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.…
by David McAllister MEP, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Brussels/Strasbourg The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has marked a fundamental shift in the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union (EU). It has put Europe’s peace and security architecture to the toughest test since the end of the…
Andrius Kubilius on the urgency of strengthening European defence Documentation (nc) In a speech in Berlin in November 2024, the then Commissioner-designate for Defence and Space, Andrius Kubilius, gave his views on urgent steps to strengthen European defence. Kubilius warned that EU Member States urgently need to prepare for the possibility of Russian aggression against…
Interview with Julian Pahlke, MdB, Speaker of the Parliamentary Group Alliance 90/The Greens, Deutscher Bundestag, Berlin The European: Mr Pahlke, the increase of conflicts worldwide, the abundance of authoritarian regimes, and the acceleration of the climate crisis are just some of the reasons why people are willing to leave their homes and risk their lives…
by Hartmut Bühl, Paris. At the end of November 2024, the hitherto steadfast Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy spoke, for the first time and with a heavy heart, about possible, albeit tem- porary, surrendering of territory to Russia. In an interview with Sky News, Zelenskyy said: “If we want to stop the hot phase of the…
Interview with Roderich Kiesewetter MdB, Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag, Berlin The European: Mr Kiesewetter, America has voted and Donald Trump will take power on 20 January 2025. It seems clear that this will mean a paradigm shift in transatlantic security policy. Is Europe prepared for it? Roderich Kiesewetter: I’m…
by Gesine Weber, Research fellow, German Marshall Fund of the US, Paris. With the election of Donald J. Trump as 47th president of the United States, Europeans must brace for a period of uncertainty. They have long been aware that their security hinges to a significant degree on voter preferences in US swing states, and…