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POLITICO’s most-read stories of 2025
Well, it’s (almost) over.
2025 was a monster year of news for Europe, but a couple stories in particular shook the continent — and piqued our readers’ interest.
The first was a new and hostile U.S. administration, led by Donald Trump, which dramatically upended the transatlantic relationship (and saw him named POLITICO’s most influential person in Europe).
And the second was the war in Ukraine, which dragged into its fourth, bloody year and — together with Trump’s return to the White House — forced Europe’s leaders to make hard choices about the EU’s security, agency and destiny.
The collision of the two, a paradigm-shattering American president, and the grim reality on Ukraine’s battlefield dominated the year’s news. And POLITICO was there for every consequential speech, summit, and Oval Office spat.
Without further ado, here are our 20 most-read stories of 2025.
20. Europe thinks the unthinkable: Retaliating against Russia
As the Kremlin launched a wave of hybrid attacks against EU member countries, from menacing fighter jet incursions to mysterious drone sightings, POLITICO asked: What would it take for Europe to finally hit back?
19. North Korean troops are far from ‘cannon fodder,’ Ukrainian soldiers say
Pyongyang’s entry into the war in Ukraine on the Kremlin side was one of the more surprising stories of 2024. As the fighting continued this year, North Korean infantry proved to be highly skilled combatants, not just expendable pawns, according to Kyiv.
18. Canada’s conservative leader Pierre Poilievre loses his own seat in election collapse
Canada’s election in the spring saw the landslide victory of now-Prime Minister Mark Carney and the spectacular fall of Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre, who was unable to hang onto his own seat.
17. Trump demands $500B in rare earths from Ukraine for continued support
The transactional American president turned his sights on Ukraine’s rare earths, the critical elements and minerals vital to manufacturing modern technologies, asking Kyiv to cough up its natural resources in return for Washington’s help fending off Russia’s invasion …
16. Ukraine balks at signing Trump deal to hand over its mineral wealth
… But that didn’t fly with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who refused to sign an agreement drafted by Washington to hand over half of his country’s rare earth minerals to American companies.
15. ‘Free world needs a new leader’: Europe defends Zelenskyy after Trump attack
Trump and Vice President JD Vance’s acrimonious Oval Office showdown with Zelenskyy horrified European leaders and saw the EU stand up to Washington in a major turning point for transatlantic relations.
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14. Trump blaming Ukraine for Putin’s war leaves Europe reeling
The American leader’s insistence that Ukraine was responsible for its own invasion and parroting of Kremlin talking points didn’t exactly sit well with European governments, with one spokesperson calling his remarks “often incomprehensible.”
13. Russia to Trump: Back off Ukraine’s rare earths
Trump’s efforts to ink an economic deal with Ukraine rang alarm bells in Moscow and triggered a response from the Kremlin’s chief spokesperson.
12. EU offers Trump removal of all industrial tariffs
Trump’s punishing tariffs roiled the global economy, and in a bid to nab itself a better deal, the EU offered to scrap its tariffs on industrial products such as cars and chemicals if Washington did the same.
11. Macron calls emergency European summit on Trump, Polish minister says
French President Emmanuel Macron, who did not exactly have the best year, led the European charge to respond to Trump’s disruption with a crisis meeting in Paris.
10. Huge blackouts cripple power supply in Spain and Portugal
A massive outage in Spain and Portugal brought both countries to a standstill, affecting everything from public transport and traffic lights to hospitals and nuclear power plants.
9. Trump and Putin stun Europe with peace plan for Ukraine
Just weeks after taking office, Trump confirmed Europeans’ worst fears when he called Russian President Vladimir Putin — who had previously been in the diplomatic freezer — and sought to broker an end to the war in Ukraine with the Kremlin, sidelining Kyiv and Brussels.
8. JD Vance attacks Europe over migration, free speech
In a stunning tirade that set the tone for the Trump administration’s scathing stance on Europe this year, the American vice president ripped into the EU over everything from freedom of speech to migration policy.
7. JD Vance sparks British fury as he mocks Ukraine peacekeeping plan
As the coalition of the willing took shape, with EU member countries and the U.K. devising a plan to potentially put boots on the ground in Ukraine, Vance poured scorn on the idea — and triggered backlash from London.
6. EU offers its own ‘win-win’ minerals deal to Ukraine
Just as Trump was close to inking an economic deal with Ukraine to dig up Kyiv’s much-coveted natural resources, the EU swooped in with a rival proposition.
5. EU slams the door on US in colossal defense plan
2025 saw the EU race to arm itself with an ambitious €800 billion defense spending scheme— but Washington, which partly triggered Europe’s scramble to stand on its own two feet by denigrating Europe and cutting off aid to Ukraine, was shut out of the plan.
4. Top Trump allies hold secret talks with Zelenskyy’s Ukrainian opponents
Weeks after Trump’s angry spray at Zelenskyy in the Oval Office, the U.S. president’s allies held secret discussions with some of the Ukrainian leader’s top domestic opponents.
3. ‘Parkinson’s is a man-made disease’
One of the most sobering stories of 2025 was the explosion in cases of Parkinson’s disease, which have more than doubled globally over the past 20 years and are expected to do so again in the next 20. A neurologist who leads a globally recognized clinic and research team told POLITICO the reason could be our exposure to chemicals.
Read the story
2. EU to Trump on tariffs: Go ahead, make our day.
As Trump prepared to unleash devastating tariffs on Europe, the EU locked and loaded its so-called “trade bazooka,” in a standoff that put Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry to shame.
1. Pope Francis, sensing he is close to death, moves to protect his legacy
In the end, it was political machinations in the Vatican, not the U.S. or Ukraine, which most fascinated POLITICO’s readers.
Facing the prospect of his death (which, when it happened in April following a stroke, triggered an outpouring of global grief), Pope Francis took steps to cement his reformist agenda and ensure his successor would follow in his footsteps.
