Section: European Voice (EU)
Vladimir Putin’s man in the Balkans
MOSCOW — If appearances are to be believed, Vladimir Putin has a new point man in the Balkans. Nikolai Patrushev, a Kremlin hawk, career intelligence officer and close associate of the Russian president, is the head of Russia’s Security Council, known for his fiery nationalism, conspiratorial world view and extensive...
In Trump, top Democrat sees danger everywhere he looks
Ben Cardin thinks America is “absolutely†in danger of stumbling into war. Or wars. Syria, North Korea, the South China Sea, Ukraine — Cardin, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sees problems that could get out of hand all over the planet. And he hasn’t seen any kind of a...
Trump’s silence on Russian hacking hands Democrats new weapon
Democrats are uniting behind a simple message about Russian hacking during the 2016 election: Donald Trump doesn’t care. Even as the president lashes out at the series of Russia-related probes besieging his administration, Democrats say Trump has yet to express public concern about the underlying issue with striking implications for...
Dutch government talks may stretch over the summer
AMSTERDAM — The Netherlands may have no new government until September, as talks to form a coalition have repeatedly failed, the holiday period is approaching, and some politicians are in no hurry to clinch a deal. Three months since the election, a deal between Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s VVD and the three parties...
Trump: ‘Nobody has been able to show any proof’ of Russia collusion
U.S. President Donald Trump scoffed on Friday at the ongoing investigations into the possibility that individuals with ties to him may have colluded with the Russian government, joking derisively online that the lack of evidence after months of probes is “sad!†“After 7 months of investigations & committee...
Europe’s defense fund ignores real threat: populism
The European Union’s recently launched defense fund has been widely praised as a long-overdue step toward defense autonomy, a real game-changer at a time when the United States has become an increasingly unreliable ally on security issues. These steps toward a so-called security union and common defense policies were even hailed by...
Germany and Austria warn U.S. over expanded Russia sanctions
Germany and Austria today hit back at proposed U.S. sanctions that would threaten European companies participating in the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, accusing the U.S. of politicizing its economic interest in selling natural gas to Europe. “Europe’s energy supply is a matter for Europe, and not for the United States of America,”...
Putin says sanctions make Russia stronger, offers Comey asylum
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States only make the country stronger, and jokingly offered former FBI director James Comey asylum if he is prosecuted in the U.S. Speaking during his annual question-and-answer session, which lasted four hours, Putin said the most recent U.S. sanctions...
Manafort still doing international work
Paul Manafort is at the center of an FBI investigation into ties between President Donald Trump’s team and the Russians, but that hasn’t stopped him from doing business with international figures and companies, partly by claiming continued access to Trump, according to people familiar with his dealings. Manafort in...
Poland vows to fight back against Commission penalty after ‘refugee inaction’: ministry
The Polish ministry of foreign affairs on Wednesday said the country is ready to “plead its case before the European Court of Justice†in response to the European Commission’s decision to launch an infringement procedure against Warsaw for failing to comply with its obligations on migration. The Commission...
