Good morning from Brussels.

Hungarian Viktor Orbán’s close political ties with US president-elect Donald Trump are widely known. 

But the man soon to be vice president, JD Vance, has long been an admirer of Orbán, and analysts say the Hungarian hard-right politician was an inspiration when Trumpism’s political vision was being shaped.

Euractiv’s Laurent Geslin digs deeper into how Orbán’s policies and ideology infiltrated Trump’s campaign, Vance’s connections in Budapest, and the role of Orbán-funded foundations in promoting far-right ideologies globally. 

Politically, Orbán wants to position himself as a “bridge” between Europe and Trump’s US. However, major pro-EU governments reject such a scenario and have already coordinated the creation of a front “without Hungary.”

In this analysis, Euractiv’s Magnus Lund Nielsen and Nicoletta Ionta focus on how the pro-EU parliamentary political groups ultimately reached a compromise to greenlight the new EU Commission, whether this coalition is sustainable in the long run, and how the EU socialists will deal with their “wounds.”

On the foreign policy front, EU top diplomat Josep Borrell said the International Criminal Court’s decision on Thursday to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant is binding on all member states.

Meanwhile, as the dust settles after COP29 in Baku, human rights experts warn not to take the eyes off ongoing and escalating human rights violations in the country as it seeks to leverage its position as a strategically important oil and gas-rich partner. Nick Alipour digs deeper.

MADRID

According to Iratxe Garcia, head of the S&D in the European Parliament, the European People's Party (EPP) was much more responsible than its Spanish colleagues, Partido Popular, for blocking Spanish Commission nominee Teresa Ribera. Read more.

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ROME

Italy is divided over Fitto, securing a European Commission spot. EU lawmakers' approval of Raffaele Fitto as one of the European Commission's new executive vice presidents has provoked mixed reactions in Italy. Read more.

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LISBON

Former Portuguese president fears global conflict, particularly worrying for Europe. Former Portuguese president António Ramalho Eanes has expressed fears of a global conflict, saying that the current situation, which is "rapidly changing", is particularly worrying for Europe. Read more.

STOCKHOLM

Sweden’s Northvolt files for bankruptcy, in blow to Europe’s EV ambitions. Northvolt transformed in a matter of months from Europe’s best shot at a homegrown electric-vehicle battery champion to a company struggling to stay afloat. Read more.

BRATISLAVA

Slovakia has reinforced its support for Serbia amid the ongoing tensions with Kosovo, adding it intends to send troops to the NATO-led peacekeeping mission (KFOR) for the first time in 15 years, a move likely to worry Prishtina. Read more.

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WARSAW

Polish MEP urges Trump to back World War II reparations demands from Germany. Polish conservative PiS MEP Arkadiusz Mularczyk (ECR) has sent a letter to US President-elect Donald Trump, urging him to back Poland's demands for Germany to fork out World War Two reparations. Read more.

SOFIA

Dismissed chief prosecutor sues Bulgaria before Strasbourg human rights court. Bulgaria's former chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev is suing the country at the European Court of Human Rights over his dismissal from office, which he says was illegal and unfounded. Read more.

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BUCHAREST

Romanian government approves energy strategy. The Romanian government approved the country's first energy strategy in 17 years up to 2035, identifying energy storage as a key priority and envisaging a gradual shift from coal-fired power plants to cleaner natural gas in the short term and nuclear power in the medium and long term. Read more.

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ZAGREB

EU prosecutors warn of rule of law breaches in Croatia. European prosecutors warned on Thursday of violations of the rule of law in Croatia after the country took over a graft probe they had launched and said they had notified Brussels. Read more.

• EU: Commission Vice President Vĕra Jourová speaks at “Maintaining Justice in a Changing Europe” conference;
• Jobs and Social Rights Commissioner Nicolas Schmit takes part in opening ceremony of ETUC’s high level conference on “Trade union solidarity beyond borders”;
• Parliament President Roberta Metsola addresses EPP Political Assembly.

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[Edited by Sarantis Michalopoulos, Daniel Eck, Alice Taylor-Braçe]