Section: European Voice (EU)
EU approves visa-free travel for Ukrainians
The European Council today approved measures that will allow Ukrainian citizens to travel to the EU for 90 days in any 180-day period without a visa. The EU’s move came after Kiev pushed through reforms in areas such as migration, public order and security, external relations and fundamental rights, Carmelo Abela, Malta’s minister...
Russia’s Oval Office victory dance
When U.S. President Donald Trump hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the Oval Office on Wednesday just hours after firing the FBI director who was overseeing an investigation into whether Trump’s team colluded the Russians, he was breaking with recent precedent at the specific request of Russian President Vladimir Putin....
Hungary’s latest refrain: ‘We will be slaves no longer’
BUDAPEST — For weeks on end, tens of thousands of mostly young Hungarians have demonstrated in the streets of Budapest, in what is becoming a new political movement against Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Initially sparked by a draft bill on nonprofits and legislation that essentially would close down the Central European University in...
Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Russia, Trump, NATO and populism
The former NATO secretary-general sat down with POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook to explain why he went into the business the day after leaving NATO and why he changed his view of President Trump. He slammed the proposed Nordstream gas pipeline, labeled Russia purveyors of “fake news,” and urged European leaders to address populist concerns and...
Anders Fogh Rassmussen on Russia, Trump, NATO and populism
The former NATO secretary-general sat down with POLITICO’s Brussels Playbook to explain why he went into the business the day after leaving NATO and why he changed his view of President Trump. He slammed the proposed Nordstream gas pipeline, labeled Russia purveyors of “fake news,” and urged European leaders to address populist concerns and...
Russia sanctions to be extended, say EU diplomats
The EU is expected to extend sanctions imposed against Russia over the annexation of Crimea and military intervention in eastern Ukraine given that there has been no progress in implementing the Minsk 2 peace accord, EU diplomats told POLITICO. The sanctions, which were first imposed in 2014, come up for renewal every six months and were...
Trump and Tillerson welcome Russia’s top diplomat
When Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov arrives in Washington today for talks with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson—and an Oval Office meeting with President Donald Trump—the moment will hardly be ripe for diplomacy between Russia and the United States. Washington is in an uproar over Trump’s firing of FBI...
Tillerson, Lavrov to meet Wednesday
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov Wednesday in Washington to “discuss Ukraine, Syria and bilateral issues,†the State Department announced Monday. Lavrov and Tillerson met in Moscow in April, where they expressed conflicting views on whether Syrian President Bashar Assad...
Emmanuel Macron’s foreign policy doctrine(s)
France’s President-elect Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old foreign policy novice, won the keys to the Elysée palace without giving a major address on international affairs. His views, informed by a broad coterie of policy advisers and French grandees, are largely unformed — with one, new exception. To listen to his closest...
5 takeaways from Emmanuel Macron’s win in France
PARIS — Emmanuel Macron, the not-yet-40 former economy minister and banker, carried the French presidential election on Sunday, beating Marine Le Pen by a wider-than-expected margin of 66 to 34. Macron struck a solemn tone, saying he wouldn’t ignore the mixed message from Sunday. Turnout was the lowest for a presidential vote...
