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Follow the Money EU
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European independent investigative newsroom.
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Not all is clean beneath a blue sky.
We’re now here to dig deeper.
💧 Will Europe’s green hydrogen dream run dry before it even begins?

Europe bet on the clean fuel to meet its climate targets. Five years on, the billion-euro plan in Namibia is stalling – investors are leaving and little has been built. Yet Brussels still clings to the dream.

👇 Read the article
Europe’s climate goals at risk as hydrogen dream faces wake-up call in Namibia
Namibia’s green hydrogen industry has been hailed as a vital part of the EU’s clean energy transition. Yet the fledgling sector is plagued by problems and struggling to get off the ground, Follow the ...
www.ftm.eu
November 11, 2025 at 9:06 AM
🇪🇺📬 A sneak peek from this week’s Bureau Brussels: Germany’s sensitive exports to Israel have surged fivefold since the Gaza war; a Parliament pizza party sparks an ethics scandal; ministers weaken 2040 climate goals as the ultra-rich tighten their grip.

👇 Here’s the latest edition
Newsletter | From Berlin to Tel Aviv: exports of sensitive goods soared more than fivefold
Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism
www.ftm.eu
November 10, 2025 at 7:33 AM
🇪🇺📥 This week in Europe Uncovered: stranded families expose Europe’s broken asylum system, Ireland struggles to care for FGM survivors, and billion-dollar monopolies tighten their grip on health and technology.

Here’s the best investigative journalism of the week 👇

www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...
Newsletter | Stranded lives, broken systems, and billion-dollar monopolies
Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism
www.ftm.eu
November 8, 2025 at 9:48 AM
“The CEO used to be an elite spy.”

FTM journalist Sebastiaan Brommer reveals how European health and government data ended up with a U.S. firm tied to ex-Israeli intelligence – and the risks that poses.

🎧 Here's the latest episode: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...
November 7, 2025 at 12:08 PM
“𝗠𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗼-𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲.”

Albania is closer than ever to joining the EU – yet it’s also one of Europe’s most thriving drug hubs – run by mafia networks.

What’s happening? And why does Brussels keep turning a blind eye?

🔗 Read why it matters across Europe: www.ftm.eu/articles/alb...
Brussels turns blind eye as Albania’s drug empire threatens Europe
Under Prime Minister Edi Rama, Albania has become a narco-state over the past 10 years. Albanian criminal networks are increasingly active in Europe. Yet, the EU continues to support Rama's efforts to...
www.ftm.eu
November 6, 2025 at 8:18 AM
⚖️📬𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲 & 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘂𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀𝗹𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿

Charges against ex-EU Justice Chief Didier Reynders dominate a week marked by new revelations on spyware, tax evasion, and political corruption across Europe and the pond.

Read the latest newsletter here: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...
November 5, 2025 at 10:02 AM
🗃️ Why would Israel want access to Europeans’ data?
FTM’s new podcast reveals how tech firm Zivver, trusted with Europe’s most sensitive information, allowed private messages to slip into the orbit of a U.S. company run by former Israeli intelligence officers.

Listen here: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...
November 5, 2025 at 8:06 AM
🇧🇪⚖️ 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨’𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗺𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 – charged with money laundering in Belgium after an October hearing with his wife.

Prosecutors say Reynders used lottery tickets and cash deposits to channel funds of unclear origin into his personal account.

Read the full story 👇:
Ex-EU justice chief Didier Reynders charged with money laundering
The charge comes after months of investigation.
www.ftm.eu
November 4, 2025 at 4:27 PM
🚨📱Under the EU’s DSA, X must report user-safety risks. Yet the platform hid data about child abuse and terrorism and now Brussels is helping to keep its reports confidential.

An EU watchdog is calling the Commission out for shielding the platform.

Read our update: www.ftm.eu/articles/eu-...
November 4, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Think Europe shapes its own policies? Think again. A third of Brussels’ 'independent' think tanks get millions from the U.S. and Big Tech to protect their interests and shape the EU agenda.

💭 Should foreign funding in EU think tanks be more transparent?

Read more: www.ftm.eu/articles/a-t...
November 4, 2025 at 8:18 AM
🇪🇺📬 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘂 𝗕𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘀𝗲𝗹𝘀: while the Netherlands counts its votes, Brussels hums with drama – the Commission admits EU funds reached spyware firms, Selmayr eyes a comeback, and Big Tech breaks lobbying records.

Read the latest newsletter below 👇👇
Newsletter | Brussels admits EU funds flowed to spyware firms after FTM probe
Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism
www.ftm.eu
November 3, 2025 at 11:13 AM
Google, the world’s largest search engine operating three in four smartphones, has played Brussels like a fiddle – shaping laws, silencing rivals, and calling it "innovation". The chart shows how Big Tech bankrolls Brussels’ top think tanks.

Read our latest story here: www.ftm.eu/articles/goo...
November 3, 2025 at 7:18 AM
🇪🇺📥 This week in Europe Uncovered: far-right extremism takes hold in German schools, Switzerland’s richest face a tax revolt, and Europe’s banks keep fuelling the climate crisis.

Here’s the best investigative journalism of the week:

www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...
Newsletter | Radical lessons, billionaire battles, and a carbon reckoning
Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism
www.ftm.eu
November 1, 2025 at 9:16 AM
🇺🇸 ⚖️ Why did the U.S. suddenly drop two major NATO corruption cases?

In our latest podcast, journalists Simon Van Dorpe and Jesse Pinster unpack the story.

Listen to the full episode here: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...
October 31, 2025 at 1:48 PM
"It’s a shitshow". Ivory gone, two dead in a plane crash, whistleblowers fired. Reports to FTM reveal chaos at Zakouma Park – run by African Parks, with Prince Harry on its board. Chad tried to expel them for fraud. Why did Brussels step in?

Read the full story here: www.ftm.eu/articles/afr...
October 31, 2025 at 8:42 AM
🇪🇺📬 This week in Bureau Brussels: a spooky week where deals haunt the corridors, denials return from the dead, and delays never die. Big Oil spins the climate story, Dutch parties flex before elections, and the ICC turns up the heat on Italy.

🔗Latest newsletter here:

www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...
When denial stopped working, Big Oil changed the story
Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism
www.ftm.eu
October 29, 2025 at 11:06 AM
🎙️ A NATO corruption scandal rocked Europe – then the US quietly dropped charges against four suspects. In our new FTM podcast, Jesse Pinster and Simon Van Dorpe uncover why Washington backed off the crackdown.

Listen to our latest episode here: www.ftm.eu/articles/pod...
Podcast | Inside the NATO corruption scandal
A NATO corruption scandal made international headlines when several suspects were arrested across Europe earlier this year. But a cross-border investigation reveals that just a few months later, the U...
www.ftm.eu
October 29, 2025 at 9:07 AM
🌍💰 The world is burning – and banks are cashing in.

From 2021–2024, global banks channelled $1.6 trillion to fossil fuel firms driving new carbon bombs that push emissions beyond the world’s carbon budget 11× over – even as experts warn it could run out in four years.

🔗 Read the story below:
Major banks pump $1.6 trillion into fossil fuel industry as world nears climate tipping point
The world’s biggest banks have invested hundreds of billions of dollars in recent years in fossil fuel companies, new data shows. Analysts told Follow the Money that the financial institutions are bet...
www.ftm.eu
October 27, 2025 at 8:14 AM
At Follow the Money, we don’t seek the spotlight, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t proud when our work is recognised. This week, we won the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism for our investigation into the Russian shadow fleet.
October 26, 2025 at 8:09 AM
🇪🇺📥This week in Europe Uncovered: NATO’s corruption probes vanish without a trace, Russia’s underwater defences rely on Western tech, and US donors quietly bankroll Europe’s think tanks. Orbán’s influence spreads across borders, and Greek shipowners help sink the world’s first green shipping tax.
Buried investigations, covert networks, and foreign influence in Europe
Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism
www.ftm.eu
October 25, 2025 at 7:46 AM
🏆 This week, 'The Shadow Fleet Secrets' won the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for Journalism 2025. It exposed how Western shipowners sold 230 old tankers – earning $6 billion from deals that built Russia’s shadow fleet and helped it dodge EU sanctions.

🎧 Watch the podcast clip: lnkd.in/eXGbR4Cs
October 24, 2025 at 11:08 AM
🇪🇺💰How ‘independent’ can Brussels-based think tanks really be when one third of their funding comes from the U.S?

🔗 Read what this means for Europe:
www.ftm.eu/articles/a-t...
October 23, 2025 at 8:05 AM
🏆 FTM & partners received the Daphne Caruana Galizia Prize for The Shadow Fleet Secrets, revealing how Western shipowners fuelled Russia’s shadow fleet. We’re donating our €20 000 prize to fearless outlets in Ukraine & Russia.

💡Help keep independent reporting alive: www.ftm.eu/help-us-to-s...
October 22, 2025 at 2:15 PM
🔥This week, all eyes on #Natogate – our special Crime & Corruption edition breaks down the scandal with exclusive NATO details, plus fresh stories from Sarkozy’s sentence to EU VAT fraud and the ECB union clash.

🔗 Read & subscribe to keep corruption in check: www.ftm.eu/newsletters/...
#Natogate: scandal, fallout, reckoning?
Follow the Money - Platform for investigative journalism
www.ftm.eu
October 22, 2025 at 8:32 AM
🎙️New podcast: As Europe ramps up defence spending, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán has handed his country’s defence industry to a trusted ally. Journalist Jesse Pinster uncovers how EU funds and state assets are funnelled into Orbán’s inner circle – and why Brussels seems powerless to stop it.

Listen now 👇
Podcast | How Orbán funnels Hungary’s assets to his allies
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has handed over his country’s defence industry to one of his business allies – just as Europe is pouring billions into military spending. Journalist Jesse Pinster...
www.ftm.eu
October 22, 2025 at 6:44 AM