Tag: Lithuania
The frontrunners for the next European Commission – POLITICO
The European Commission’s top jobs will all soon be up for grabs again after next month’s European election.
Which country will get the all-powerful trade commissioner job and oversee the EU’s impending trade war with China? Will the Poles secure a newly created defense portfolio to square up to their arch-rivals the Russians? And who will get to police U.S. tech giants like Apple and Google as Europe’s next competition chief?
Even before the June 6-9 election, maneuvering is underway
The state of the planet in 10 numbers – POLITICO
This article is part of the Road to COP special report, presented by SQM.
The COP28 climate summit comes at a critical moment for the planet.
A summer that toppled heat records left a trail of disasters around the globe. The world may be just six years away from breaching the Paris Agreement’s temperature target of 1.5 degrees Celsius, setting the stage for much worse calamities to come. And governments are cutting their greenhouse gas pollution far too slowly to
The secret, slipshod evidence the EU uses to sanction Russian oligarchs – POLITICO
BRUSSELS
BY LEONIE KIJEWSKI
IT WAS AN UNUSUAL APOLOGY: from the office of the president of the European Council to a sanctioned Russian oligarch.
In a confidential evidence packet used by the European Union to justify freezing his assets, Viatsheslav Moshe Kantor’s nationality had been listed as “Jewish/Russian.”
A 70-year-old billionaire who once headed the Russian fertilizer giant Acron, Kantor stepped down as president of the European Jewish Congress after being sanctioned by the EU and the United Kingdom
Poland and Lithuania Warn Against ‘Provocations’ From Wagner in Belarus
The leaders of NATO members Poland and Lithuania warned on Thursday against “provocations” and “sabotage actions” from neighboring Belarus by relocated members of Russia’s Wagner mercenary force, a warning that comes just days after two Belarusian helicopters breached Polish airspace and heightened jitters in the region.
“Our response to the provocation is to increase the size of the Polish Army on the eastern border of the country by redeploying troops from the west,” Poland’s defense minister, Mariusz Blaszczak, said on
Wagner forces are trying to ‘destabilize’ NATO, Polish PM says – POLITICO
Russia’s Wagner Group might carry out “sabotage actions” and their threat should not be underestimated, said Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki on Thursday, warning that the mercenary group’s provocations are an attempt to destabilize NATO.
Morawiecki and Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda met at the Suwałki Gap to discuss the threat posed by the Wagner forces, some of whom have relocated to Belarus following the aborted mutiny in June against the Kremlin.
“Our borders have been stopping various hybrid attacks for
Living Cities’ Summer Movie Club – POLITICO
Ahead of Living Cities’ summer break, we asked our readers to submit their favorite films about European cities. With entries ranging from “Trainspotting” to “The Third Man,” they didn’t disappoint.
Grab some popcorn, turn down the lights, and hit play: With our map of films that capture the spirit of European cities, you’re sure to stay entertained through the rest of the summer.
Germany learns to be a team player – POLITICO
Benjamin Tallis is a senior research fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, where he heads the “Action Group Zeitenwende.”
With Germany under pressure to deliver on its stuttering Zeitenwende — the promised sea change in its defense policy — any progress is now welcome. And this is the view not just in Berlin, but in all allied capitals where policymakers understand what such a change could mean for NATO and European defense.
It’s true that Germany has come
Europe targets Belarus with new war sanctions plan – POLITICO
The European Union is set to slap on a fresh sanctions package against Belarus after EU ambassadors okayed the raft of measures at a meeting this Wednesday.
The sanctions are set to include export restrictions on dual-use goods like drones or computers that can be used on the battlefield against Ukraine, as well as aviation parts.
The latest package also includes new listings against 38 individuals and 3 entities, according to four EU diplomats who were granted anonymity to speak
How to navigate Spain’s EU presidency policy agenda like a pro – POLITICO
Spare a thought for Spanish diplomats in Brussels. They’re going to be working flat-out until Christmas.
Sweden has spent the last six months trying to process a huge pile of legislative files, many of which were proposed late by a European Commission distracted by COVID-19 and Russia’s war on Ukraine.
Despite commendable progress, many of these files still need a lot of work before being passed into law. Look at the files we’ve laid out below, then look back at
On the night watch – POLITICO
It’s an hour before dawn breaks over the North Sea. Aboard the KV Bergen, the officer of the watch is wide awake.
The 93-meter long Norwegian Navy Coast Guard vessel is on patrol, 50 miles out to sea. The sky is dark, the sea darker. But off the starboard bow, bright lights gleam through the rain and mist. Something huge and incongruous is looming out of the water, lit like a Christmas display.
“Troll A,” says Torgeir Standal, 49, the