Section: European Voice (EU)
Donald Tusk slams ‘worrying declarations’ from Trump
European Council President Donald Tusk lumped the “worrying declarations” of U.S. President Donald Trump’s new administration together with the geopolitical challenges posed by Russia, China and Islamic terrorism as examples of the threats facing the EU, in a letter to European leaders ahead of their summit in Malta on Friday. The stark...
Catching up with Jelena Milić
Jelena Milić, a member of the POLITICO28 who runs the Belgrade-based think tank Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies, is one of the staunchest advocates for Serbian membership of both the EU and NATO. Interview highlights below; full interview text here. On EU-Serbia relations: Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar VuÄić...
Democratic backsliding threatens international order: report
Nearly a quarter of countries registering setbacks in political rights and civil liberties in 2016 were in Europe, according to a Freedom House report published Tuesday. The U.S.-based research organization found backward moves on democracy in the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Hungary, Poland, Serbia and Spain, as well as the United States....
Theresa May’s Brexit speech was contradictory: MEPs’ report
A new report by the European Parliament’s Constitutional Affairs Committee describes U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech outlining her Brexit strategy as full of contradictions — but “certainly valuable in some parts.” “We have to consider the speech to constitute a basic negotiation objective, and its...
Trump and Putin connect over Middle East and repairing relationship
President Donald Trump had a “positive call” with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, during which the two promised to cooperate on destroying ISIS in Syrian and repair U.S. and Russian relations. The discussion was part of a diplomatic effort to connect over the phone with foreign leaders from countries including Japan, Germany, France...
9 Trump moments over lunch with Theresa May
ANKARA — Fresh from public displays of affection at their joint press conference early Friday afternoon, Donald Trump and Theresa May retired to the White House state banqueting room for lunch. Then it got really interesting. British Prime Minister Theresa May with U.S. President Donald Trump walk along The Colonnade at The White...
POLITICO Brussels Playbook Plus: EU fights fake news machine — Culture wars — Separated at birth
EU FIGHTS FAKE NEWS MACHINE FROM SHADOWS: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told Playbook he does not believe in “fighting propaganda with propaganda.†The EU also stays out of the propaganda game (mostly) but has created a team called “East StratCom†in the External Action Service to...
German foreign minister to meet team Trump
Sigmar Gabriel, who will take over as German foreign minister Friday afternoon, will travel to the U.S. to meet the country’s Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson next week, local media reported Friday. Gabriel will also meet United Nations officials in New York during his visit, Handelsblatt wrote, citing...
Putin, Trump to speak Saturday: Kremlin
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump are scheduled to speak by phone Saturday, the Kremlin said Friday, Reuters reported. The planned phone call will be the first conversation between the two since Trump took office January 20. The Kremlin did not outline what the presidents will discuss during their...
EU fights Russian fake news machine from the shadows
NATO’s secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told Playbook that he does not believed in “fighting propaganda with propaganda.” The EU also stays out of the propaganda game (mostly) but has created a team “East StratCom” in its External Action Service to catalogue and expose disinformation it says comes from the Russian state. So far it claims...
