Section: European Voice (EU)
5 things to know about Dutch far right’s new figurehead
The populist Forum for Democracy last week stunned the Dutch political establishment. By winning the most votes in provincial elections, the upstart party — founded in 2016 — will have the most seats in the upper house of parliament, ahead of Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s liberal VVD. It also makes Forum for Democracy (FvD) leader Thierry...
Trump didn’t collude with Russia. So why does he love Putin so much?
No collusion. That’s the clear interpretation of Special Counsel Bob Mueller’s findings, at least as they were conveyed Sunday by Attorney General William Barr. And it’s certainly the line President Donald Trump’s gloating defenders are promoting today. But without access to Mueller’s full report, we can’t know...
Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation is officially complete
WASHINGTON — Special counsel Robert Mueller has concluded his investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia during the 2016 election. The Justice Department official said on Friday that the special counsel had submitted a report of his findings to Attorney General William Barr. Now, Barr and his team will begin the process of...
World leaders urge Joe Biden to run
When former U.S. vice president Joe Biden attended the annual Munich Security Conference last month, the wonky foreign policy confab promised an escape from the nonstop speculation back home about the former vice president’s political plans. Instead, Biden’s potential 2020 intentions to run for U.S. president were the talk of the...
Italy plans scaled-back Silk Road agreement
ROME — The Italian government is preparing to sign a watered-down version of a “One Belt, One Road” deal with China this week. Rome’s prospective deal with China on trade and infrastructure investment, whose terms remain under discussion, has triggered objections from Washington as well as Brussels about giving support to a country that the...
Theresa May has a bigger problem than John Bercow
A majority in the House of Commons can do anything. That is the British constitution. A majority can ignore a referendum. A majority can vote to leave the EU. It can ignore international law or even become North Korea if it so wants. Theresa May’s problem is less the ruling Monday from Speaker John Bercow that she cannot keep bringing her...
Brexit delay shreds Theresa May’s strategy
LONDON — The world could look very different by the end of the week. Despite fevered speculation in Westminster about the prospect of a third vote on Theresa May’s Brexit deal, the stark reality facing MPs over the next 48 hours is that if EU leaders agree later this week to extend Article 50, Brexit is automatically delayed — and March 29...
UK Brexit secretary: Government still wants third Brexit deal vote
The U.K. government will continue its attempts to secure MPs’ backing for Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal and seek to bring it back for a third so-called meaningful vote, despite Monday’s intervention by the House of Commons speaker barring such a move unless the deal is “substantially” changed, Brexit Secretary Stephen...
Putin, rap and Night Wolves: Russia marks 5 years in Crimea
SIMFEROPOL, Crimea — Amid a sea of Russian flags, Vladimir Putin strode onto the stage and shouted “we are together!” before leading the thousands-strong crowd in a chant of “Russia! Russia!” Putin visited Simferopol, the largest city in Crimea, on Monday for the fifth anniversary of the Kremlin’s annexation of the Black Sea peninsula, a...
The Trump-Merkel doctrine of mutually assured detestation
BERLIN — If it seemed like the U.S.-German war of words couldn’t get any worse, think again. Tensions between Washington and Berlin broke wide open across a range of core security issues this week, from Chinese involvement in Germany’s 5G network to burden-sharing within NATO, suggesting that a rapprochement between the two capitals...
