Section: European Voice (EU)
Europe’s new dictator
Last month at the European Union summit in Riga, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker dispensed with diplomatic protocol to greet Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán with a puckish, “Hello, dictator!” — an open handed salute, and a slap on the cheek. It was all in good fun for Juncker, the longtime prime minister of Luxembourg, who...
Russia strikes pipeline deals to skirt Ukraine
The cash-strapped and increasingly friendless Greek government on Friday signed a preliminary agreement with Russia on a €2 billion project that would build a pipeline through Greece to link up with the controversial Moscow-backed Turkish Stream scheme. Russia wants to build Turkish Stream, carrying 63 billion cubic meters a year of gas, across...
Migration could be key in tossup Danish vote
COPENHAGEN — Denmark’s parliamentary elections on Thursday are so closely tied between the ruling “red” bloc of Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt and the opposition “blue” coalition that the winner could be determined by four seats from faraway Greenland and the Faroe Islands. Each of those distant outposts gets a pair of guaranteed...
EU agrees to extend Russia sanctions
EU ambassadors meeting in Brussels Wednesday agreed to extend economic sanctions against Russia in retaliation for its actions in Ukraine, according to diplomatic sources. The agreement among member countries is expected to be ratified next week by EU foreign ministers. The sanctions, which ban Russian exports in the EU, are likely to be extended...
EU naval mission nears launch
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s pitch for the mandatory relocation of asylum-seekers continues to face fierce resistance from EU countries, but a consensus is forming on a military operation to crack down on smugglers. “If everything goes well, we could launch the operation on June 22 at the Foreign Affairs Council in...
Putin’s best EU friends
Italy’s Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is trying to have it both ways. Just days after attending the G7 summit, which highlighted the possibility of stepping up sanctions against Russia should it not meet the commitments it made in the Minsk agreements, Renzi hosted Russian President Vladimir Putin in Milan, where he spoke of the “traditional...
Russia chill brings return to brinkmanship
The chill between Russia and the West has brought Cold War-style military brinkmanship roaring back — with a 21st century twist. Today, it’s not enough for Russian bombers to probe U.S. air defenses off Alaska, for its fighters to barrel-roll around American reconnaissance aircraft over Eastern Europe or for its attack jets to buzz American...
Why Jeb Should Fear Putin
When Jeb Bush arrives in Estonia on Friday, he will be landing close to the front lines of a complex, geopolitical struggle between Russia and the West. As Estonia’s former foreign minister, I have some thoughts on what this possible future president of the United States should know about this last leg of his foreign tour. Bush...
If not now, when?
BRUSSELS — “If not now, when?” This question was most likely in the back of POLITICO editors’ minds when they decided to invest in the European market. Their move is a welcome boost to competition and innovation in the Brussels media bubble and recognition of its growth potential. And it has a wider significance: It also reflects the...
Jeb’s gaffe-free European tour
WARSAW — Pilsudski Square is where Pope John Paul II said mass for a million people, where this country goes to honor its nameless war dead and where, in 2012, Mitt Romney’s mishap-marred foreign trip was crystallized in an infamous scene where reporters besieged the then-GOP presidential nominee with questions about his gaffes. Yet here on...
