by David McAllister MEP, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET), Brussels/Strasbourg The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the grave and wholesale violations of human rights and international law have made it all the more urgent for the EU to respond to new geopolitical dynamics. The historic decisions taken at…
A conference reportby Hartmut Bühl, Publisher, Paris Under the patronage of the French EU Presidency, a two-day conference was held at the Ecole Militaire in Paris on 9th and 10th June 2022, bringing together directors of military education institutions and commanders of schools offering general staff courses from 23 EU Member States.Under the leadership of…
by Gesine Weber, Research Analyst, German Marshall Fund of the United States, Paris “When your own house is on fire, you don’t send your entire fire brigade to fight a wildfire fifty kilometres from your village.”This metaphor describes brutally well the pressing need to reassess the priorities for European security since the beginning of Russia’s…
by Cyrille Schott, honorary Prefect of region, member of the bureau of EuroDéfense-France, Strasbourg The issue of European sovereignty has been highlighted by Russian aggression in Ukraine. Beyond the necessary debates, the EU was able to react in a coordinated manner by six sets of sanctions against Russia, signs of its economic power. It was…
Commentary by Hartmut Bühl The NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June 2022 was the most decisive summit of this century. The Alliance adopted a new Strategic Concept and reassessed threats, with Russia named as the most significant and direct threat to the west. For the first time, China’s aggressive policy in the…
by Dr Delphine Deschaux-Dutard,Associate Professor, University Grenoble Alpes, CESICE, Grenoble, and Bastien Nivet, Senior Lecturer, EMLV, Paris La Défense The military invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has forced Europeans to take a new step in asserting a more ambitious international posture, which should anchor the notion of European strategic autonomy in the medium…
Russia’s attack on Ukraine has undoubtedly strengthened the very foundations of the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Solidarity has become a guide to action since 24th February 2022. Special attention was quickly focused on Germany after a historic speech by the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, on 28th February, in which…
by Michael Rühle, Head Climate and Energy Security Section, Emerging Security Challenges Division, NATO, Brussels Climate change has become humanity’s greatest challenge. The effects of global warming – melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels and, above all, an increase in extreme weather events – can now be felt worldwide. Accordingly, many states have declared…
by Jiří Šedivý, Chief Executive, and Jean-François Ripoche, Director of Research, Technology and Innovation of the European Defence Agency (EDA), Brussels After the appalling and totally unjustifiable Russian aggression against Ukraine and with a fully-fledged war now raging at the European Union’s doorstep, there is today a common understanding – probably stronger than ever before…
After intense negotiations, the European Union (EU) has finally adopted its so-called Strategic Compass, a forty-page paper published on 21st March 2022. Comprising a common vision for the Union’s role in security and defence, the document was announced as a major piece of EU policy by the incoming von der Leyen Commission in late 2019.…