Section: EU

Why Europe isn’t worried by Austria’s right tilt (but should be)

Wednesday, October 18 , 2017 - 9:41 (EET) Section: European Voice (EU)

Regardless of whether it joins the next Austrian government, the far-right Freedom Party was the victor in the country’s election last Sunday. Like Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, the anti-immigration party has built the theater in which the mainstream parties are now performing. Sebastian Kurz — the 31-year-old leader of the Austrian...

[Opinion] EU-Russia trade bouncing back – despite sanctions

Tuesday, October 17 , 2017 - 14:10 (EET) Section: EUobserver (EU)

New figures for 2017 so far show a surprising uptick in EU-Russia trade relations, notwithstanding sanctions over Ukraine and Crimea. …read more Source:...

EU: US has no right to terminate Iran accord

Friday, October 13 , 2017 - 22:40 (EET) Section: European Voice (EU)

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said Friday that the United States had no right to unilaterally terminate the Iran nuclear accord. She called the agreement “effective” and said there had been “no violations of any of the commitments” in the deal. At a news conference at the European Commission’s Brussels...

[Agenda] Brexit on EU summit table This Week

Friday, October 13 , 2017 - 20:25 (EET) Section: EUobserver (EU)

A key showdown on the state of Brexit talks, an ECJ ruling on Ukraine’s Viktor Yanukovych, and Macron’s proposals for the future of the EU, are all on the agenda this week. …read more Source:...

[Ticker] Dutch government takes aim at referendum law

Friday, October 13 , 2017 - 13:40 (EET) Section: EUobserver (EU)

The new ruling coalition in the Netherlands wants to scrap a 2015 Dutch law, unique in Europe, which allows citizens-enforced, non-binding referendums on newly-adopted laws, like the ratification of the EU-Ukraine treaty. But the bill that would remove the people’s power to demand referendums could itself be the subject of a...

[Ticker] EU eastern summit to be less enlargement-friendly

Wednesday, October 11 , 2017 - 20:40 (EET) Section: EUobserver (EU)

EU states plan to “reaffirm the sovereign right of each partner to choose the level of ambition and the goal to which it aspires in its relations with the EU” at a summit with six former Soviet states in November, EUobserver has learnt. The draft summit text, agreed in Brussels on Wednesday, is less enlargement friendly than previous...

Ex-Georgian President Saakashvili applies for asylum in Ukraine

Saturday, October 7 , 2017 - 18:55 (EET) Section: POLITICO – Europe Edition (EU)

Mikheil Saakashvili, former president of Georgia, applied for political asylum in Ukraine, despite having his Ukrainian citizenship revoked earlier this year, Spiegel reported. Saakashvili — who became a Ukrainian citizen two years ago and was made governor of the Odessa region, only to have his citizenship revoked in July, leaving him stateless...

How to tame Putin

Monday, October 2 , 2017 - 12:30 (EET) Section: European Voice (EU)

Vladimir Putin isn’t just undermining our democracy, he’s securing his own long-term power in Russia by destabilizing the West — a strategy that United States and Europe have been dangerously slow to understand and counteract. That was the unnerving takeaway from a high-level working group POLITICO convened on the sidelines of the...

Friday, September 29 , 2017 - 18:00 (EET) Section: POLITICO – Europe Edition (EU)

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution, which brought down the czars and paved the way for the Soviet Union. Fifteen states broke off from that country in 1991, but Russia remains an undeniable political and economic powerhouse in the region. Its influence spills beyond its frontiers — and it has plenty of those. Russia...

Borderlands: Life with Russia as a neighbor

Friday, September 29 , 2017 - 17:30 (EET) Section: POLITICO – Europe Edition (EU)

Tracing the influence of Russia on 8 countries on its western edge. …read more Source: POLITICO – Europe...