Making better use of space

Interview with Margit Mischkulnig, Head of Department for Space Affairs, Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology, Vienna The European: Ms Mischkulnig, you are the Head of the “Space and Aviation Technologies” department in the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Protection, Energy, Environment, Mobility, Innovation and Technology (BMK). An impressive variety…

Many upheavals in the Middle East

by Gerhard Arnold, publisher and theologican, Middle East correspondent of this magazine, Würzburg The states of the Middle East have experienced considerable upheavals over the past few years, which should in principle lead to a reduction in tensions and greater stability. However, the Gaza war and the de facto state of war between Israel and…

Which strategy to stop Putin’s war?

by Stefanie Buzmaniuk, Senior Research Fellow and Development Manager, Robert Schuman Foundation, Paris Although Europe provided a quick, united response to the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a closer look at Franco-German strategies to stop Putin’s war over the last two years reveals major differences. The Franco-German tandem, that supposedly leads any…

Franco-German relations remain a “must” for European defence

Interview with Denis Verret, former Senior Vice-President of EADS (now Airbus) and member of the Council of EuroDéfense-France, Paris, and Colonel (ret.) Ralph Thiele, Managing Director StratByrd Consulting and  President of EuroDéfense-Germany, Berlin The European: Gentlemen, in November 2023 you published a joint article in the French newspaper La Tribune in which you wrote that…

Deepening European defence cooperation

Interview with Jiří Šedivý, Chief Executive of the European Defence Agency (EDA), Brussels Hartmut Bühl: Mr Šedivý, EU governance is complex, especially when it comes to security and defence. Is there a shared understanding in the European Union (EU) institutions of the strategic priorities for a European security and defence architecture? Jiří Šedivý: Yes, there…