Inconclusive – will EU leaders miss the chance to get tough on China?The first draft of the communique that will be issued after next week’s EU leaders’ summit does not mention China despite fears of an EU-Sino trade war.
As Beijing’s new “ethnic unity” law tightens state control over Tibetans, Uyghurs, Mongols, and other minorities, the EU should show that its “unity in diversity” principle is more than a mere slogan — holding the Chinese government to account for its continued violations of international human rights obligations.
Von der Leyen may be caving to Meloni, but on green investment, relaxing EU deficit limits is exactly right‘Ursula cannot say ‘no’ to Georgia’, as one commentator said of von der Leyen and Meloni. But investing too little in clean energy will only push up debt levels later.
Over the past decade, Albania has undergone undeniable modernisation, implemented crucial judicial reforms, and elevated its international standing. Yet, the current unrest exposes a widening gap between macro economic success and the daily realities of ordinary citizens. And for many, the focus on five-star luxury serves as a stark reminder of unfulfilled basic needs.
Ukraine, bleeding and battered, is not going to lose. Russia, complacent and brittle, is not going to win. Indeed, Russia now looks far more vulnerable: economically, military and most of all psychologically. Vladimir Putin told the Russians that victory would be quick and easy. His prestige, and that lie, are linked, probably fatally.
When investigations describe fake personas, disguised information platforms, military-linked influence operations, or outsourced political targeting linked to Israeli actors, Europe usually reaches for a different vocabulary than it does when Russia or China do the same thing.
The return of Slovenia’s ‘Prince of Darkness’: what to expect from Janša 4.0The European Council has a new, old problem: populist Janez Janša is back as prime minister, driving Slovenia further to the right and potentially becoming a new headache for Brussels.
Stun grenades have no place in the policing of protests. The right to freedom of peaceful assembly in Greece is being blatantly violated both in law and in practice.
Asylum pact goes live next week, testing EU’s bid to calm the far-rightNext week’s implementation of the EU migration and asylum pact is a losing battle – and one where the EU’s appeasement with the hard-right risks backfiring when the reforms fail to deliver as promised.
The EU’s so-called Dublin system for redistributing asylum seekers was criticised as unfair to member states. The EU’s new pact promises to introduce greater solidarity and fairness—but will it be able to succeed?
Germany’s Nazi family search app explains (some of) the guilt behind Berlin’s soft line on IsraelWith the release of the ‘Find Out What Your Family Did Under Hitler’ app by Der Spiegel, Germans can now find shocking details of their grandparents lives one tap away on their smartphones.
Mainstream left and centre-left parties are increasingly adopting positions associated with the far right — tougher migration enforcement, collective policing measures, and the scapegoating of minorities — in pursuit of electoral safety. The evidence this works is, at best, mixed.
Does a direct link really exist between rising defence spending and budgetary cuts in healthcare, benefits or pensions, as many citizens assume? Is it true that European countries must choose between ‘guns or butter’?
Across Europe, those who fish with the least impact are often the ones who struggle the most to make a living. For years, small-scale fishers have been facing dwindling stocks, the effects of climate change, increasing pollution, complex regulations and, above all, the gradual concentration of fishing rights in the hands of the largest industrial operators. The crux of the problem lies in the way fishing quotas are allocated.
Why is Finland deporting Russian dissidents applying for asylum?This is what Nikita and Olga expect when they land in Moscow after being denied asylum by Finland: “Both of us will be arrested immediately … and face prison sentences measured in the decades”.
Pope Leo has chosen to confront one of the most pressing issues of our time by placing lethal autonomous weapons and the militarisation of artificial intelligence at the centre of his thinking.
Albania is already becoming unaffordable for many of its own citizens during the summer months. Entire coastal areas increasingly cater to foreign investors, luxury tourism, and speculative real estate markets. What was once a shared natural space risks becoming privatised scenery for multimillionaires.
Spring in Ukraine: May the Force Be With YouLife in Ukraine and Kyiv goes on. But there are islands of hurt, destruction, loss, scattered across the landscape, hidden behind polite smiles, encoded in the language
EU methane regulation might be the next casualty of a dangerous dynamic in Brussels: If industry suffers for whatever reason, policymakers reflexively blame climate legislation.
Pedro Sánchez: EU hero or Spanish problem?Many outside observers see Sánchez as a left-wing EU hero, but scandal fatigue has eroded his standing inside Spain.