Global Europe Archives

As the field of competitors for investing in Africa becomes more crowded, the EU will have to quickly improve its offer. The challenge for Ursula von der Leyen's new European Commission will be to turn the so-called ‘partnership of equals’ promised by her predecessor into something concrete.

The US government on Monday (2 November) said it may slap punitive duties of up to 100% on $2.4 billion in imports from France of Champagne, handbags, cheese and other products, after concluding that France's new digital services tax would harm US tech companies.

An ideological 'fight' is tacking place worldwide between those who want to restrict open access to the internet and those who want to maintain a free and open web within necessary regulatory frameworks, Facebook's VP for Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, has said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with representatives of foreign media ahead of the 9 December summit in Paris, which will return to the effort of finding a solution to the crisis in Eastern Ukraine after a long break.

It appears the South Caucasus is not a foreign policy priority of the new European Commission. But it should be, write Dennis Sammut and Amanda Paul.

Russia has refused a Dutch request to hand over a suspect in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, in violation of European law, prosecutors said on Monday (2 December). Until recently the suspect was in Ukrainian custody, but was sent to Russia in a prisoner swap.

With all the new types of challenges emerging in Europe, NATO can no longer do the job on its own, which is why Europe has to step up its defence cooperation, Jorge Domecq, who heads the European Defence Agency (EDA), told EURACTIV in his end-of-term interview.

NATO leaders descend on London this week to mark the Alliance's seventy years of existence and attempt to mend the widening cracks in the Western military pact. But as the celebration could easily turn into a family feud, here are a couple of issues to watch.

The new head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will attend a climate summit in Madrid and travel to Africa in her first week in the job, highlighting two of the key priorities for the EU executive over the next five years.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping launch Monday (2 December) a gas pipeline that is the first of three ambitious projects intended to cement Moscow's role as top gas exporter.

Ursula von der Leyen’s speech in Strasbourg this week touched on the idea of a ‘geopolitical Commission’ without specifically mentioning Africa. But that’s not a surprise or a slight.

The new European Council President Charles Michel called on Friday (29 November) for a more assertive role for Europe in the world, and promised to be “more cautious” on Twitter than his predecessor Donald Tusk.

Finland, Belgium, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden will join the INSTEX mechanism for trade with Iran, the six countries declared in a joint statement on Friday (29 November) ahead of further talks between parties to the Iran nuclear deal in Vienna next week.

After Ukraine's new President Volodymyr Zelenskyi agreed to hold elections in the separatist regions on the Russian border, peace talks with Moscow are regaining momentum. With the assistance of France and Germany, the two countries will return to the negotiation table on 9 December.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday (28 November) said his remarks that NATO was experiencing "brain death" had been a useful wake-up call to alliance members, and he would not apologise for saying it.

The European Space Agency (ESA) will enjoy a budget of €14.4 billion over the next five years, after the agency’s 22 member states agreed on Thursday (28 November) to increase funding for space exploration.

A two-day conference on “Enhanced integration and Prosperity in Central Asia” opened in Kazakhstan's capital Nur-Sultan on Thursday (28 November). Incidentally, it coincided with a summit of the leaders of the five Central Asian countries on Friday in Tashkent, the capital of neighbouring Uzbekistan.

Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, signed a $1 billion contract to modernise NATO’s fleet of AWACS surveillance aircraft on Wednesday (27 November), striking a more optimistic note at a time of widening cracks in the transatlantic defence alliance.

Lodged between China and Russia, Kazakhstan, a country with huge territory and a modest population, pursues a 'multi-vector' foreign policy, positively engaging with its big neighbours, but also with the US and the EU and the global community.

Benin has ordered the European Union's ambassador to leave the country over alleged political interference, diplomatic sources said Wednesday (27 November).

The EU needs to show leadership on space traffic management to ensure that it protects its increasingly important space infrastructure, writes Marian Jean Marinescu.

Georgia takes over the Presidency of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers on Wednesday (27 November). On this occasion, the country's Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani submitted an exclusive op-ed.

Ankara will resist efforts by its NATO allies to persuade it to back an alliance defence plan for the Baltics and Poland until its demands are met over a plan for Turkey's defence, a Turkish diplomatic source said on Wednesday (27 November).