Section: European Voice (EU)
What it really means to be a ‘friend of Putin’
In June 2008, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson attended the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Russia’s answer to Davos, its way of showing itself to the world as the kind of economic powerhouse that can attract executives like Rex Tillerson to its banquets. It was a key and very shaky moment for Russia. Vladimir Putin was bowing out after...
Lawmakers alarmed Exxon chief could empower Putin
Donald Trump’s leading candidate for secretary of state, ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson, would accelerate the president-elect’s collision course with Congress over his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin and raise new questions about Putin’s role in the election. Tillerson, whom Trump officials now call...
We need to talk about NATO
Dear NATO and European ministers of defense, I know you’re worried. You’re worried that the United States is about to have a commander in chief who has called the NATO alliance “obsolete.†You’re worried by Donald Trump’s campaign promise to defend NATO allies only if they...
10 crucial decisions that reshaped America
Brand is the be-all-end-all of Donald Trump. And the core of Trump’s brand is that squinty, jut-jowled, unreflective scowl, the Dirty Harry stare he insists on plastering everywhere — book covers, posters, his website — because it advertises his most marketable selling point: toughness. But the people around...
Why Trump makes this small country so nervous
TALLINN, Estonia — The scene outside Alexander Nevsky Cathedral one evening earlier this month had all the hallmarks of a Russian plot: dark-clothed heavies chanting and dragging metal bats along the cobblestone streets as camouflaged Estonian troops with heavy weaponry guarded the nearby Parliament. In reality, it was a training...
UK spy chief: Syrian war creates ‘unprecedented’ terror threat
Britain faces an “unprecedented” terror threat as long as civil war continues to rage in Syria, the U.K.’s foreign intelligence boss said Thursday. U.K. authorities have foiled 12 terrorist plots since June 2013, Alex Younger told reporters in a rare speech at the headquarters of the Secret Intelligence Service — otherwise known...
EU moves forward on Ukraine, Georgia visa-free travel
The European Council and Parliament have reached a deal on a proposal that paves the way for citizens of Ukraine and Georgia to get the right to travel to the EU without a visa. The deal will allow the European Commission and EU states to reinstate the requirement for a visa if countries fail to cooperate in taking back illegal migrants,...
DALIA GRYBAUSKAITĖ
In Lithuania, where politics are synonymous with scandal and volatility, President Dalia Grybauskaitė is a figure of solidity. Nicknamed “Steel Magnolia,†the former European commissioner elicits comparisons to Margaret Thatcher, sharing with the late British leader a penchant for the acid phrase and a work ethic...
GEORGE SOROS
Well into his eighties, George Soros is back on the frontlines of this decade’s ideological struggle. Growing ranks of nationalist politicians are laying siege to the liberal democratic system that emerged victorious from the Cold War — and putting the Hungarian-American billionaire and the “open...
US Democrats launch campaign to combat Russia’s digital meddling
In U.S. Congress’s final days of 2016, top House Democrats are launching a campaign to address Russia’s alleged digital meddling in the country’s election. Party leaders are pressing the Obama administration for a briefing on the matter, as two Democrats are set to introduce legislation on Wednesday. The bill will come from...
