Tag Archives: EU
An Election to Change the Course of History
Perhaps Sturgeon’s bloody mindedness and political myopia will be her own downfall. To her, the primary narrative for a second ballot has been that Brexit is entirely against Scotland’s democratic wishes, as Scotland voted by a significant margin to remain. … Continue reading
Lords Rebellion Won’t Scupper Brexit – Here’s Why
By Alexandra Phillips l March 8, 2017 LONDON-There was a sharp intake of breath yesterday as the House of Lords added a second amendment to the Government’s Brexit Bill. The legislation enabling Theresa May to trigger Article 50 by the … Continue reading
Perhaps We Should Be Thankful for the Frenzy on the Radical Left
A braying and hypersensitive radical left is in many respects far better than their wily New Labour predecessors. After all, it was the likes of Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson who secretly administered the snake oil that sold Britain across … Continue reading
Turkey, EU Partner or Temporary Collaborator?
All things considered, Turkey may never become an EU member. At the same time, however, the partnership between the two is no less important. That Turkey should be incompatible with the requirements of the Union does not mean the two … Continue reading
Is Romania Approaching a Second Revolution?
It is hard to compare the current revolt with the 1989 revolution. In 1989 the West pursued and helped to bring about radical changes in Eastern Europe, probably in anticipation of the globalization process that followed. Now, the West wants … Continue reading
Reviving the V4 alternative in Central Europe
Many Western Europeans ask: Why antagonize Moscow, thereby sacrificing comfort and relatively cheap natural gas, by defending second-class Europeans? But the answer is that, together, the V4 countries have 64 million inhabitants, which puts them in the same ranks as … Continue reading
Putin Meddling in Eastern Europe and the Middle East
Will President-elect Trump confront the Russian psychological operations in Europe and Moscow’s meddling in the Middle East? Will the new administration be capable of strengthening the NATO alliance, thus keeping the Germans in and the Russians out? By Nicholas Dima … Continue reading
2017 Will Hail the European Spring
Scan the entire continent and there are more than just small pockets of discontent. Brexit is likely the first domino to fall and Malta’s Muscat must surely know this. It is under his stewardship what happens next. For the EU, … Continue reading
Brexit Means Business
My advice to Theresa May is “come to Ghana”. Come to the smaller countries in the developing world, trying to break through into the global market place. Come to the African Commonwealth who have been heinously undermined by multinational trade deals piped through the one-stop-shop of plutocratic Brussels where big business have dictated terms which have seen West African nations stripped of tariffs that afforded one third of their national GDP, being forced to trade on even terms when the ground is far from that. This week Theresa May said Brexit offered the UK the opportunity to be a world leader. Come to Ghana, Mrs May, or as Ghanaians would say ‘Akwaaba’. I am sure you will be very welcome indeed. Continue reading
Brexit: UK High Court Intervenes
Nobody is saying the referendum shouldn’t have happened, nor does this current judgment deny the result, it merely questions the apparatus by which the decision is now put into effect. The process should have the continuous involvement of recourse to Parliament, and could therefore drag on even longer, opening the door for economic instability both in the UK and in Europe in the interim. With a second Eurozone crisis looming, nobody wants Brexit to take decades. Continue reading
The Brexit Effect: Europe at a Crossroads
As long as the European Union fails to heed the clarion call of its members to start considering reforms, perhaps in such a manner that it would emphasize its economic and trade relations rather than its political ones, then the viability of its existence might soon be called into question. Continue reading
Globalization and National Identity: The Case of Romania
In the end, Romania needs to see itself for what is, a blending of East and West, a traditional Christian Orthodox society, which has a strong national identity and a rich, beautiful history. Instead of following the examples of those … Continue reading
Warsaw NATO Summit: One Step Forward, One Step Back
The true paradox of this summit is that the NATO policy moves a step forward and a step back, at the same time. While being truly insightful about the geopolitical threats outside NATO, the final summit document introduces solutions giving non-NATO institutions access to vulnerable information. Meanwhile, Europe is a continent steeped in history that has its own dynamics. It is good to remember that before any cooperation between NATO and EU institutions is tightened. Continue reading
Brexit Calls for U.S. to Reconsider Foreign Policy
With Germany economically dependent on the natural gas provisions from Russia, it is hard to expect any strong German support for NATO activities on the eastern flank. This is proven by the German reaction to the joint NATO war games, Anaconda 16, that are taking place in Eastern Europe. A NATO member, as it is, Germany denied the right of passage to the allied troops on their way to the games referring to them as “saber-rattling and warmongering.” The centers of power in Europe are shifting and Washington needs to choose its allies carefully. When we look at the map of Europe, it is quite clear that the new rampart of NATO is no longer Germany but Poland and the Baltic States. Continue reading
A Little Publicized Meeting Took Place in Romania
The atmosphere of the Siania, Romania meeting was festive, and the event was apparently well-orchestrated. However, the main topic of the conference was both anti-West and anti-European Union. In her speech, for example, Marine Le Pen assured Romania that the country would be better off if it left the EU, which she described as ‘a drifting ship without a compass,’ and ‘a total failure.’ Le Pen questioned the EU’s future, calling it ‘a threat to its inhabitants.’ Instead, she proposed a Union ‘from the Atlantic to the Ural Mountains’… a Europe that would also include Russia. Continue reading
Boris Johnson: Brussels, Brexit and the Uncertain Future of the EU
“Let’s suppose somebody came to us all today, 2016, and said, bonjour, or guten tag, or ciao, we’ve got this brilliant idea for a new project to take all these higgledy-piggledy nations and turn them into a single political unit with a single currency and gradually moving, actually ever more rapidly, towards a single system of government, and you Brits will have to sign up for virtually all of it except the single currency. They would then be told that they would have to give up the right to make their own laws, pay for membership and have no border control. That’s the offer they make to us – a club that wastes our money massively, that subverts democracy in this country, takes away people’s power to elect the people who take the decisions, reduces the competitiveness of the European economy, and all for no real economic benefit. Why would we join such a club today? Why would we join such a woefully unreformed Europe? Would anybody in their right mind join the EU as it is today? I don’t think so.” – Boris Johnson Continue reading
Was March 13 The Start of Germany‘s “Trump Phenomenon?”
In many ways, the “AfD phenomenon” is increasingly likened to that of the “Trump Phenomenon” in the United States. Lacking a charismatic leader in the mold of Donald Trump, the AfD has nonetheless electrified voters with its hard-line on immigration and its persona as the movement opposed to the political “establishment.” According to Martin Klingst of Die Zeit, “The United Nations Human Rights Council says that there are already about 200,000 refugees waiting in Libya to cross the Mediterranean to Italy again and that more and more refugees will choose this dangerous route once the Balkan route is closed.” Continue reading
Is Turkey a Reliable NATO Ally?
Entrusted with NATO secrets and called upon to help, if the situation should warrant, Turkey’s current trajectory might, in fact, transform its trusted ally status into something completely different, something which might necessitate a rethinking of NATO’s strategy altogether, something which, in the end, might not even be called an ally. Continue reading
Greek Crisis, Russian Opportunity
Meanwhile, Putin has been rubbing his hands in glee at Europe’s misfortune. The Greek crisis offers a golden opportunity to subvert the West from within. It is also a welcome distraction diverting European (and even American) attention away from Moscow’s aggression against Ukraine and Putin’s plans to rebuild the Soviet empire. Continue reading
Romanians’ take on the elections in Moldova: The front line of the EU-Russia struggle for supremacy
The recent Moldovan parliamentary elections have proven that the fight for power between Russia and the West is slowly but surely intensifying. While the Moldovan people’s votes seem to have inclined towards the pro-EU parties, the preference was only a minor one, with pro-Russian parties obtaining only slightly less votes than their opponents. “No party appears able to form a government, although, after a partial count, the three pro-EU parties do have a narrow lead over their pro-Moscow rivals,” Euro News reported on December 1, the day after the election.
Is Putin ‘the’ Big Winner in EuroElections?
Both the French National Front and the UK Independence Party were big winners with 26% (25 seats) and 29% (24 seats) respectively. “The people have spoken loud and clear,” exclaimed Marine Le Pen. “They no longer want to be led by those outside our borders, by EU commissioners and technocrats who are unelected. They want to be protected from globalization and take back the reins of their destiny,”… Continue reading
Does Big Nationalist Showing in French Local Elections Spell Big Putin Bloc in EU Parliament?
Last month, Russia invited representatives from the European far-right parties to Crimea as observers of the referendum on whether the predominantly Russian-speaking state wanted to leave Ukraine to become part of Russia.
French Municipal Elections Could Shape Things To Come For Hollande, EU
Given the unpopularity of the Hollande government, the disarray of France’s center-right opposition, the rise of the National Front, and the European parliamentary elections in May, there are clearly going to be developments coming from the votes cast on March 23rd and the run-off…
Congressman Grayson: TPP creates parallel legal system, threatens U.S. sovereignty
The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) “creates a parallel court system that has never existed before and will usurp U.S. sovereignty” warned Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) in an exclusive interview with SFPPR News and Analysis.
The EU’s Vilnius Summit and the Ukraine Fiasco
A much anticipated summit was held in Vilnius, Lithuania (Nov. 28-29), to prepare the eastern expansion of the European Union. The big prize was to bring Ukraine closer to Europe. At the same time, three other smaller countries, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia, were expected to sign association agreements with the EU.
Vladimir Putin Asserts Russia’s Regional Economic Power
Something strange is happening in the world this fall of Anno Domini 2013. The United States seems politically deadlocked. Europe is struggling both politically and economically and is not really functioning as a union. The Middle East has just stopped short of a new war. And Russia under the old and new President Vladimir Putin is reasserting itself as an international power.
EU enlargement, Russia and U.S. policy
On November 27 and 28 representatives of the European Union will meet in Vilnius, Lithuania, to discuss the prospects of expanding its borders eastward. The enlargement will also bring with it the expansion of NATO, which makes Russia jittery and compels the United States to take a stand.
Syria’s religious fault lines: the plight of Christians in the Middle East
Though the Syrian civil war continues to rage, it’s mostly defined as a Sunni versus Shiite conflict, where the plight and suffering of this country’s ancient Christian communities is increasingly becoming an influential factor.
The United States and Romania: Security Arrangements and Mutual Interests
STRATFOR is a professional electronic publication that deals with geopolitical issues and global intelligence. Its founder and chairman, George Friedman, is well-informed and aware of contemporary Eastern European affairs.
