Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Hungary's six-month stint holding the EU presidency may not be as dramatic and problematic as some fear.

Hungary At The Helm: What To Expect From The EU's Next Presidency The European Union is bracing for Hungary to take over the EU's rotating presidency, which starts on July 1. It could be an awkward six months for the EU leadership given that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been on a collision course with Brussels.

Fans in Tbilisi celebrate in the streets of the Georgian capital after their country's soccer team won against Portugal in the Euro 2024 championship. One of many compelling images in the latest edition of Photos Of The Week.

Photos Of The Week: Compelling Images From Our Region Here are some of the most compelling photographs from the 26th week of 2024 from around RFE/RL's region. For more photo galleries, see our archive.

"It's unbelievable. It's like the defendant in a trial has suddenly taken over the prosecution," Hungarian journalist and Orban biographer Paul Lendvai said.

Orban-Led Hungary To Assume EU Presidency Amid Concerns Of Far-Right Rise Hungary, led by right-wing nationalist and Russia-friendly Prime Minister Viktor Orban, takes over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1, raising concerns in much of the West amid signs of the rising strength of the far right throughout the continent.

Nobel Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa talks about helping democracy survive threats from would-be dictators.

Nobel Laureate Maria Ressa On Democracy's 'Death By A Thousand Cuts' And How To Fight Back The 2021 Nobel Peace Prize winner says sometimes you're simply forced to "fight a government." She also talks about her golden rule of journalism and the current "foreign agent" challenge facing Georgians.

Russian media suggested that the purpose of the visit was to celebrate the 40th birthday of street-fashion designer and reported acquaintance Gosha Rubchinsky.

Kanye West Reportedly Spotted In Moscow Russian media, including a VKontakte social media account reportedly belonging to Kanye West, said on June 30 that the always-controversial American rapper is in the Russian capital.

The Kyrgyz Emergency Situations Ministry said six of the eight deaths were children or teens from a single family.

At Least 8 Dead, More Missing Amid Kyrgyzstan Flooding At least eight people have been confirmed killed in flooding and mudslides caused by heavy rainfall in a southern region of Kyrgyzstan.

Despite an apparent setback for Viktor Orban's own Fidesz party in early June's European elections, many right-wing parties in the European Union rode a surge of popularity to boost their gains in the European Parliament.

Orban, Allies Announce Right-Wing 'Patriots For Europe' Alliance Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on June 30 announced alongside allies from Austria and the Czech Republic the imminent launch of a new political alliance that he vowed would "quickly" dominate the European political right.

In Photos: "We overtook the flying crows" recalled the shah of Iran, during his first trip on a Russian train.

When The Shah Met The Tsar: How Iran's Ruler Viewed Russia And The Caucasus 150 Years Ago In 1874, a travel diary of Iran’s ruler Naser al-Din Shah was published in English for the first time, offering a fascinating insight into the shah’s trip through Russia, Western Europe, and the Caucasus that had taken place the previous year. It was the first trip of its kind by an Iranian rule...

The third round of the talks in Qatar marks the inaugural participation of the Taliban in the gatherings.

New Round Of Afghan Talks Kicks Off In Doha Two days of talks on international relations with Taliban-led Afghanistan were set to get under way on June 30 in Doha, with a Taliban delegation on hand for the first time but rights groups furious over the exclusion of women and women's rights issues.

A recent report by a Washington think tank alleged that China was experimenting with spreading its authoritarian model to other countries.

Xi To Combine SCO Summit With State Visits To Kazakhstan, Tajikistan China's Foreign Ministry announced on June 30 that President Xi Jinping will attend the 24th summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Astana and pay state visits to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan from July 2-6.

The attack in Vilnyansk came with Russian forces putting heavy pressure on Ukrainian defenders along the 1,000-kilometer front line and with increased air strikes in the 28-month-old full-scale invasion.

Zelenskiy Says More Air Defenses Needed Against 'Russian Terror,' As Vilnyansk Casualty Toll Nears 40 Ukraine's State Emergency Service have raised the number of injured to more than 30 after an alleged Russian rocket attack that killed seven people in the city of Vilnyansk, in the southern Zaporizhzhya region, on June 29.

Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said authorities are treating the noontime attack on June 29 as a terrorist incident and the entire country had been put on high alert with an increased police presence.

Serbian Police Searches Continue After 'Terrorist' Crossbow Attack At Israeli Embassy Police in Serbia have detained an additional individual and are seeking others following an incident in which an attacker with a crossbow was killed after injuring a policeman outside the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade on June 29 in what the prime minister called a "heinous terrorist attack."

Moscow reportedly intensified its attack in the direction of Toretsk on the night of June 18 after having been inactive on this section of the front for most of the year.

Russia Says It Captured Donetsk Village As Ukraine Targets Crimea Russia’s Defense Ministry said its forces captured a village in Donetsk region near the town of Toretsk as Ukraine struck the occupied peninsula of Crimea and inside Russia.

Ukraine dismissed Belarus's concerns over its movement of troops and equipment, saying it was forced to do so because Minsk continues to support Russia's invasion.

Belarus Strengthens Air Defenses Along Ukrainian Border As Kyiv Defends Troop Movements Belarus has deployed additional air defense forces to its border with Ukraine, claiming its southern neighbor posses threats to its "critical infrastructure facilities."

Violence, strength, and survival: The 'dvor' that defined a young Vladimir Putin. Julia Ioffe () in conversation with Vazha Tavberidze ().

From Chasing Rats To Blood Baths: How Putin's Childhood Shaped His Leadership Russian-American journalist Julia Ioffe recently launched a podcast about Vladimir Putin's childhood and spoke to RFE/RL's Georgian Service about how the Russian president's hard-scrabble early life shaped who he is today.

"Although the identity of the person has not been established, there is no doubt that it is a terrorist act," Serbian Interior Affairs Minister Ivica Dacic said.

Crossbow-Wielding Attacker Shoots Guard at Israeli Embassy In Belgrade; Attacker Fatally Shot A man wielding a crossbow shot and wounded a police officer guarding the Israeli Embassy, before being fatally shot in return by the guard officer, officials said.

Who is Masud Pezeshkian, the Iranian reformist lawmaker and former health minister who surprised in Iran's presidential election?

Who Is Masud Pezeshkian? Masud Pezeshkian is a reformist veteran lawmaker in Iran. A heart surgeon by training, Pezeshkian is a former deputy parliament speaker who has managed to steer clear of political and corruption scandals that Iran's elite often find themselves in.

Saeed Jalili is an ultraconservative who is running to be Iran's president for the third time. Will he finally reach his goal in the July 5 run-off between the last two candidates?

Who Is Saeed Jalili? Saeed Jalili is an ultraconservative who has never held public office in Iran. Now he is one of two candidates remaining in the race to become the next president of the Islamic republic.

🇧🇦 Hundreds Rally In Sarajevo For LGBT Rights
🇨🇳 Chinese Megaprojects Back In Fashion In Central Asia's Poorest States
🇮🇷 Why Iran's Presidential Election Matters More Than Past Votes

The Week's Best: 12 Stories And Videos You Shouldn't Miss We know you're busy and probably don't have the time to read all of our coverage each and every day. Here are some of the highlights produced in English by RFE/RL's vast team of correspondents, multimedia editors, and visual journalists over the past seven days.

“The extinction of languages is a problem in many regions. And music is very good at showing that language is alive. That it can be used, and not just observed in some museums,” says Oksana Boda, who founded the alternative 9January record label.

'A Revolutionary Element': How One Small Record Label Bucks The Trend In Putin's Russia With President Vladimir Putin pushing his version of “traditional” Russian values, ethnic and sexual minorities have been increasingly marginalized in a country where anything that does not toe the Kremlin line is seen as a threat. But one small record label in Tatarstan is fighting back.

The results knocked two other candidates out of the race: Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a conservative speaker of parliament, and Mostafa Purmohammadi, a former justice and interior minister.

Reformer Pezeshkian, Hard-Liner Jalili Headed To A Runoff In Iran's Presidential Election Preliminary final results showed that reformist lawmaker Masud Pezeshkian and hard-liner Saeed Jalili will head to a second-round, run-off vote in Iran’s presidential election.

Early results in Iran’s presidential election showed reformist lawmaker Masud Pezeshkian holding a narrow lead over three other contenders, as Iranians waited for a final tally in a vote unlikely to result in major policy shifts.

Early Results In Iran Presidential Election Show Reformist Lawmaker With Narrow Lead Iranians await results on June 29 from a snap presidential election triggered by the death of Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

As Ukrainians marked Constitution Day, Moscow unleashed a fresh wave of drone and artillery strikes, killing at least four people in a village in the Donetsk region, one person in Dnipropetrovsk, and injuring others in Kharkiv.

Moscow Resumes Attacks, Killing 5, As Ukraine Hits Tambov Oil Depot, Other Russian Targets As Ukrainians marked Constitution Day on June 28, Moscow unleashed a fresh wave of drone and artillery strikes on southern and eastern regions for the second day in a row, killing at least four people in a village in the Donetsk region, one person in Dnipropetrovsk, and injuring others in Kharkiv.

President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev’s promise of a "Just Kazakhstan" has given an impetus to some who consider themselves victims of unfair court judgements. But the battle to clear their names and recover seized assets is proving long and hard.

Victims Of Kazakh Justice System Press To Clear Names, Reform Corrupt Courts A movement of Kazakhs who suffered what they say were unjust convictions in court are calling for a special commission to be created to review their cases. The current justice system, they argue, is unfit for the task, despite Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev's promise of a "Just Kazakhstan."

In Photos: Over the centuries, the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, which looms large in the national consciousness, has been commemorated in Serbian poetry and literature.

Serbs Commemorate Vidovdan And The 1389 Battle Of Kosovo The Serbian Orthodox Church on June 28 celebrates the Feast of St. Vitus (in Serbian, Vidovdan), which also commemorates the Battle of Kosovo against the Ottoman Turks, which took place in 1389.