European Union

EU Refuses to Cooperate on Security

By Judy Dempsey, New York Times

From Judy Dempsey, New York Times:  Germany and most other E.U. countries still do not think and act strategically when it comes to strengthening Europe’s foreign and security policy.

Can the West Afford Not to Act in Syria?

By Ulrich Speck

The civil war in Syria reveals many uncomfortable truths about today’s geopolitics. One of them is that the EU has made little progress on a common foreign policy in the last two decades.

Strengthening NATO-EU Interaction

By NATO

From NATO:  NATO International Military Staff (IMS) and European Union Military Staff (EUMS) Directors convened today at NATO Headquarters for the first high-level military conference of 2013.

A Strong Europe for a Strong NATO

By Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  In my view, the biggest dangers to our security are not cyber-warfare, terrorism, or proliferation. These are challenges. But they are not obstacles. I would say the real obstacles are Europe’s own limited ambitions in today’s world.

NATO-EU Cooperation Saves Indian Ship from Pirate Attack

By NATO Maritime Command

From NATO Maritime Command:  On Wednesday 5th June 2013, the NATO counter-piracy warship HNLMS VAN SPEIJK worked together with the European Union to provide support to an Indian dhow that was being attacked by suspected pirates off the coast of Bosaso (North-eastern Somalia).

Baltic Spirit

By Julian Lindley-French

Having dinner with the Lithuanian Chief of Defense Staff Lieutenant General Pocius was a moving experience. Listening to the story of his family’s struggle for freedom left with me with the profound sense that every NATO and EU leader should visit the Baltic States at least once a year to remind themselves of the importance of […]

Germany, EU Tell Turkey to Show Restraint Amid Protests

By Deutsche Welle

From Deutsche Welle:  Berlin has urged the Turkish government to refrain from heavy-handedness in its treatment of protesters. A senior EU official echoed the comments but said Brussels remained committed to Turkey’s accession to the bloc.

The Economic and Political Decline of France

By Mathieu von Rohr, Spiegel

EU Foreign Policy Needs a Reset

By Ulrich Speck

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is a skilled negotiator; the recent Serbia-Kosovo breakthrough will probably secure her a place in the history books. It is rather unlikely, though, that 2009 – the year EU leaders chose Ashton as High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – will be remembered by […]

Connecting the Baltic States to Europe’s Gas Market

By Matthew Bryza and Emmet Tuohy

More than two decades after the end of the Soviet occupation, and eight years after they joined NATO and the European Union, the Baltic republics remain disintegrated from the rest of Europe in one crucial way:  their natural gas infrastructure isolates them into “energy islands.”  But, for the first time in their histories, Estonia, Latvia, […]