Europe & Eurasia

France Contributed $294 Million to Subsidize British Carriers

By John Lichfield, Independent

The French government’s public spending watchdog protested this week that a defence co-operation agreement signed by Jacques Chirac and Tony Blair in 2006 led to “a French contribution pure and simple to the financing of [two] British aircraft carriers in their early development phase.”

Hagel: ‘We Still Need Bases’ in Europe

By Department of Defense

Excerpts from remarks by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Kenneth Feinberg, February 18, 2014.

How to Avoid All-Out War in Ukraine

By Sabine Freizer

Ukraine is on fire. Though it is part of the same Black Sea region as Turkey and a solid economic partner, Kiev is far from many minds in Turkey. The few that are paying attention are making comparisons between the violence during the Gezi protests and what is happening today in Ukraine’s squares. Some comparisons […]

Ukraine Nears Civil War

By New Atlanticist

US, EU Must Sanction Kyiv Authorities, Wilson Says The newly violent confrontation in Kyiv between the government and protesters has shoved Ukraine’s three-month-old crisis into a new, more dangerous phase that poses increased risk of a civil war, Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Adrian Karatnycky says. The attack by police on Tuesday against demonstrators demanding a […]

Former Finnish Defense Minister Rehn: I am No Longer Sure About the Strength of NATO

By Lithuania Tribune

The chief editor of The Lithuania Tribune Ruslanas Iržikevičius talked to Elisabeth Rehn, former Minister of Defence of Finland.

The Big US-Europe Trade Deal Begins the Hard Work

Eight months after opening negotiations on what would be the world’s biggest-ever trade agreement, the United States and the European Union “need to step up” their effort, especially on the tough task of trying to harmonize government business regulations across the Atlantic, said Europe’s top trade negotiator. European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht spoke to […]