Section: European Voice (EU)
British government split over plan to use foreign aid to win Brexit support
U.K. ministers have clashed over plans to divert billions of pounds of foreign aid spending to eastern EU countries, in exchange for support in the upcoming Brexit negotiations, the Sunday Times reported. Senior cabinet ministers and officials in Downing Street believe that the aid used for wasteful projects in Asia and Africa from the...
David Cameron ‘courted’ for top NATO post
LONDON — U.K. cabinet ministers and a foreign statesman are “courting” David Cameron to raise his hand to be the next secretary general of NATO, according to people familiar with the situation. Barely half a year since stepping down as prime minister, Cameron has held what one British official calledÂ...
Tillerson assured Ukraine of U.S. solidarity, Poroshenko says
MUNICH — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has delivered a message of solidarity to Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko said Friday. In a conversation on Friday afternoon, Tillerson “confirmed to me our unity … and our solidarity,†Poroshenko said during a panel discussion on Friday evening at this...
Memo to Mattis: don’t talk like Trump
Inside an American national security community unnerved by President Donald Trump’s careening approach to world affairs, Defense Secretary James Mattis is seen by many as his strongest Cabinet pick—no less, some whisper, than the potential savoir of the nation. Given the caliber of many of Trump’s Cabinet...
Pence seeks to reassure European allies
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, who throughout the campaign sought to soften Donald Trump’s edges and make him palatable to uneasy conservatives, now takes his reassurance tour to a new audience: foreign leaders frightened by Russian aggression and wary of an American president full of praise for Vladimir Putin. Pence took off for Europe on...
Kremlin orders media to scale back pro-Trump coverage: report
Amid concerns that the Trump administration may not be as friendly to Russia as once thought, the Kremlin told Russian media to cut back on favorable coverage of U.S. president Donald Trump, Bloomberg reported Friday. Recent controversies surrounding the Trump administration — including the resignation of National Security Adviser...
5 things to watch at this year’s Munich Security Conference
BERLIN — This weekend, the German chancellor, the U.S. vice president and dozens of foreign and defense ministers will mingle with other political big shots at the grandiose Bayerischer Hof hotel in the Bavarian capital. Just another year at the Munich Security Conference? Not really. For much of its history stretching back more than...
Russia ♥ Marine Le Pen
MOSCOW — Russia is on a roll: Donald Trump is in the White House, the wheels of Brexit are in motion and the Kremlin’s Gallic target of affection — France’s Marine Le Pen — is riding high in the polls. “We’re on the verge of a new global order,†said...
Trump administration: Chaos at home, discipline abroad
In Washington, the swirling sandstorm of political upheaval just won’t stop. But in Europe, U.S. President Donald Trump’s first high-level emissaries abroad worked hard to avoid any surprises — and, at least initially, seemed to succeed. At NATO headquarters, it was an ultimatum’s ultimatum, delivered by a...
Tillerson warns Russia to respect Ukraine commitments
Russia must respect its international commitments toward Ukraine, new U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Thursday during the first meeting between the two sides since Donald Trump took office. “As we search for new common ground we expect Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreements and...
