Section: European Voice (EU)
Latvian government to stay in power
The coalition government of Latvian prime minister Laimdota Straujuma is expected to remain in power after winning yesterday’s general election with 61.7% of the vote, according to exit polls. But a party backed by the country’s large Russian minority won the largest number of seats of any single party. Exit polls by the LETA news...
Hahn makes assured entry into diplomacy
Past the midway stage of his audition to become the next European commissioner for relations with the European Union’s neighbours and would-be members, Johannes Hahn was asked a question about Turkey and Cyprus. Hahn said he lacked “diplomatic” experience, adding: “I don’t want to be a bull in a china shop”. The exchange summed up...
Latvian election race tightens
Latvians have begun voting in an election whose results, due out on Saturday (4 October), could significantly change the composition of the coalition government just months before the country assumes the presidency of the EU’s Council of Ministers. Recent opinion polls suggest that the centre-right will not repeat the clear-cut victory it...
EU and Canada complete talks on trade and political deals
The European Union and Canada today (26 September) used a summit in Ottawa to formally mark the end of negotiations on separate political and trade agreements. Neither agreement has, however, been concluded, and major question marks hang over the final shape of the trade deal, which needs the approval both of the EU’s 28 member states and...
Delegations to name their leaders
The election of MEPs to lead delegations to foreign countries has been delayed by the confirmation hearings for the nominees to the next European Commission. The more than 40 delegations of the Parliament were supposed to hold their constitutive meetings next week, but there is now a clash with the re-scheduled confirmation hearings, which start...
Threat of winter adds urgency to aid effort
The looming prospect of a winter without Russian gas is injecting fresh urgency into efforts to help Ukrainians displaced by fighting in the east of the country. But officials warn that weaknesses in Ukraine’s social security system and crisis-response mechanism are undermining support for the displaced. The European Commission has in the...
Serbia strengthens ties with Russia
European Union officials are concerned that ongoing diplomatic wrangling over Ukraine could push Serbia, which is in the first phase of negotiations to join the Union, deeper into the Russian camp. As a candidate for membership, Serbia is expected to line up with core EU foreign policies, including sanctions. But it has refused to go along with...
Hybrid warfare comes to Europe
The West is pretty good at measuring Russia’s conventional and nuclear military capabilities. But what about other weapons? As is clear from events in Ukraine – and now in the Baltic states and elsewhere – regular military muscle plays only a small part in the Kremlin’s arsenal. Its armed forces’ main job is not actual fighting,...
Ewa Kopacz – reasonable woman
Ewa Kopacz, who was sworn in as Poland’s new prime minister on 22 September, said of the challenge ahead of her: “Houses where women are in charge do well.” The 57-year old doctor, previously speaker of the Sejm, Poland’s parliament, is her country’s second female prime minister, after Hanna Suchocka in 1992-93. The foundations...
Sikorski leaves Polish government
Poland’s prime minister-designate, Ewa Kopacz, has removed Radek Sikorski as foreign minister as part of an otherwise limited change in government caused by Donald Tusk’s election as president of the European Council. Kopacz is due to take over from Tusk as prime minister on 22 September. Her government, a two-party centre-right...
