Tag: War in Ukraine
EU countries unanimously back Ukraine — except on its bid to join the EU – POLITICO
Press play to listen to this article
EU countries are all for Ukraine in its war against Russia, but they are all over the map when it comes to Ukraine’s demand to be recognized as a candidate for EU membership.
The European Commission on Friday is expected to recommend formal candidate status for Ukraine and for neighboring Moldova, but the final decision requires unanimity among the 27 EU heads of state and government who will gather for a European Council
In Cyprus, a faraway war forces a city to redefine its Russianness – POLITICO
Press play to listen to this article
LIMASSOL, Cyprus — Sipping coffee at a beachside cafe, Alexey Voloboev scrolled down on a Telegram group chat titled “financial help in Cyprus.”
“This is now the Russian bank of Cyprus,” the Russian businessman laughed.
The group, which already has some 1,600 members, serves as a black market for swapping rubles and euros — a transaction that’s now increasingly difficult after Moscow sent its troops streaming into Ukraine. Not only has the EU
Ukraine’s army of activist investigators documents Russian war crimes – POLITICO
Press play to listen to this article
Ivan, 31, spends his days trawling through photos, videos and personal accounts of atrocities: rape, torture, summary executions, illegal weapons, forced disappearances.
The task is not what Ivan ever saw himself doing. Just a few months ago, he was planning to launch a video-game development studio.
Looking away, however, is no longer an option in Ukraine — not since Russia blanketed the country with troops, bombs and brutality. Ivan started volunteering for the
The von der Leyen Commission’s half-time scorecard – POLITICO
If Ursula von der Leyen’s five-year term can be likened to a soccer match, her team is heading for the half-time break with the scores even and a few bruised shins (mostly from self-inflicted errors).
It’s been a wild ride.
When they took the field in December 2019, von der Leyen’s squad of commissioners envisioned a diplomatic offensive in which Brussels would sneak a few goals past its chief geopolitical counterparts, China and the United States. Tactically, the formation was
12 Germans who got played by Putin – POLITICO
Press play to listen to this article
BERLIN — Russia’s war against Ukraine has thrust Germany’s establishment into the throes of a tortured process of introspection, self-doubt and recrimination.
After years of lecturing the West that a bit of Ostpolitik was all that was needed to keep Russia in check, Germany’s political, media and academic elites are now obsessing over a new question: How could we have been so wrong?
Rarely has a country’s confidence about itself and its place
What it’s like to leave everything you know behind – POLITICO
Not since World War II has a European conflict forced so many people from their homes. As the war in Ukraine rages on, millions of new arrivals across the Continent are figuring out how to build new lives — whether for a few weeks, a few months or many years, nobody knows.
In this ongoing project, POLITICO will be hosting a sort of digital diary, following those adjusting to life far away from everything they knew. For this first installment,
Tested by war, Ukraine’s Jews keep faith in their country – POLITICO
Press play to listen to this article
If you still believe Vladimir Putin’s propaganda that he’s trying to de-Nazify Ukraine, you should talk to Ukrainian Jews. They don’t buy a word of it.
After facing deadly pogroms during the tsarist era and the Bolshevik Revolution, mass murder during the Holocaust and state-sanctioned anti-Semitism and repression under the Soviet regime, Ukrainian Jews say they’ve experienced a renaissance since the collapse of the USSR. Synagogues, Jewish schools and community organizations have popped