October 2023 marks the 112th anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and to celebrate Taiwan’s National Day it was my privilege to interview Taiwan’s new Head of Mission in Brussels, Mr Alexander Tah-ray Yui. Prior to his posting to Belgium, he was Taiwan’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs. Q) 2024 will be…
The interests of Britons living abroad would be better represented by constituencies representing their region of the world. That is one of the messages to emerge from campaigners who are pressing for the creation of overseas constituencies The reason is that this is where people are likely to have aligned interests and similar issues around matters such…
Photograph by Robert Linder on Unsplash History has a habit of repeating itself, and the latest announcement of the scrapping of most of the proposed UK High Speed rail network is just the latest example. It is…
Photo by JOHN TOWNER on Unsplash The European Green Party have congratulated the French Green Party Europe Écologie Les Verts (EELV) with its “impressive” growth in this week’s Senate elections. “Never before have there been so many Green members of parliament in France,” said the Green Party in a statement. Monday’s projections show a jump from 12 to…
Photo by Andy Newton on Unsplash In 2020 the UK finally left the EU, three years after the referendum and nearly fifty years since it joined what was then called the European Economic Community. Nigel Farage confidently forecast that other Member States would soon follow suit, and that “after Brexit, the EU will no longer exist”. As…
Photo by Orkhan Farmanli on Unsplash In a lightning operation earlier this week Azerbaijan disarmed the military infrastructure in Karabakh and dissolved the political system, describing the action as a solution to the peaceful reintegration of Armenians from Karabakh into the political and economic system of Azerbaijan. Very soon after the first military engagements began the EU issued…
Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash A new exhibition will be held in the European Parliament this week as part of an ongoing campaign for the UK to re-join the EU. The “Our Star” exhibition takes place in the balcony area of the parliament’s Spinelli building from 19 to 21 September. The exhibition consists of…
Photo by Noah Peterson on Unsplash According to an article published in the UK Daily Telegraph, Sir Keir Starmer the leader of the UK Labour Party will extend the vote in the UK to millions of EU citizens if Labour wins the next general election. Under manifesto plans for the biggest expansion of the franchise…
Photo by Andrew Keymaster on Unsplash The EU parliament is currently staging an exhibition on Belarusian political prisoners. The exhibition ‘Belarusian martyrology – political prisoners in Belarus’ invites visitors to get acquainted with the life stories, portraits and voices of the people who chose democracy over dictatorship. Belarusian artist Xisha Aniolowa started creating portraits of political prisoners in 2020. She…
Photo by Ian Dooley on Unsplash It is said that the proof of the pudding is in the eating. Former Prime Minister Winston Churchill clearly endorsed this when he sent back to the kitchen a dull dessert, complaining that the pudding had no theme. It raises the question as to which pudding best represents the…
