France calls on European Union leaders to listen to Pope Leo XIV's speech on Europe

France invited the heads of state and government of the European Union to attend a speech delivered by Pope Leo XIV on Europe next week during his visit to the country, according to a source in the French presidency.

The source added that representatives of European Union institutions also received invitations, without revealing the names of those who confirmed their participation, according to Agence France-Presse.

Leo, the first American to assume the presidency of the Catholic Church, will arrive in France on Friday for a four-day visit, the first official state visit by a pope to France in 18 years.

The Pope is scheduled to deliver a speech next Monday in the city of Metz, near the German border, about “peace and unity” in Europe, in light of the tension in transatlantic relations and the continuation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine for the fifth year.

The head of the Spanish Public Broadcasting Corporation said on Tuesday that he supports boycotting the Eurovision competition again due to Israel's participation, which may increase the number of countries boycotting the largest live television music event in the world.

Spain joined the Netherlands, Iceland, Ireland and Slovenia in withdrawing from this year's competition in Austria. In protest against Israel's participation, against the backdrop of the war in Gaza that broke out following Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023.

Ireland and the Netherlands also announced their boycott of the 2027 competition in Bulgaria, and the Irish broadcaster RTE attributed its decision to “the horrific and continuing loss of life in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there.”

Israeli bombing has killed more than 1,300 people in the devastated Palestinian Strip since the ceasefire in October 2025, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, whose figures the United Nations generally considers reliable.

The head of the Spanish public broadcaster RTVE, José Pablo Lopez, told a Senate committee on Tuesday that it was “extremely painful” for the Israeli public broadcaster to continue participating in Eurovision, “despite everything, and in light of the situation that Gaza is still experiencing.”

Last August, Eurovision organizers announced that they would not allow any country involved in an armed conflict to host the competition.

The winner usually gets the right to host the next session, and Israel is close to winning the competition in 2025 and 2026.

Lopez said that “progress has been achieved on the technical level, but it is clear that there are also outstanding issues on the moral level.”

He added: “For this reason, I announce that I will propose to the RTVE Board of Directors to maintain the suspension of our participation in (Eurovision).”

Spanish media reported that the next meeting of the Board of Directors will be held by mid-October.

Spain is one of the group called the “Big Five” countries that provide the largest financial contributions to the European Radio and Television Union, the organizer of the Eurovision competition, and automatically qualifies for the final of the competition.

The Palestinian cause enjoys broad support in Spain. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is a vocal critic of Israel, and has described its actions in Gaza as genocide.

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that Russia believes that the number of permanent members of the UN Security Council should be increased beyond the current five, while maintaining the veto power.

This came during Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov's response to a question from journalists about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's call to cancel both permanent membership and veto power, according to Reuters news agency.

Erdogan has been criticizing the Council for a long time, and considers that the permanent members who have veto power - Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States - do not represent the international community and are unable to make quick decisions.

Peskov said Russia wants to reform the council and expand permanent membership.

He added: “We believe that the system of permanent members of the Security Council, as well as the right of veto, are two very important elements in the general structure of the United Nations.”