Europe Center Commentary & Analysis

Russians Charged with Meddling in 2016 US Election

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Thirteen Russians and three Russian entities have been indicted by a grand jury for interfering in the US presidential elections in 2016, US Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s office said on February 16. The thirty-seven-page indictment alleges that Russians’ operations “included supporting the presidential campaign of then-candidate Donald J. Trump…and disparaging Hillary Clinton,” Trump’s Democratic opponent, […]

What’s the Deal?

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Atlantic Council analysts discuss agreement that could end political uncertainty in Germany German Chancellor Angela Merkel on February 7 moved a step closer to forming a coalition government that would include her conservative Christian Democrats (CDU/CSU) and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD). But first, more than 460,000 members of the SPD will need to approve […]

A Controversial Bill in Poland Would Make it Illegal to Use the Term ‘Polish Death Camps’

By Ashish Kumar Sen

On February 1 Poland’s Senate passed a controversial bill that would make it illegal to blame Poles for crimes committed by Nazi Germany. Violations would be punished by fines or prison sentences up to three years. Polish President Andrzej Duda has previously said that he will consider signing the measure into law. That would risk a […]

Kremlin Report: A Missed Opportunity to Check Russian Aggression

By Ashish Kumar Sen

The US Treasury Department’s decision not to slap sanctions on Russian oligarchs and officials, some with ties to the Kremlin, is a missed opportunity to check Russian aggression, according to the Atlantic Council’s Daniel Fried. “I think the [Trump] administration missed an opportunity [on January 29] to extend the use of sanctions to Russia’s aggressive […]

Deterring Russian Hacking

By Brian O’Toole and Daniel Fried

The apparent lack of US preparation and defense nearly eighteen months after Russia’s interference in the presidential elections, especially given numerous media reports that Russia aims to interfere in the 2018 US midterm elections, is deeply troubling. We are heartened that Congress has taken up leadership to defend the US electoral process. But notwithstanding its […]

In Germany, Social Democrats Hold Merkel’s Future in their Hands

By Jörn Fleck

The SPD’s upcoming vote on the future of coalition negotiations government will not only dictate the trajectory of the country’s politics, but could have serious ramifications for the future of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. For a brief moment on January 21, all eyes in German politics will shift from Berlin to Bonn. In the predicted […]

A New French Renaissance

By Nicholas Dungan

Just as Queen Elizabeth II offers her yuletide greetings to the British people in her Christmas Day broadcast each December 25, so, tradition goes, the president of France presents his New Year’s wishes to the French people on December 31. Emmanuel Macron’s speech on the last day of 2017 was his first New Year’s address. […]

100 Years Later, Wilson’s Fourteen Points Deserve Another Look

By Daniel Fried

This January 8 marks the 100th anniversary of President Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points speech, a foundational moment in America’s rise to define and lead a rules-based world order. Wilson has not been in fashion for some time: his political rigidity at the end of his career probably tanked Senate acceptance of the League of Nations, […]

McMaster Accuses Russia of Subversion, Kremlin Reacts

By Daniel Fried

US National Security Advisor Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster and his team deserve credit for clear expression of the threat to the United States from autocratic, revisionist powers, especially Russia. Outlining the new National Security Strategy (NSS) to be released on December 18, McMaster earlier this week publicly cited Russia’s “sophisticated campaign of subversion and disinformation […]

Sparking entrepreneurship in the Balkans

Young entrepreneurs “can fix the Balkans,” said Mark Boris Andrijanic, director of public policy for Central and Eastern Europe at Uber, “but only if we are allowed to do so.”