Section: European Voice (EU)
Why are so many of the world’s top jobs still held by grumpy old men?
Vijai Maheshwari is a writer and entrepreneur based in Moscow. He tweets at @Vijaimaheshwari. Whoever wins the next U.S. presidential election will be the oldest person in history to have been elected to the country’s highest office. Donald Trump will be 74 when voters head to the polls in November, nearly a year older than Ronald Reagan...
Meet Macron’s Mr. NATO
PARIS — If anyone thought the coronavirus crisis might prompt Emmanuel Macron to set aside his push to recast the West’s relations with Russia, this week proved them wrong. On Tuesday, NATO announced an expert panel to reflect on its future — at least partly in response to the French president declaring last year that the alliance was...
Greece turns stricken ship into floating hospital
ATHENS — Greek authorities on Friday began to evacuate a ship off the coast of Piraeus on which almost a third of passengers have coronavirus. The plan is to transfer the non-infected passengers off the ship — the Eleftherios Venizelos — and leave those who have the virus on board, effectively turning the ship into a floating hospital. Some 119...
Is Europe ready for a Democratic US president?
Max Bergmann, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, served in the State Department from 2011 to 2017. He is the author of the recent report “Embrace the EU: A New Progressive Approach for Reviving the Trans-Atlantic Alliance.” WASHINGTON — Europe may have given up on America at just the wrong time. After three years of hostility...
Hackers use fake WHO emails to exploit coronavirus fears
Hackers are not letting the coronavirus crisis go to waste. As the pandemic raises anxiety levels, cybersecurity firms are seeing a flurry of online attacks exploiting fears around the virus to gain access to data and accounts. The aims range from stealing money and identities to corporate and state espionage. According to a report by Recorded...
How Europe is responding to the coronavirus pandemic
From nationwide lockdowns to school shutdowns, European authorities are creating a patchwork of measures to stop or slow down the coronavirus. Here’s a roundup of the latest measures the 27 EU countries and the U.K. have taken so far in response to the pandemic — from the most to the least affected countries — according to publicly...
EU top diplomat urges better Russia, Turkey ties after Syria deal
ZAGREB — The European Union’s foreign policy chief called Thursday for better relations with Russia and Turkey as the two countries announced a cease-fire in Syria, a move that highlighted once again how much leverage they wield over the EU. The war in Syria has had a direct impact on the 27-member bloc, contributing to the refugee and...
Pacifist EU won’t stop terrorism in Africa, says foreign affairs chief
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — It’s the Borrell Doctrine: The EU must be “less angelic” and supply lethal weapons to African allies if there is any hope of defeating terrorists. On his first visit to Africa as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell articulated a robust approach to confronting violent threats. He...
The battle for Germany’s center right
BERLIN — He’s a white, married Catholic father of three from North Rhine-Westphalia with a law degree and an ear for music. Meet Armin Laschet, Friedrich Merz and Norbert Röttgen, the three men vying to lead Germany’s Christian Democrats and succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor. If the trio look like cookie-cutter versions of the same...
The wannabe Merkels
BERLIN — A trio of men have thrown their hats into the ring in the race to become the next leader of Germany’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and, in all likelihood, the party’s next chancellor candidate. The CDU has scheduled a special party convention for April 25 for delegates to elect a new leader, after Angela Merkel’s prior...
