Section: European Voice (EU)
Schulz: Russian ambassador not welcomed
European Parliament President Martin Schulz told MEPs Tuesday that he would bar Russia’s EU ambassador from entering the institution in retaliation for a recent travel ban imposed by Russia on European political figures. Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry handed over to several EU embassies a list of 89 politicians and military leaders...
EU drops the FIFA ball
As Loretta Lynch, the US attorney general, fattens her dossier on corruption in FIFA, a piquant question that rears its head is: Why didn’t the EU do this first? Despite the EU’s broad reach in antitrust, trade and other areas, it has none of the powers or the jurisdiction to tackle fraud, bribery and racketeering that the FBI does....
In defense of Tony Blair
LONDON — You don’t have to be a devoted fan of Tony Blair to see that the mockery he has received concerning his resignation as Middle East peace envoy is unfair. Much of the criticism he received during his eight years as Special Envoy for the International Quartet (comprising the US, the UN, the EU, and Russia) was disingenuous and...
Russian weapons in Ukraine exposed
Russian President Vladimir Putin likes being in the limelight. So he no doubt enjoyed the festivities of April 16, when he took part in an annual Kremlin tradition: for four hours, he answered carefully prepared questions on live television from pre-screened callers. During the marathon call-in show, Putin warned the West to not make an enemy out...
Duda rises over Brussels
The surprise victory of Andrzej Duda in Poland’s presidential runoff was greeted with shock in Brussels, and raised pressing questions about the future of Warsaw’s policies toward as well as influence in the EU. The European capital had long factored in a second term for incumbent Bronisław Komorowski. Dismissed as an unknown and...
The Dirty Dozen: 12 people who ruined Ukraine
When Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down to plot his invasion of Ukraine in February 2014, he didn’t have to start from scratch. Generations of Russian rulers have invaded Ukrainian lands to starve, deport and enslave the native populations, and Putin has drawn avidly from their playbooks. Ukraine’s oligarchs have been equally...
Biden slams Putin in Brookings speech
Vice President Joe Biden took a hard stand against Russian leader Vladimir Putin in a speech at the Brookings Institution Wednesday, saying the situation in Ukraine is a “humanitarian tragedy created by Russian aggression.” “Helping Ukraine against Russian aggression is critical to checking further aggression down the road,” the vice president...
Seven take-aways from the FIFA arrests
There can’t be a single soccer fan anywhere in the world who didn’t have the sports-lover’s equivalent of a righteous orgasm on learning of the arrest at dawn — by the Swiss police — of seven FIFA senior officials. As of this writing, these men were being readied for extradition to the United States, where they will be...
Russia and Qatar: losers in the FIFA scandal
The Baur au Lac hotel is an old Zürich favorite. Its central location, Lake Zürich views, wood-paneled interior and reputation for discretion, make it a regular haunt for statesmen, billionaires, princes and, for the past couple decades, executives from global soccer’s governing body, FIFA. FIFA is known for its wealth — the last World Cup...
Five subplots in the EU budget
The European Commission on Wednesday unveiled what it called “a small budget with a big punch” for the EU for next year, as officials sought to justify new spending to deal with foreign policy crises. While the broad outlines of the EU budget have already been determined for the 2014-2020 period, the annual budget allows wiggle room for certain...
