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European politics

Emmanuel Macron

European politics 22nd June 2021

Regional Vote Throws Doubt on Macron’s Reelection Strategy

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | The unexpectedly strong performance of the center-right in France’s regional elections calls Emmanuel Macron’s reelection strategy into question. The liberal incumbent has been leaning to the right expecting he would need their support to defeat the far right’s Marine Le Pen in a presidential runoff. But if the center-right Republicans regroup, Macron risks not even qualifying for the runoff. Relations with the center-right Polls still…

political prisoner

European politics 13th June 2021

Europe Must Do More To Support Political Prisoners The World Over

European Views | Alexander Lukashenko’s latest gambit was too outrageous for European policymakers to ignore. The EU rushed to react after the Belarusian dictator scrambled fighter jets to intercept a Ryanair flight between Athens and Vilnius to arrest dissident journalist Roman Pratasevich, banning Belarus-flagged carriers from European airspace and plotting a fresh round of sanctions. European policymakers have roundly condemned the abuse which Minsk subjects its detained opposition figures to—but unfortunately, they have not been as swift to fight for the rights of political prisoners in other parts of the world.

biden Putin

European politics 9th June 2021

Biden Arrives In Europe With Initiatives

Fernando González Urbaneja | President Biden comes to Europe this week with three appointments that we could call mandatory, habitual, but which take on relevance because they are the first of his term in office. For Biden, who has a great deal of international experience, Europe is not an outstanding issue, as it was for his predecessor. He knows the dossiers and most of the European interlocutors well, and his…

brexit the corner

European politics 6th May 2021

Three Things To Watch in Britain’s Local Elections

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | Will the SNP win an absolute majority? Will Labour’s Red Wall hold? How well will Labour do in Wales? Scotland’s will be the most closely watched election today, but voters across the UK go to the polls. In addition to the 129 seats in the Scottish Parliament, all sixty seats in the Welsh Assembly, all 25 seats in the London Assembly, thirteen mayoralties and thousands…

Mark Rutte

European politics 28th April 2021

Revelations In Benefits Scandal Make Rutte’s Job Even Harder

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | Few parties are willing to give the liberal prime ministers a fourth term. Revelations that his outgoing government deliberately withheld information from parliament have made it even harder for Prime Minister Mark Rutte, in power since 2010, to form a new government in the Netherlands.

German Constitutional Court

European politics 21st April 2021

The German Constitutional Court Has Unblocked Germany’s Ratification Of The Next Generation EU Fund

The German Constitutional Court has unblocked Germany’s ratification of the Next Generation EU, the €750 billion European recovery fund with which the Union aims to boost the European economy. The German TC has dismissed the appeal lodged by a group of German citizens because it considers that the consequences of the preliminary blockage would be more serious if it were subsequently declared constitutional than if it were to go ahead and eventually be found to be unconstitutional.

Carbon emissions

European politics 18th April 2021

The EU Wants A Carbon Tax On Imports – But Would It Be The Climate Solution Officials Expect?

Timothy Hamilton via The Conversation | The European Union is considering a new tax on imports as it tries to fight climate change, and the U.S. is raising concerns about it. At issue is what’s known as a border adjustment carbon tax. The tax is designed to level the playing field for European companies by holding imports responsible for their greenhouse gas emissions the same way domestically produced products are.

europe vaccination

European politics 17th April 2021

What Led to Europe’s Vaccine Disaster?

By Hans-Georg Betz | The COVID-19 pandemic has not only brutally exposed Europe’s unpreparedness to confront a major crisis, but it has also shown the parochial state of mind of significant parts of the European population.  Much has been written over the past year about American science skepticism and conspiracy theories, held partly responsible for the toll that COVID-19 has taken on the US population. Yet Europeans are hardly any better.

Cities are leading refugee integration efforts

European politics 10th April 2021

Germany’s Refugees Face a Future Without Angela Merkel

Kiran Bowry | In 2015, the European refugee crisis awoke Germans from a long and comforting slumber that Angela Merkel had lulled them into with her political style. The term “asymmetric demobilization” came to be known as a way of describing the German chancellor’s shrewd strategy of sitting on the fence and thereby winning elections. Merkel weakened her political competitors by avoiding controversial issues and, in doing so, choking off debate. Simultaneously, she adopted popular policy stances of her opponents and demobilized their potential voters.

Rutte

European politics 5th April 2021

Rutte’s Opponents Smell Blood in the Water

Nick Ottens (Atlantic Sentinel) | After eleven years in power, Mark Rutte is suddenly vulnerable. The long-ruling Dutch prime minister won his fourth election in a row in March, but botched coalition talks have thrown doubt on his future. What started with suspicions Rutte had tried to get rid of a critical lawmaker turned into a wider question about his credibility. But discontent in other parties about Rutte’s longevity also plays a role. Before I dive in, let me remind you I’m a member of Rutte’s political party and voted for him in March. So this is not going to be an unbiased analysis, and the reason I’m publishing it as an opinion story…