business Development Master’s programme at Offenburg University, contributed the project perspective. The Interreg-funded TRAIL project connects universities in Offenburg, Strasbourg and Basel. Students gain international and practical experience and prepare for a sustainable, cross-border working environment.
TRAIL shows how EU cohesion policy can connect students, universities, companies and the regional labour market. Hepperle also highlighted a key communication challenge: projects need to be explained differently to different audiences – including students, companies interested in cooperation, the wider public and administrative stakeholders. Effective communication therefore requires different approaches and formats rather than one single message, she said.
The discussion underlined that reporting on EU-funded projects should go beyond funding figures and institutional language. The key questions are concrete: Who benefits? What has changed? Which regional challenge is being addressed? And why was cross-border cooperation necessary?
© Annette Riedl
About EUconomy
EUconomy – Partnerships4Prosperity is a 12-month media initiative by dpa-Custom Content, co-funded by the European Union. The project produces free multimedia content packages – including videos, images and social media material – documenting EU-funded cross-border projects in Germany’s border regions with Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, France and Denmark. All content is made available free of charge to media outlets across Germany and beyond.
dpa is the lead agency coordinating the European Newsroom (enr), a network of European news agencies.
Press contact: euconomy-pressevent@dpa.com
The hottest summer ever recorded, rivers and lakes drier than ever, and wildfires burning thousands of hectares of nature to the ground – Europe is experiencing it all.
The Executive Director of the European Environment Agency (EEA), Leena Ylä-Mononen, said that climate adaptation is no longer optional as the impact of climate change is already visible. “Severe droughts have disrupted agriculture, our transport, and even energy infrastructure. And we have seen intense heatwaves across many parts of Europe that have had huge impacts on the infrastructure, health and well-being of people,” she told the European Newsroom (enr) in an interview.
She urged European politicians to look beyond the next election and plan for the climate risks already foreseeable over the next decade. “This kind of short-termism is not going to help us,” she said.
Ylä-Mononen warned that these extreme conditions could fundamentally change agriculture in parts of Europe, with some crops no longer viable in the driest areas of the Mediterranean.
She also underlined that accelerating the uptake of renewables is key to reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels and limiting Europe’s exposure to volatile energy prices. The EEA chief pointed to the need for greater flexibility and storage capacity to help protect households and businesses when prices rise.
According to the EEA, gas price fluctuations in early 2026 cost the EU €13 billion by mid-April, while renewable energy generated €29 billion in consumer savings, highlighting its role in stabilising the energy system.
The interview was conducted by journalists from European Newsroom partner agencies dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH and Czech News Agency (CTK) on behalf of the entire network.
Read some of our network’s coverage here:
War stories, new colors, and the joy in getting hands on in art and gardening.
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