Good morning from Washington.

Absolutely brutal. “We all love Europe, love the countries in Europe, but the European Union has been absolutely brutal on trade,” Donald Trump has said, adding: "The EU's been very nasty and... they haven't treated us properly."

The US president has asked top cabinet officials to undertake a sweeping review of US trade policy that could see the European Union hit with new “reciprocal tariffs.” Euractiv’s Thomas Moller-Nielsen has the details.

No slack for Europe. After an emotional 48 hours spent in the grey cold of NATO's Brussels HQ, the Americans left no quarter to the Europeans, writes Euractiv’s Aurélie Pugnet.
 
Those who hoped to find a friend found an angry big brother instead, in charge of Ukraine policy and with a lot of demands on Europe.
 
Speaking of European sovereignty, the European Parliament emailed all its staff yesterday recommending to use three US communication services: Microsoft's Teams and Cisco's Jabber and Signal. 
 
Meanwhile, Meta launched a 'Facebook Marketplace Partner Program' on Thursday, a move to appease the Commission after it fined them €798 million on antitrust grounds last year, writes Euractiv’s Anupriya Datta.
 
Electric avenue. Fast growth in electricity consumption is forecast for most countries, but the International Energy Agency has identified Europe as the sole laggard, in its annual report released today, writes Euractiv's Nikolaus J. Kurmayer.
 
Finally, EP President Roberta Metsola became yesterday the first European leader to enter Gaza in more than a decade. Her crossing is meant to highlight the EU’s commitment to continue supporting the ceasefire and hostage exchange deal.

MUNICH

Fearful of a renewed European war, world leaders appeased Hitler by agreeing to cede the Sudetenland. They did so just a stone's throw from the Bayrischer Hof, which this weekend will host the Munich Security Conference. Read more. 

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AMSTERDAM

Dutch struggling to provide patients with quick, affordable access to innovative medicines. Quick and affordable patient access to innovative medicines remains an issue in many countries including the Netherlands, reports a new study. Read more. 

MADRID

Sánchez leads, Vox rises, PP slips in polls. If elections were held today in Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Party would be the leading political force with 33.4% of the vote, and the Spanish People's Party would come second with 28.1%, a new poll has revealed. Read more.

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ROME | GJADER, SHENGJIN 

Italy-Albania migration centres are emptying. Over a hundred workers from the organisation managing the Italy-Albania migration centres have been dismissed “until further notice,” Italian newspaper reports. Read more.

PRAGUE

The Czech parliament has cleared the way for the criminal prosecution of far-right party leader Tomio Okamura (ESN) over campaign posters targeting minorities and immigrants. Read more.

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WARSAW
 
PiS candidate backs Trump: No NATO membership for Ukraine. Karol Nawrocki, the presidential candidate for the opposition PiS party, said he shares US President Donald Trump's view that Ukraine should not join NATO in the near future, nor does he see any prospect of the EU admitting Kyiv. Read more.

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BRATISLAVA

Fico Calls on EU to adapt to new world order amid Trump-Putin talks. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has challenged European leaders’ criticism of US President Donald Trump after he launched immediate peace talks with the Kremlin without involving them. Read more.

BUCHAREST | CHISINAU

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Chișinău summoned the Russian ambassador on Thursday after several Russian military drones crossed the southern region of Moldova during the night of February 12-13. The massive attack on Ukraine's Reni port on the Danube triggered an air raid alert in Romania as well. Read more.

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SOFIA

Russian gas transit through Bulgaria hits record high. Fresh data show that the transit of gas via Bulgaria’s TurkStream-BalkanStream pipeline in January has reached a historic high, after Ukraine stopped the transit of Russian gas via its territory. Read more.

• EU: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen participates in Munich Security Conference 2025, in Germany;
• Commission Vice President Teresa Ribera attends Clean Energy & Clean Tech roundtable in Munich Security Conference 2025; Participates in U.S. Chamber of Commerce roundtable;
• Vice President Roxana Mînzatu participates in OECD ministerial and high level Policy Forum in Paris, France;
• Mediterranean Commissioner Dubravka Šuica partecipates holds meetings with Prime Minister of Iraq Mohammed Shia' Sabbar al-Sudani, American Jewish Committee CEO Theodore Eliot Deutch, Presidential Leadership Council of the Republic of Yemen Chairman Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi, in Munich, Germany;
• Equality Preparedness and Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib holds meetings with U.N. Development Programme Administrator Achim Steiner, Foreign Affairs Minister of Egypt Abdelatty Badr Ahmed Mohamed, Internal Affairs Minister of Moldova Daniella Misail-Nichitin, International Organization for Migration Director General Amy Pope, International Committee of the Red Cross President Mirjana Spoljaric, in Munich, Germany;
• Parliament President Roberta Metsola meets with Executive Committee of Palestinian Liberation Organisation Secretary General Hussein al-Sheikh, in Ramallah, West Bank.

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[Edited by Vas Panagiotopoulos, Daniel Eck, Sofia Mandilara]