Europe

Chernobyl Two?

11 March 2022 5:27 am

The electricity supply to the ruined nuclear plant at Chernobyl in Ukraine has been cut off. According to one knowledgeable…

'Staying Switzerland' on Ukraine is impossible

1 March 2022 2:27 am

The striking thing about the financial sanctions on Russia is not their severity, but just how many countries are joining…

Viktor Orbán has played a perfect game with Putin

1 March 2022 2:10 am

On 3 April Hungarians will have their ninth set of free parliamentary elections since the collapse of the communist dictatorship…

A new Europe is emerging from this crisis

27 February 2022 7:43 am

With every hour that Kiev holds out, the geopolitics of Europe changes more. Germany, which so values its prohibition on…

It’s time for Germany to stand up to Russia

26 February 2022 8:00 pm

In his novel The Loyal Subject, which appeared on the eve of the first world war, Heinrich Mann, the brother…

Putin’s invasion has exposed the frailty of Europe’s armies

26 February 2022 6:05 pm

Putin’s forces are currently steamrolling Ukraine’s defences, with Russian troops circling the capital and invading from the south and east…

Europe is painfully reliant on Putin

24 February 2022 10:05 pm

Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine in the early hours of this morning, starting with a massive air attack from…

Are the lights about to go out across Europe?

23 February 2022 3:40 am

Today’s snap decision by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to halt Nord Stream 2 — the new pipeline intended to export…

It's too late to break Europe's gas reliance on Russia

22 February 2022 11:39 pm

So, Nord Stream 2 will not be plugged into Germany’s gas grid. A little surprisingly, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has been…

Will Putin now roll on to Kiev?

22 February 2022 8:45 am

The White House told us with absolute certainty that there would be an invasion of Ukraine this week — instead…

The seismic importance of Putin’s latest move

22 February 2022 7:55 am

Vladimir Putin has tonight unilaterally recognised the two breakaway republics in Ukraine. In doing so, he has effectively ended the…

Viktor Orbán or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Putin

3 February 2022 8:56 pm

Viktor Orbán first came to prominence when in 1989 he declared on live TV that Hungary must put an end…

Have we reached peak human rights?

7 January 2022 2:30 am

After the Colston debacle, you might be forgiven for having missed the other legal story that broke this week. The…

The problem with 'vaccine equity'

4 January 2022 5:03 am

‘A stain on our soul’. That was how Gordon Brown, in his latest missive on the subject, described the failure…

France has the most to lose from Britain's turn away from Europe

29 December 2021 6:00 pm

It was Napoleon who declared that ‘a state has the politics of its geography’. We do well to remember that…

Make History Great Again!

11 December 2021 6:00 pm

Why don’t today’s children know more about history? In an age when information has never been easier to access, it’s…

Europe gripped by a fifth wave

23 November 2021 9:03 am

How quickly things change. Just a month ago many EU countries were being praised for keeping some Covid restrictions in…

The fifth Covid wave could break Macron

23 November 2021 6:40 am

The fifth Covid wave has started in Europe. Some governments are already imposing lockdowns and wage cuts for the unvaccinated…

How Turkey is fuelling the Belarus-Poland migrant crisis

11 November 2021 5:35 am

In the cold, damp forest lining the border between Poland and Belarus, thousands of refugees flown over from the Middle…

Poland’s Belarusian border conflict is becoming violent

10 November 2021 1:59 am

The EU’s conflict with Belarus is heating up. The simmering migrant crisis on the Polish border with Belarus exploded into…

Why did neo-Nazis patrol the German border?

30 October 2021 11:00 am

Just after midnight last Sunday, around 50 vigilantes gathered in east Germany to ‘patrol’ the country’s border with Poland. They…

Macron may well win. But Macronism is dead

14 October 2021 3:19 pm

President Emmanuel Macron was in an expansive mood this week as he commandeered the splendid beaux arts Grand Palais in…

How will Europe respond to a wave of Afghan refugees?

27 August 2021 11:25 pm

On Tuesday, Franek Sterczewski made a break for the border. Wearing a long trench coat and carrying a blue plastic…

Who’d want to move to America now?

14 August 2021 9:00 am

Why would anyone move to the US?

Viktor Orbán goes to war on the European parliament

23 June 2021 7:42 pm

‘Times have changed, and whereas thirty years ago we believed Europe was our future, today we understand that we are…