Last week the trilateral meeting in Beijing between China’s President Xi, French President Macron and the President of the European Commission Von der Leyen was a much anticipated and needed sign of renaissance in the relations of the EU and China, two of the world’s largest economies. It is positive to see that finally sanity […]Emmanuel Macron: Can a French alone rejuvenate the EU-China relations?
April 10, 2023 by Leave a Comment
Last week the trilateral meeting in Beijing between China’s President Xi, French President Macron and the President of the European Commission Von der Leyen was a much anticipated and needed sign of renaissance in the relations of the EU and China, two of the world’s largest economies. It is positive to see that finally sanity […]Can climate change wait for the US to rejoin the Paris agreement?
November 6, 2019 by 1 Comment
The US administration informed the United Nations (UN) two days ago that is starting the official process of withdrawing from the Paris Agreement the moment that the whole world is experiencing the warmest October of the last forty years according to a research from a global group of around 11.000 scientists. On the other hand, […]G7: A serious setback hardly avoided in iconic Biarritz
August 26, 2019 by 1 Comment
The G7 yearly summits are supposed to strengthen the unity of the world’s wealthiest democracies vis-à-vis the rest of the world. Not anymore, many say, but this time there is one important exception: Iran. The leaders of France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan and of course the US, met during the weekend in the coastal […]Boris Johnson’s no-deal Brexit to differ when issued from 10 Downing St.
June 20, 2019 by Leave a Comment
The British Conservative Party is now busy electing a new President and by the same token the new Prime Minister of UK. This is an exemplary democratic exercise but under the current conditions it also turns to be a tricky procedure. For one thing, the outcome of the long selection process becomes every day more […]EU elections 2019: Rise of nationalist trends and populism in Europe challenges the EU edifice
May 8, 2019 by Leave a Comment
The European elections are going to be held in just two weeks’ time and far-right propaganda is gaining momentum creating concerns to everyone regarding the future of the EU, which is at stake. Populism and nationalism have dramatically risen in the EU during the last years menacing democratic institutions within a number of European member […]Can the Notre-Dame fire freeze the ‘Yellow Vests’ uprising?
April 22, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Can the fire that partially destroyed Notre-Dame act as a game changer in the French socio-political scene? Probably yes, but let’s see to the forces in motion, the national grief and the anger of the left behind. Luckily on the Seine river islet, in the heart of Paris, the eight hundred year monument still stands. […]Brexit: Six more months of political paralysis or a May-Corbyn compromise?
April 15, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Last Thursday in Brussels the UK Prime Minister, Theresa May felt it was necessary to tell the 27 EU leaders, who had gathered there to meet her, that “Britain is a serious country”. Until some months ago such an observation from a British PM would have been unimaginable. Until very recently nobody […]The ‘yellow vests’ undermined Macron in France and the EU
December 10, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Paris was a blockaded city this weekend. The government was forced to close down all the main tourist sites in the French capital. The Eiffel Tower, the Opera of Paris, the Louvre museum and tens of other sites which may attract the fury of the ‘yellow vest’ movement are closed and heavily guarded. Galerie Lafayette […]France, Germany challenge Trump’s America on Iran and the reign of the dollar
November 22, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last week, the French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel challenged the US President Trump by deciding to create a real European army. This week, the two European leaders said they are seriously working on the project to build a financial/trade-clearing mechanism, meant to override the American sanctions against Iran. In both […]The Europeans back Russia-Turkey on Syria: A ‘Waterloo’ for Saudis and their Crown Prince
October 29, 2018 by Leave a Comment
France and Germany have put their weight behind the Russia–Turkey agreement for a lasting ceasefire in Syria. The four leaders also said they agreed to put together a committee to draft a constitution for the political rehabilitation of the devastated country. Last Saturday, the French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Russian […]“As long as we work together through thick and thin, more benefits can be delivered to the people of Eurasia”, China’s Premier Li Keqiang highlights from ASEM in Brussels
October 19, 2018 by 1 Comment
The 12th ASEM (Asia-Europe-Meeting) Summit took place in Brussels on 18-19 October 2018, the first summit after ASEM enters its third decade. Fifty-one Eurasia leaders convened under the theme “Global Partners for Global Challenges”, which is definitely a contemporary theme given the global turbulences of our time. ASEM is the platform for dialogue between Asia and […]Window for a Brexit deal: Brussels to think again May’s proposal
October 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This is the first time the British Prime Minister Theresa May can tell mainland Europeans, she can guarantee her Tory conservative Party won’t topple her over her Brexit proposal. The reason is that, last week, she marked a triumph at the annual conference of the governing Party at Birmingham. Obviously, the burning subject of the […]Who can unlock the stalled Brexit negotiations? UK Premier sticks to her proposal
September 20, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The Brexit cataclysm comes to its apex. On the one side is Prime Minister Theresa May, and on the other around 50 unrepentant Brexiteer Tory MPs. The sides are about to cross swords within and without Parliament. Reportedly, May could pass her own – not so mild but negotiable in Brussels – version of Brexit […]Migration crisis update: mutual actions and solidarity needed as anti-migrant policies thrive
September 19, 2018 by Leave a Comment
An EU summit is taking place today in Salzburg, Austria where the EU leaders will discuss about the immigration crisis in the region and Brexit deal negotiations. The Parliament’s request to the member states regarding Hungary’s breach of the EU founding values is creating turbulences to the unity and solidarity of the Old Continent. The […]The US-Mexico trade deal a threat for others, Trump to single out China, Europe
August 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between US, Mexico and Canada is reborn. It was discarded and denounced by the American President Donald Trump since the first days of his campaign to conquer the White House, and now it returns almost undamaged, just under another name. Last Monday, after more than one year of […]Theresa May attempts to ease the EU stance as Britons request another EU referendum
August 1, 2018 by Leave a Comment
With less than eight months away from the exit of the UK from the EU, continuous negotiations are being held between the two parties in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit. UK Prime Minister Theresa May will visit French President Emmanuel Macron at his Fort de Brégançon on Friday in an attempt to persuade him […]Germany takes cover from Trump in Eurozone and decides to pay for it
June 14, 2018 by 7 Comments
Nobody in Germany doubts it any more that Donald Trump’s America is not a friendly country and market any more, or a guarantor of European security, as was the case for the last 70 years after WWII. To ward off any confusion about that, the German ambassador to the US made a clear statement. Peter […]At last Germany to negotiate the costs for a really cohesive Eurozone
June 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Finally, Germany blinked. Chancellor Angela Merkel at last decided to clearly respond and, up to a certain degree, uphold French President Emmanuel Macron’s ideas, about reforming the Eurozone, in order not only to save it from unraveling, but, if possibe, to make it more cohesive and stronger. In an interview to last Sunday’s issue of […]Macron in St. Petersburg didn’t oppose Trump on Iran, in Putin’s presence
May 28, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Emmanuel Macron, the French President, who has regained the European political initiative for his country, traveled to St. Petersburg, in Russia last Thursday. This was not an official state visit though. Macron just decided to participate in St. Petersburg’s annual International Economic Forum (SPIEF). A high end business delegation accompanied him. Macron met Putin only […]America writes-off Iran, blocks Europe’s Tehran talks
May 24, 2018 by Leave a Comment
While the European Union and more so Germany have being relentlessly working to save the nuclear non-proliferation deal with Iran, last Monday the new US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, shattered any opening for negotiations with Tehran. Until Pompeo dropped his bombshell, the EU was discussing a new pact with Iran, on the basis of […]Is Germany closer to Russia than the West? Nord Stream II and Iran count more
May 21, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last Friday, Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, rushed to Sochi, the Black Sea seaside Russian resort to meet Vladimir Putin. It was the first visit by a Western leader to meet him at home, after his fourth inauguration on 7 May as President of the vast country, this time for six more years. Looking through […]Draghi joined Macron in telling Germany how Eurozone must be reformed
May 17, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Mario Draghi the President of ECB, speaking at the European University Institute in Florence, on 11 May 2018, must have been under the influence of the idealistic aura of this Florentine learning institution. He went as far as proposing political policies, bravely overstepping his role as central banker of Eurozone. Draghi asked for an effective […]Europe split in confronting the US sanctions on Iran, Washington isolated
May 14, 2018 by 1 Comment
Donald Trump, the ‘America First’ President in withdrawing from the Iranian nuclear non-proliferation deal, doesn’t seem to be honoring his lead electoral motto. It seems that he is serving more the interests of Saudi Arabia and to a lesser extent of Israel. Riyadh has much at stake in its inimical interaction with Iran. Israel on […]France-Germany: Divided in Europe, USA united in…Iran
May 10, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last Tuesday afternoon the President of ‘America first’ Donald Trump withdrew the US from the Nuclear non-Proliferation Agreement with Iran. The deal is known as P5+1 and was co-signed by the US, France, Britain, Germany, Russia and China. There is no information regarding when the US is to re-introduce its economic sanctions against Iran, and […]Macron and Trump press Merkel to recycle the German trade surpluses
May 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The divisive effect on Europe that Donald Trump’s trade war has generated, takes on new dimensions now. Only the European Sting highlighted this aspect, when the President of ‘America first’ fired the first shots, igniting the trade skirmishes. The differences, about how to respond to the US trade aggression, between the French President Emmanuel […]Macron crowned king of Europe in Washington D.C.; just a working meeting with Trump for Merkel
April 26, 2018 by Leave a Comment
A rare service Donald Trump is currently doing for the Europeans is that he offers them a platform for important common action to be undertaken by the French President Emmanuel Macron and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. They are both visiting the White House this week, but expect quite different reception from Trump; pompous state […]Germany resists Macron’s plan for closer and more cohesive Eurozone; Paris and Berlin at odds
April 23, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Last week, surprising everybody, Francois Villeroy de Galhau, Governor of the Bank of France and member of European Central Bank’s Governing Council said that the decision to stop ECB’s extraordinarily accommodating monetary measures this year, is premature. So, according to him, the central bank must continue applying its extra relaxed measures well beyond this year. […]Macron defends the idea of European sovereignty
April 16, 2018 by Leave a Comment
This article is brought to you in association with the European Parliament The President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron debated Europe’s future with the members of the European Parliament and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday 17-04-2018. This is what he told them. “The European Parliament is, in my eyes, the seat of […]Italian elections: a long political limbo is ahead
March 7, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The outcome of the Italian general elections of last Sunday was disappointing leaving the country and the European Union in shock. The win of the two anti-establishment parties together with the fact that no single party managed to get the mandate of an overall majority leaves the country in a political uncertainty where a coalition […]Germany may have a stable and more cooperative government
February 8, 2018 by Leave a Comment
The center right and center left German mainstream political parties agreed yesterday evening to form a new grand coalition government. It will be the third time since 2005 the two Christian parties and the socialists jointly govern their country. The socialists will control the Finance, Foreign and Labor ministries, with Martin Schulz, the Social Democratic […]What Merkel and Macron are to tell Trump in Davos?
January 22, 2018 by 1 Comment
Donald Trump, the American President, is to deliver the closing speech at this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of 23-26 January in Davos, which as usually is set in the unsullied Alpine landscape. Perhaps, he has something new to say about how America sees Europe. Most probably though, he is simply to repeat his […]Trump: Hostile to Europe, voids Tillerson’s “ironclad” ally pledge
December 7, 2017 by Leave a Comment
At the end of last week, Rex Tillerson, the US State Department Secretary was intentionally undermined by President Donald Trump. This surprise move from the White House came only hours after the former gave an “’ironclad’ promise of U.S. support to its oldest allies in Europe”. To undercut this pledge, the White House leaked information […]Climate change update: will the UN member states regain momentum despite the little progress at COP23?
November 22, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The 23rd conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP23) concluded last Saturday in Bonn but little progress was achieved and everyone is now awaiting next year’s negotiations in Poland where a rule book for the Paris agreement has to be finalised. All member states should reconsider their emission cuts upwards via […]
