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Europe & Eurasia
Analysis
Can Erdogan survive an economic crisis of his own design?
Turkey was once seen as something of an economic miracle at the dawn of the millennium. Millions of Turks were lifted into the middle...
Albania
Conflict in Ukraine and Kosovo are connected
Vladimir Putin claims that protecting ethnic Russians justifies military action against Ukraine. Putin’s concern for Ukraine’s Russian minority is bombastic. His greater global goal...
Albania
Amateur hour for US diplomacy in Albania
On December 11, Sali Berisha, a two-term Prime Minister and President of Albania, was addressing some ten thousand jubilant Democratic Party congress participants in...
Analysis
The Korean Peninsula should remain a security concern
With both South Korea and the United States focused on domestic matters – 2022 presidential race and 2022 midterm elections respectively, it will be...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
How do we stop the neocons from starting another disaster in Ukraine?
If anything, Washington’s neoconservatives have an unerring instinct for survival. Having brought about multiple disasters in the two decades since 9/11—from the Iraq War...
Analysis
Why China cannot invade Taiwan
China’s recent aerial incursion in Taiwan air defense zone and President Xi Jinping’s confrontational remarks re-prompted a debate on whether or not Beijing is...
Archive
BP acquires EV fleet charging provider AMPLY Power in US
BP said on December 7 the UK company took its first major step into electrification in the US with the acquisition of AMPLY Power,...
Archive
EU approves €3 billion Spanish scheme to support electric vehicles
The European Commission has approved, under EU State aid rules, a €3 billion Spanish scheme to support research, development and innovation (RD&I), as well...
Archive
Poland to boost residential energy efficiency with help from EBRD, BNP Paribas
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Poland’s major lender BNP Paribas Bank Polska (BNPPL) have agreed a landmark scheme to improve...
Archive
Croatian scheme to support electricity production from renewables gets EU nod
A Croatian aid scheme to support electricity production from renewable sources complies with EU State aid rules, the European Commission’s antitrust chief said on...
Archive
Tales of mystery and imagination in Skopje – Part 2
North Macedonia’s conservative opposition failed in its November 11 bid to topple Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s government. This happened only because ruling coalition lawmakers...
Archive
Israel, Greece, Cyprus seeing green energy future
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades met in Jerusalem on December 7 where they reaffirmed...
Archive
Serbia, Rosatom ink deal to build a Center for Nuclear Science and Technology in Serbia
The Serbian government and Russia’s state atomic corporation Rosatom signed a General Framework Agreement to construct a Center for Nuclear Science and Technology (CNST)...
Analysis
The deep fall of a child prodigy
The surprise was great, and he staged it in his usual professional manner. Sebastian Kurz, who at 31 became Austria's youngest-ever chancellor, announced his...
Archive
Support for frontline staff and volunteers is key to overcoming Europe’s fresh COVID onslaught
In many ways, Europe is far better placed to withstand its second pandemic winter. Though cases are surging across the continent and the new...
Archive
Why Biden shouldn’t use the ‘Summit for Democracy’ to start more Cold Wars
On December 9 and 10, President Biden will host a virtual “Summit for Democracy.” The gathering will bring together leaders from 110 countries who...
Analysis
Only the West can save Georgia
“We need you back, Tim,” said nobody. “Coverage of what's happening in Georgia just isn't enough. Goddamit man, it's only Ani Chkhikvadze out there...
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
EU, Hungary sign MoU under the Battery Alliance
At the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding on the Hungarian National Reskilling Programme under the European Battery Academy, European Commission Vice President Maros...
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
Oil climbs as OPEC+ may delay further supply recovery if there is a slump in demand
Oil prices climbed on December 3 after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and oil producing allies led by Russia, a grouping...
Archive
UAE, Kazakhstan to explore opportunities in the energy sector
Samruk-Kazyna, the sovereign wealth fund of Kazakhstan, said on December 1 it has signed a long-term strategic agreement with Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company,...
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
30 years ago the stroke of a pen in a snowy Belarussian forest changed the world
The old gentlemen who had come to Vienna were visibly emotional as they recounted the circumstances surrounding the signing of the treaty that officially dissolved...
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
COP26: call for more global climate action
On November 24, Members of the European Parliament debated with Commission Executive Vice-President Frans Timmermans, and the Council Presidency, the Glasgow Climate Pact agreed...
Archive
Orsted explores renewable hydrogen, green fuels in Denmark
COPENHAGEN – At the Orsted’s construction site at the Avedore Power Plant located just south of Copenhagen, the Danish multinational power company is currently...
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...
Armenia
Europe’s chance for peace in the South Caucasus
Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, announced on November 19 that in the margin of the Eastern Partnership Summit to be held...
Archive
Commission presents tools to curb EU-driven deforestation and forest degradation
In the framework of the European Green Deal, the EU Commission adopted on November 17 three new initiatives to curb EU-driven deforestation, as well...
Archive
EU, South East Asia launch Green Team Europe Initiative to protect the environment
During the 3rd ASEAN-EU Dialogue on Sustainable Development, European Union Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen launched on November 18 a Green Team Europe...
Democracy & Human Rights
Ukrainian president seeks total control over media
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has had two options since he was elected in 2019: either to improve the reality that he faced or to...
Analysis
Is Lukashenko setting a new trap for Europe?
One can hardly imagine the misery of the refugees at the border between Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. Thousands of people from Iraq, Syria and...
Belarus
Border pains: A set play by Belarus
Desperate migrants sandwiched between the Belarussian-Polish border is a nasty quagmire. It is also an impressively manufactured crisis. With threats to both EU and...
Archive
Third Bulgarian election in 2021 appears to break the logjam
In Bulgaria’s November 14 elections, the tough anti-corruption oriented “We Continue the Change” party (PP), won 25.7% of the vote, based on a nearly-complete...
Croatia
What happens when due diligence cannot or will not be applied?
When due diligence and a basic compliance process is not followed bad things happen. On October 21, 2021, an investigative journalist centre published a...
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...
Economy & Business
Ireland’s climate action plan must look beyond de-growth led by the state
The Republic of Ireland has committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050, after the coalition government of Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Greens...
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...
Op-Eds & Guest Contributors
New railway agreements reveal the contours of Central Asia’s rapid integration
The information war is so intense nowadays that unsung melodies are often more alluring that the sung ones. The lines from English poet Shelley’s...
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
Crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border
Using human lives to blackmail the governments of rival nations is as old as human civilization. In recent years, however, countries such as Turkey,...
Analysis
The Second Karabakh War, one year later
One year after the end of the Second Karabakh War, the landscape in the South Caucasus has changed: both politically and physically. Against all...
Archive
Why it’s important to save the independent Kyiv Post
When I returned to Ukraine to work for the Kyiv Post, I had a vague plan to stay for three years. Two years of combing...
Archive
EU Council prolongs sanctions against Turkey overt anauthorised drilling in EastMed
Following the review of the framework for restrictive measures in response to Turkey’s unauthorised drilling activities in the Eastern Mediterranean, the European Council adopted...
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
At COP26, EU pledges €100 million to the Adaptation Fund
At COP26 in Glasgow, the European Commission has announced a new pledge of €100 million in finance for the Adaptation Fund.“We have to scale...
Africa
Protests against the UN escalate in the Central African Republic
The mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSCA in the Central African Republic ends on 15 November so it is appropriate to evaluate its...
Archive
Tales of mystery and imagination in Skopje
The November 11 no-confidence vote in Zoran Zaev's government was stopped after an extremely difficult day for lack of a quorum. Extraordinary events during...
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...
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