Section: European Voice (EU)
Obama criticizes Russian state-run media
The state-run media in Russia is allowing President Vladimir Putin to get away with actions that aren’t in his country’s best interests, President Barack Obama says in an interview with VICE. “The Russian economy is taking a hammer blow because of their incursions into Ukraine. It’s terrible for the future of Russia. But because...
Europe needs Greece
ANKARA — The Greek debt crisis has become so complicated that we now have digests and timelines to guide us through the saga. In this spirit, the Bertelsmann Foundation recently released an infographic depicting the Greek crisis as falling dominos. The last of the pieces which would be knocked down if Greece were to default on June 30 is painted...
NATO warns of ceasefire violations in Ukraine
Russia is continuing to support armed separatists in eastern Ukraine who are endangering the fragile ceasefire with Ukrainian government forces, NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after meeting with Kiev’s defense minister on Thursday. “Ceasefire violations persist. There is still a risk of a return to heavy fighting,”...
A Russian coup
MOSCOW — St. Petersburg has seen an attempted liberal coup. At least, that’s how one might describe a debate that began late last week at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russia’s answer to Davos. Alexei Kudrin, former finance minister and current chairman of the Committee for Civic Initiatives, an NGO, called for an...
Putin triggers EU energy rethink
Moscow’s annexation of Crimea and support for separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine is driving Europe’s energy policy on everything from natural gas, renewables, energy efficency and electricity to building an EU-wide energy union, the bloc’s energy and climate commissioner told POLITICO. “The Ukrainian situation has triggered...
Four takeaways on the French spying scandal
Poor François Hollande. Fresh allegations that the U.S. carried out wholesale spying on French leaders came at the worst possible time for France’s president: just as parliament was about to vote in sweeping new surveillance powers for his Socialist government. While parliament prepared to pass the Patriot Act-style security bill, Hollande...
Putin’s Plot to Get Texas to Secede
Nathan Smith, who styles himself the “foreign minister” for the Texas Nationalist Movement, appeared last Spring at a far-right confab in St. Petersburg, Russia. Despite roaming around in his cowboy hat, Smith managed to keep a low-key presence at the conference, which was dominated by fascists and neo-Nazis railing against Western decadence. But...
Ukraine’s intel chief: We weren’t ready
When undercover Russian troops first invaded Crimea last year, the Ukrainian government and military were wholly unprepared for the new brand of hybrid warfare they launched, Vitaly Naida, director of information security counterintelligence for Ukraine’s Security Service, told POLITICO. The Russian forces integrated traditional but covert...
Additions to the transparency register June 13-19
There were 73 new registrations last week to the joint transparency register (Saturday 13-Friday 19 June): ADITIVA,s.r.o. AKKA Technologies Albert Schweitzer Stiftung für unsere Mitwelt Anilkumar Dave Association of Cyprus Banks Association Sociale Nationale Internationale Tzigane Associazione nazionale italiana spettacoli pirotecnici...
Obama’s global-finance problem
One of President Barack Obama’s key talking points on the massive, troubled trade deal moving through the Hill this week is how important it is to U.S. standing in the world. “If we don’t write the rules, China will write the rules out in that region,” he said in his State of the Union address. Yet for all the attention focused on the...
