Section: European Voice (EU)
Oettinger caught up in new allegations over ethics
European Commissioner for Digital Economy Günther Oettinger is caught up in a new case of alleged ethics violations concerning a trip he took on the private plane of a pro-Russia German businessman. Oettinger took a private plane to fly from Brussels to Budapest May 18 that was owned by Klaus Mangold, a former member of the board of management of...
Trump’s first ambassador: Barack Obama
ATHENS — There was a time, a week ago, when the Obama White House was focused on questions like who would take over tending to the first lady’s vegetable garden. Now President Barack Obama is setting out on what was supposed to be a fun post-election farewell trip to Greece and Germany with not just his entire domestic record at risk of...
Trump adviser linked to Turkish lobbying
Donald Trump wants to forbid his officials from lobbying for foreign governments, but one of his top national security advisers is being paid by a close ally of Turkey’s president. Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, a vice chair of the Trump transition who is in the running for a top national security post in the new administration, runs a...
EU adds ministers and central bank chief to Syria sanctions list
European foreign ministers on Monday added 17 ministers and the governor of the Central Bank of Syria to a list of those subject to EU sanctions targeting the Bashar Assad regime. This brings to 234 the number of people subject to a travel ban and an asset freeze over the violent repression of the Syrian people, said a statement from the EU...
Additions to the EU transparency register (November 5-12)
Last week, 72 new orgainizations signed up in the joint transparency register of the European Commission and the European Parliament. New entries include: Advanced Micro Devices African Pineapples and Bananas Association AIRC International ANH International Anigmoteh d.o.o. Anteja ECG d.o.o. ANTIPOLLUTION S.A. Association of Veterinary...
Merkel’s conservatives pave way for Steinmeier presidency
BERLIN — Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s Social Democrat foreign minister, was poised to become Germany’s next president after Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc dropped its resistance to his candidacy early Monday. The decision clears the way for Steinmeier, a career politician who has served in a variety of senior government...
Moldova elects pro-Russian Igor Dodon as president
Igor Dodon, the pro-Russian leader of the Party of Socialists, on Sunday became Moldova’s first directly elected president in more than two decades. Dodon won almost 55 percent of votes cast, defeating pro-EU candidate Maia Sandu, who was backed by the European People’s Party. Just over half of eligible Moldovans turned out to polling...
Bulgaria’s PM quits after pro-Russian candidate wins presidency
Bulgaria looks set to veer sharply back into Moscow’s strategic orbit after Socialist candidate Rumen Radev won the presidency in a landslide on Sunday, forcing the resignation of center-right Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. According to exit polls after the runoff, Radev won almost 60 percent of the vote. Tsetska Tsacheva, from...
Italian FM: Trump’s Russia outreach good for Rome
Italy will benefit from Donald Trump‘s aim to improve U.S. relations with Russia after the president-elect moves to the White House, Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said Sunday. Speaking to public broadcaster RAI, Gentiloni said, “If he will manage to have a better relation with [President Vladimir] Putin, without giving up on principles, it...
The black swan president
On Tuesday, when Donald Trump defied the polls, the Clinton machine and much of his own party establishment to become president-elect of the United States, he also became the closest thing to a black swan event we’ve ever seen in American politics: Statistically unlikely, rationalized only in hindsight—and carrying an impact that could be...
