Europe Center Commentary & Analysis

Why Portugal’s upcoming presidential election has echoes of 1986

By Andrew Bernard

With three major candidates coming from outside the traditional center-left and center-right parties, the field is fractured and wide-open.

The EU and Mercosur are creating one of the world’s largest free trade areas. What’s next?

By Atlantic Council experts

After twenty five years of negotiations, the free trade deal between European and Latin American countries is moving forward—but with some caveats.

Trump’s quest for Greenland could be NATO’s darkest hour

By Anna Wieslander

If the United States intervenes to seize Greenland the future of NATO would be at stake. Such a development would be contrary to US national interests.

Greenland is Europe’s strategic blind spot—and its responsibility

By Justina Budginaite-Froehly

If Europe wants to ensure that no one can do to Greenland what the United States did in Venezuela, then it must stop relying on rules alone.

US strategy is leading to a Europe squeezed from the east and the west

By Anna Wieslander

The European Union is caught between a revisionist Russia and a United States that seems ready to divide the world into spheres of influence.

How Europe can strengthen its own defenses and rebalance transatlantic relations

Europe should advance a new security architecture aimed at strengthening its own defense while continuing to cooperate with the United States in areas of mutual interest.

Why Spain is not meeting NATO spending targets

By Jacobo Ramos Folch

Spain’s reluctance to increase spending on its military risks undermining its international credibility and Europe’s collective defense.

What prolonged Russian aggression against Europe could mean for the Balkans

By Agon Maliqi

The prospect of a prolonged, wider European war in the coming years is reshaping strategic calculations throughout the Balkans.

Poland doesn’t have to choose between defense spending and growth—if it makes the right reforms

By Jenna Ben-Yehuda and Jacek Siewiera

Polish defense-tech talent is real, but government structures are misaligned to the moment and impede innovation and economic growth.

Could the UK’s economic woes spell doom for Keir Starmer?

By Ed Owen

It is the persisting economic challenges and high cost of living that continue to be the heaviest drag on the British prime minister and his team.