Interview with Lt General Michiel van der Laan, Director General EU Military Staff (EUMS) and Director Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC), Brussels The European: General, you currently serve as both Director General of the European Union Military Staff (EUMS) and Director of the Military Planning and Conduct Capability (MPCC). Do you see yourself as…
by Gérard Cardonne, Reporter without borders, Strasbourg (Hartmut Bühl) After writing the foreword to his book “The Violinist of Sarajevo” (Le violoniste de Sarajevo, 2023), I had the pleasure of presenting the CIDAN Prize for “European Values” to Gérard Cardonne in Berlin in November 2024 as a reward for his journalistic and humanitarian commitment. I…
by Hartmut Bühl, Paris I n a conversation at the end of November 2024, I was able to ask the High Representative for Implementation of the Peace Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina (HR), Christian Schmidt, about his duties. I was interested in his view on the EU accession negotiations with Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), which…
Interview with Dr Peter Wagner, Head of the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI), European Commission, Brussels The European: Dr Wagner, you are the Head of the European Commission’s Service for Foreign Policy Instruments (FPI) which is under the responsibility of the High Representative of the Union/Vice-President of the European Commission (HR/VP). Could you briefly…
(nc) Bulgaria and Romania both joined the European Union on 1 January 2007. We wanted to know more about their stony way back to Europe after decades of Soviet influence and the benefits that EU membership has finally brought to their societies. We asked two former defence ministers, one Romanian, the other Bulgarian, to give…
by Elise Bernard, PhD, Head of Studies Robert Schuman Foundation / civilian attendee, War College, Paris Georgia currently finds itself in a complex situation, caught between its pro-western ambitions and the constraints imposed by Russia. The main scenarios and dynamics for its future seem contradictory, which radicalises positions and fosters fear and surprise. Georgia…
by Mihai Popșoi, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova, Chişinău The strategic vision of the Republic of Moldova in developing the partnership and relations with the European Union (EU) has always been systemically constructive for the last twenty years. The roots of today’s institutionally mature security and defence cooperation with the…
A report by Nannette Cazaubon, Paris. On 18 November 2024, the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri) invited Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine and Minister of Justice, to an exclusive conversation on the situation in Ukraine almost 1,000 days after the start of the Russian invasion. The…
(nc) In 2023 and 2024, the EU enlargement process gained new momentum. The annual enlargement package of the European Commission (EC) presented in October 2024 provides a detailed assessment of the state of play and progress made by the nine candidate countries – Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine, Türkiye…
by Bernard Brunet, Former Head of Unit, DG European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations (NEAR), European Commission, Brussels The brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent realisation among EU leaders that President Putin envisions a restored Imperial Russia has produced the greatest security crisis on the European continent since the Cold War.…