Section: European Voice (EU)
Mueller tight-lipped as media leaks shape Russia narrative
Special counsel Robert Mueller and his prosecutors aren’t talking to the media, but still the leaks keep coming. In the past two weeks, anonymously sourced news reports have said the top federal Russia investigator is preparing to indict Russians for hacking Democratic emails in 2016; focusing on why one of President Donald Trump’s...
Nyet, thanks: Congress greets new Russian envoy with closed doors
Russia’s new ambassador to the United States has been described as both ruthless and charming. Since his arrival in Washington six months ago, he has emphasized the charm — hosting parties, giving speeches and even launching a bluegrass-backed embassy podcast at a moment of bitter U.S.-Russian relations. But Anatoly Antonov says he has been...
EU accuses Theresa May of ‘double cherry-picking’
Theresa May’s Mansion House speech on Brexit last week amounted to “double cherry-picking” with “no change in substance” from her government’s previous position, according to a confidential European Commission assessment circulated to diplomats from EU countries. It concluded that although she took a more realistic tone, the prime...
Dutch foreign minister admits to lying about meeting Vladimir Putin
Dutch Foreign Minister Halbe Zijlstra has come under fire for lying about attending a meeting with Vladimir Putin in 2006, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant reported Monday. At a party conference in 2016, the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) politician claimed he was present at a 2006 meeting in which the Russian president laid...
EU takes billion-euro battle to Russia
Brussels is ratcheting up pressure on Russia in a tit-for-tat sanctions battle that has raged since the early days of the Ukraine crisis in 2014. The European Union is now pressing to claw back €1.4 billion each year from Moscow, arguing that the Kremlin unlawfully banned imports of pork meat from Europe in January 2014, just as President Vladmir...
Macron and Merkel urge peaceful solutions to Ukraine crisis
Emmanuel Macron and Angela Merkel urged both sides in the ongoing fighting in Eastern Ukraine Saturday to “live up to their responsibilities” and “implement as quickly as possible” agreements to reduce conflict in the region. The joint statement from the German chancellor and French president came in light of “the recent sharp increase in the...
Trump, Putin and the new Cold War
When President Trump met Angela Merkel last March for the first time, the German chancellor had Russia on her mind. Allegations about the Russian intervention on Trump’s behalf in the U.S. presidential election were swirling around Washington — and Trump had done nothing to allay the concerns of Russia’s neighbors that he planned to...
EU Confidential Episode 27, presented by Raytheon: 2017 review & NATO’s Jamie Shea
Episode 27 of POLITICO’s EU Confidential podcast has just been released, featuring a review of the year from POLITICO reporters and an interview with NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General Jamie Shea, a Brussels veteran of almost 40 years. With regular host Ryan Heath on holiday, news editor Andrew Gray talks to Shea about the...
EU Confidential Episode 27, presented by Raytheon: 2017 review & NATO’s Jamie Shea
Episode 27 of POLITICO’s EU Confidential podcast has just been released, featuring a review of the year from POLITICO reporters and an interview with NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General Jamie Shea, a Brussels veteran of almost 40 years. With regular host Ryan Heath on holiday, news editor Andrew Gray talks to Shea about the...
Trump’s strategy speech sends mixed signals on Russia
U.S. President Donald Trump’s official new national security strategy warns in blunt language that Russia is a dangerous global competitor that seeks to undermine the U.S. at home and abroad. But midway through his Monday speech unveiling the 55-page document, Trump seemed to contradict that message, saying the U.S. would work to “build a...
