Europe must take a leap forward in terms of defense, according to the White Paper that Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius intends to present next Wednesday. The 20-page draft paints a bleak picture of the threat situation: The risk of an attack on one of the EU states can no longer be ruled out. In order […]
The Dutch parliament has opposed Ursula von der Leyen’s rearmament plan for the EU. By a narrow majority, the Second Chamber in The Hague approved a motion rejecting the Netherlands’ participation in Rearm Europe and calling on the government to negotiate an opt-out. The vote is above all a political signal and weakens Prime Minister […]
Council President António Costa and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Cape Town on Thursday for an EU-South Africa summit with President Cyril Ramaphosa. The “special geopolitical context” has made this first summit with South Africa since 2018 more urgent than ever, said a high-ranking EU diplomat with a view to Donald […]
Ursula von der Leyen will present her plan for “Rearm Europe” to the member states in a letter today. This is in view of the special summit on Thursday in Brussels. Europe “undoubtedly” needs a massive increase in defense spending, said the Commission President. In the letter, she will list options as to how these […]
EU Commissioner Henna Virkkunen has presented an action plan to protect submarine cables against acts of sabotage. Among other things, a reserve of specialized multi-purpose cable ships is to be expanded and the capacities of existing repair ships increased. A network of underwater sensors and drones will be used to better monitor critical infrastructure in […]
It seems that Europe is getting back on track after the Trump shock. Council President António Costa announced on Sunday evening that the European Council would meet for a special summit on March 6 . His talks with the heads of state and government had shown a joint commitment to strengthening European defense and contributing […]
If that’s not a clear signal: On the day that Donald Trump calls the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a dictator, the ambassadors of the EU states are clearing the way for new sanctions against Russia. The EU foreign ministers will formally adopt the 16th sanctions package on Monday in time for the third anniversary […]
Following a visit to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy canceled his onward journey to Riyadh on Tuesday. Zelenskiy had originally planned to fly from Ankara to the Saudi capital today in order to be informed about the outcome of the initial talks between the US and Russian delegations.His country wants an […]
Keir Starmer put his European partners under pressure even before arriving at the mini-summit in Paris: The British government was “ready and willing” to send ground troops to Ukraine to secure a peace deal, the British Prime Minister wrote in a guest article in The Telegraph. Emmanuel Macron had invited selected heads of state and […]
The shock of Munich and the announcements made by the US administration over the last few days are still having an impact. Initially, the crisis meeting was supposed to take place on Sunday, but now Emmanuel Macron has invited people to Paris this afternoon after hectic consultations. The French President is bringing together the most […]