Germany
Disasters and Reconstruction Initiatives
Berlin Ukraine Recovery Conference
Although partially overshadowed by urgent Ukrainian requests for emergency help with its immediate air defense needs, as well as political shockwaves emanating from the...
Interviews
Tackling new threats to critical energy infrastructure
The explosions that targeted the Nord Stream pipelines from Russia to Germany in September 2022 and the suspected sabotage of Baltic-connector pipeline, which supplies...
Energy
Energy-strapped Germany sets ambitious 30 GW offshore wind target by 2030
Germany, which has been struggling to fill its massive energy gap following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and reduction of natural gas deliveries, is planning...
Germany
Germany’s approval of tanks for Ukraine suggest Berlin is no longer on the fence
The decision to dispatch some Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine suggests Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz has finally decided which side he would like to win in Kyiv’s struggle against Putin’s barbarism.
EU Institutions
The end of Europe
The European Union is simply too big; it is composed of too many cultures and political perspectives; and, despite Brussels' claim that it values diversity over all other issues, this does not include a deviation from what it considers its own norms. As matters currently stand, the EU runs the risk of collapsing under its own weight.
Albania
Scholz’s Berlin Process Summit yields agreements, draws yawns
The November 3 Berlin Process Summit, held in the presence of six Western Balkan leaders and key EU luminaries in the context of the...
Energy
How more sustainable ECB policies help fighting climate change and inflation
In the last months, inflation has risen sharply with price increases among many sectors. Business and citizens have been used to low inflation rates...
Belgium
EU says ready for Russian energy weapon
The European Union said on February 16 the bloc is ready in case the Russian leadership decides to weaponize the energy issue.In a speech...
Defense & Security
The West’s disunity stems from the latent Russophilia; anti-Anglo-Americanism of key EU nations
If you personify countries by combining their politics with their national identity, it's amazing how representative the characters are. For example, the UK is...
Belgium
EU gas prices on fire, fear of Russia invading Ukraine hot button
Wholesale gas prices in the EU rose to record levels in the third quarter of 2021, influenced by global gas markets, according to the...
Austria
A growing number of politicians run afoul of strict COVID regulations
The pandemic is claiming more and more victims among politicians, not by getting infected, but by coming into conflict with the strict rules to...
Belgium
EU to probe Gazprom’s role in energy crisis
With high energy prices hurting consumers in Europe, the European Commission is currently looking into all allegations of possible anti-competitive conduct by companies producing...
Belgium
EU taxonomy: No greenwashing of environment damaging activities
The introduction of the taxonomy is a great success for us Greens, future-oriented companies and civil society forces working on it for years. But...
Germany
Will the new German coalition lead Europe towards a federal union with room for common debts?
Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel recently celebrated the end of her 16-year term in office in Berlin with a traditional military band playing hits...
Archive
EBRD facilitates renewable energy investment in Central and Eastern Europe
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is supporting the transition of Photon Energy NV (Photon Energy), a renewable energy developer and independent...
Archive
New US sanctions against Nord Stream 2 to keep pressure on Russia
The United States on November 22 imposed new sanctions on the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany.The US, Ukraine...
Archive
Interview with Melanie Huml, Bavaria’s State Minister for European and International Affairs
With the announcement Germany will be led by a new left-learning government, following two months of often tense negotiations and political horse-trading, NE Global...
Archive
Commission approves EU funding for nature, environment and climate action projects
The European Commission approved on November 25 an investment package of more than €290 million for 132 new projects under the LIFE programme for...
Archive
Germany suspends Nord Stream 2 certification delaying commissioning well into 2022
Germany’s Federal Network Agency (BnetzA) suspended its certification of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline from Russia to Germany on November 16 which...
Archive
The power of investigative journalism
In February 2018, a young Slovak investigative journalist named Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend, Martina Kusnirova, were brutally murdered in their home in Velka...
Archive
Lukashenko would not dare cut gas supplies to EU without Kremlin’s permission
Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened to cut gas supplies to Europe transiting his country if the European Union imposed further sanctions in response...
Archive
The EU and the hijab
Given my relentless, savage, repetitive and – if I may say so – eminently fair criticism of the European Union, I could easily forgive...
Archive
Uzbekistan plans to double energy production to 30 GW by 2030
Uzbekistan will announce three new international tenders, for the construction of over 400 kilometers of overhead power lines, and two other new tenders for...
Africa
US, UK and Europe launch ‘Just Energy Transition’ partnership with South Africa
The governments of South Africa, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, along with the European Union, announced on November...
Africa
EU-US mobilise further support for Global Methane Pledge
Ahead of the UN climate summit in Glasgow, European Union Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, who leads the EU's international negotiations on climate, and Special...
Archive
Uzbekistan seeks energy hub role for Central Asia
Growing integration of national energy systems across the five nations of Central Asia is helping to ease congestion and power outages arising from peak...
Analysis
Germany and its neo-imperial quest in Bosnia
When rumors first began to swirl in January about the possible appointment of Christian Schmidt as Europe's High Representative to Bosnia and Herzegovina, I...
Afghanistan
With the AUKUS pact, the US has opted to snub some of its European partners
In the nearly nine months since he took office, it has become apparent that the US and European Union will not immediately experience a...
Afghanistan
Will Central Asia serve as Europe’s bridge to Afghanistan?
Just over one month on from the fall of Kabul, Europe is still grasping for answers to the question of how to engage in...
Afghanistan
What next after 20 years of war in Afghanistan? Anatol Lieven on the U.S.’ legacy and the Taliban’s rise
On August 30, 2021, a C-17 transport plane took off from Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, signaling the end of America’s longest war....
Afghanistan
Enough of the Durban depravity
This month marks the 20th anniversary of the so-called “World Conference Against Racism”, otherwise known as Durban I. The 2001 conference was to be...
Afghanistan
Europe willingly forfeited a leadership role in Afghanistan
If Winston Churchill were alive today, I imagine he might have said something like “Never in the history of human conflict have so few...
Analysis
Zero tolerance for hate teaching is not negotiable
The June 2021 publication of an overdue review of Palestinian textbooks by Germany’s Georg Eckert Institute (GEI) was meant to bring peace of mind...
Archive
CATL brings EV battery technologies and manufacturing to Europe
The association of European automotive and industrial battery manufacturers, EUROBAT, announced on September 2 that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) has joined its...
Afghanistan
How Erdogan will “manage” the Afghan refugee crisis
Images of Afghan refugees scrambling to escape Kabul following the Taliban’s seizure of power will haunt the international community for decades. According to the...
Afghanistan
Mikheil Saakashvili – The post-Soviet space’s once and future buffoon
It isn't every day you find yourself talking to a major figure of recent history, especially not one who has staged both a successful...
Archive
Russia’s hand in Nord Stream 2 could be nightmare alley for EU
The European Union needs to boost energy security and provide alternatives and others, Justin Urquhart Stewart, co-founder of UK Regional Investment Platform Regionally, told...
Analysis
An EU diplomatic ‘bâdgir’ in Vienna: The Iran nuclear deal 2.0
When things get hot, you look to cool them down. Persian culture is too familiar with heat with scorching Middle East temperatures. One of...
Analysis
The EU’s plans for stabilizing Libya via democratic elections alone are set to fail
The European Union has for years invested its diplomatic efforts, as well as millions of Euros, into bringing a sense of security to Libya,...
Germany
Poland and Israel enter into an era of colder relations
A serious conflict has broken out between Poland and Israel. Last weekend, Poland's President Andrzej Duda signed a new law that makes it more...
Archive
The end of the internal combustion engine
With the EU’s Fit for 55 legislation package, the internal combustion engine is set to disappear: From 2035, all new registered vehicles in Europe...
Afghanistan
The EU is nothing but a feckless spectator in the unfolding Afghan crisis
The surprising speed by which the Taliban seized control, with relative ease, of the whole of Afghanistan is a major geopolitical debacle for the...
Analysis
How Europe risks scoring an own goal on nuclear energy
On July 14, the European Commission took up an extensive policy initiative designed to bring the European Union’s net greenhouse gas emissions down by...
Africa
As UN issues stark climate warning, wildfires spread across Med region
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued a stark warning, noting that Climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying. The report,...
Archive
Siemens Gamesa to double offshore blade facility in UK
Offshore wind industry major Siemens Gamesa said on August 9 it will expand its successful offshore blade factory in Hull, England by 41,600 square...
Analysis
Is the EU learning any lessons from the pandemic?
The European Union - a powerful force for good or a self-serving bureaucratic oligarchy? Whatever your view, the EU is certainly a catalyst for...
Archive
Poland continues quest to delay the start of Nord Stream 2
Polish state-owned gas company PGNiG said on August 2 it expects to be granted participation in certification proceedings concerning the controversial Nord Stream 2...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan and the Great Powers
Can Afghanistan's never-ending internal conflict be resolved by the efforts of great and regional powers that have numerous conflicting strategic and global goals? Is...
Archive
Germany bypasses EU, makes Nord Stream 2 deal with US
An agreement reached between Washington and Berlin this week effectively removed a threat of sanctions against the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from...
Analysis
If Europe is serious about fighting antisemitism, it must skip Durban 20
Countries are lining up to declare they will not attend the20th anniversary of the UN’s notorious 2001 World Conference Against Racism, held in Durban,...