Section: European Voice (EU)
MEPs to discuss controversial ‘Armenian genocide’ report
The sensitive subject of how to define the Ottoman Empire’s 1915 killing and the forced relocation of its Armenian subjects will be up for debate at a single-day session of the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday (8 April). The resolution, entitled ‘Armenian genocide 100th anniversary’, builds on a report adopted last month...
Ministers meet to discuss Turkish Stream
The foreign ministers of Hungary, Serbia, Greece and Macedonia are meeting in Budapest today (7 April) to discuss possible collaboration with the proposed ‘Turkish Stream’ pipeline bringing Russian gas to Europe via Turkey, bypassing Ukraine. The plan was announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to Ankara in December, as...
Ukraine, Russia extend stop-gap gas deal
A short-term deal brokered by the European Commission to ensure supplies of gas from Russia to Ukraine has been extended until mid-summer. The extension, which was announced by the Ukrainian gas distributor Naftogaz this morning and has now been confirmed by Gazprom, means that a pricing formula established to cover the winter months – from...
Commission to review future of Euronews network
The European Commission has opened a talks with Euronews, the pan-European television news channel, about its future. Euronews receives approximately 36% of its funding from the European Union. The review, which over the next several weeks will consider the network’s strategy, follows recent concerns about new investors in the company. The...
Unapologetic occupier
Old wounds are aching in the former captive nations, now the frontline states in the new cold war, which long for their friends to feel their pain and fear. But for the Russian leadership, the lessons of history are different, as two expertly produced new propaganda videos show. One is called “I am a Russian occupier”. It highlights the positive...
Vestager escalates probe against Bulgarian energy company
The state-owned energy company Bulgarian Energy Holding (BEH) is breaking EU competition rules, according to an accusation that was formally levelled by Margrethe Vestager, the European commissioner for competition, on Monday (23 March). The company, Bulgaria’s incumbent energy company, must now respond to the allegation that it is using...
Ukraine turns to EU for gas
Ukraine will from 1 April turn mainly to European suppliers of gas rather than to Russia after the expiry of a six-month winter agreement between the Russian energy giant Gazprom and the Ukrainian distributor Naftogaz. Ukraine will be able to take gas from Russia on a pre-payment basis and under the terms of a deal struck in 2009 that is...
How to weaken alliances
Damaging myths about Europe’s security beset thinking here in the American capital. Barack Obama’s administration still believes that the crisis is essentially temporary and minor. His Republican critics in Congress believe it can be solved by arming Ukraine. Many policymakers believe that the conflict with Vladimir Putin’s...
Too important to neglect
The European Commission published yesterday (25 March) its annual reports on the European Union’s neighbouring countries. Collectively, they convey an impression of instability close at hand. The European reader has good reason to be grateful for the resilience of Ukraine, Tunisia, Lebanon and Jordan. The neighbourhood reports do not,...
Juozas Olekas – Doctor-politician
As Russia continues to flex its muscles in the east, Juozas Olekas, Lithuania’s defence minister, is having a busy time. Less than a year ago, he was urging Lithuanians to “sleep tight” and not panic. Since then, Lithuania has reinforced its reputation as one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters in the EU – and one of the harshest...
