Section: European Public Affairs (EU)
NATO’s Southern Dilemma: Contesting Security Interests of the Regional Powers in the Middle East
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) finds itself between two fronts. To the East, Russia, by annexing Crimea, a Ukrainian territory, has violated the post-WW international order which has secured the decades’ long peace in Europe. To the South, the rise of extremism in the Middle East has created one of the most challenging...
First the European Union now the European Court of Human Right: A new target of British ‘Sovereignism Creep’
In a move to reach out to UKIP voters and its own backbenchers, the UK Conservative Party has announced its will to adopt its own British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities and transform the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) into an advisory body, a plan which is likely to lead to the UK’s withdrawal from European Convention on Human...
NATO’s Eastern Security Threats and the Need to Go Back to Basics
Occupation of the Crimean peninsula in Ukraine was supposed to be a turning point in NATO’s relations with Russia. The Wales summit, in this regards, was expected to reform policies towards the country. However, the expectations did not come true due to the fact that the member states focused more on building an international coalition...
Why Russia will not close its sky to EU airlines (and why it might)
With a new set of sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU last week, the trade war between the two sides is gaining momentum. Postulating the potential Russian response, the rumours say that the government at the Kremlin may decide to close its airspace to airlines from the EU and the USA. As alarming as these rumours sound, will Russia actually...
EU-Ukraine: Ratification vs. Implementation
Yesterday the Ukrainian and European parliaments simultaneously ratified the landmark Association Agreement: 355 and 535 votes respectively. A synchronous signing session followed thereafter. As European Parliament rapporteur Jacek Saryusz-Wolski from the EPP said yesterday: “Through this ratification, Ukraine’s European choice will be...
What lies behind Visegrad Four’s different positions towards Ukraine and Russia?
The current conflict over Ukraine has quickly escalated into a matter of geopolitical importance. Cornered by the events and pushed into assuming a position, the EU has officially responded to the situation by imposing sanctions against Russia in three waves. While the EU has so far largely managed to speak with one voice, this does not mean that...
European Crisis: 28 July 1914 & 28 July 2014 – Marking the Centennial of World War I
“Against the vast majority of my countrymen… in the name of humanity and civilisation, I protest against our share in the destruction of Germany. A month ago Europe was a peaceful comity of nations: if an Englishman killed a German, he was hanged. Now, if an Englishman kills a German, or if a German kills an Englishman, he is a...
Eurosceptics are not anti-European. They are just wrong!
Those of us who believe in a more integrated Europe have moved too closely and too comfortably to the idea that the best way to fight Euroscepticism is to label it as an anti-European movement operating on the fringes of our societies. Yet the recent surge of anti-EU parties, wishing to turn the time back proves that they are but a marginal...
