Section: European Voice (EU)
3 ways to stop ‘revisionist, militaristic’ Russia
MUNICH — The great and the good of the Atlantic security elites, and a few of their adversaries, face an unusually complex series of challenges as they gather for their annual summit in Munich this week. It was here, in February 2007, that President Vladimir Putin first threw down the gauntlet to the West, although his language was relatively...
NATO boots in Central Europe to tackle Russian threat
NATO will deploy troops to frontline states menaced by Russia’s actions in Ukraine, defense ministers agreed Wednesday, in what the head of the alliance called “the most significant boost to our collective defense since the end of the Cold War.” The alliance will not set up military bases in a bid to counter Russian military aggression, but...
IMF chief Lagarde warns Ukraine
Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, warned Ukraine Wednesday that unless the country cracks down on corruption and enacts promised reforms, it runs the risk of losing an IMF-led $40 billion bailout program crucial to saving the economy from collapse. “I am concerned about Ukraine’s slow progress in...
German-Turkish refugee request ambushes NATO talks
Military alliances don’t like surprises, which is why NATO was taken aback by an apparently impromptu German and Turkish proposal that it should take on a new role in the refugee crisis, such as sea patrols against human traffickers in the Aegean. The initiative — fruit of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s visit to Prime Minister Ahmet...
5 European cities on the migration frontline
Europe’s mayors are angry. On the frontline of the continent’s fight against migration, city leaders see national governments and the European Union drawing up plans to tackle the refugee crisis that do little, if anything, to protect their citizens. Some are taking matters into their own hands, and tapping into years of experience in...
Ghost of European re-nationalism
Later this week, NATO defense ministers meet in Brussels to discuss the two biggest issues testing transatlantic security: a newly aggressive Russia and the terrorist threat posed by a burgeoning Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Left unaddressed, however, is Europe’s most immediate and perhaps most significant challenge — the...
How migrants brought Central Europe together
By joining NATO and the EU at the turn of century, the Visegrád Group fulfilled its original purpose — to integrate Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic into Western democratic institutions. But the group has struggled to find a common cause since, despite cooperation on issues like the digital single market and common support for...
Ukraine’s political suicide
KIEV — Ukraine’s fledgling democracy edged closer to dismembering itself this week, as one of the most reform-minded members of the government stepped down. In his resignation letter, Economy Minister Aivaras Abromavičius accused old political elites of systematically blocking much-needed reforms and paralyzing the fight against rampant...
A Putin dissident in winter
MOSCOW — Around this time in 2012, Alexei Navalny represented the most serious threat to the Kremlin in years. His name was thrown around, at home and abroad, as a potential replacement for Vladimir Putin. He stood before crowds of tens of thousands in Moscow, leading chants for the regime’s downfall. Four winters later, Navalny is a much...
Finance errors hamper Dutch vote on EU-Ukraine deal
A Dutch referendum on an EU deal with Ukraine faces administrative problems after it was revealed that half of the requests for campaign financing were filed incorrectly. A pot of €2 million of taxpayers’ money is available for the campaign ahead of an April 6 vote on the EU-Ukraine association agreement — €700,000 for the ‘Yes’ side,...
