State visits, Statements and Statesmanship

One of the many key decisions facing political leaders – especially new ones like Liz Truss – is when and where to make official visits. Some leaders and their choices have been wiser than others, writes Philip Bushill-Matthews. Recently in the UK there were two state visits in relatively quick succession. In 2015 under David Cameron’s premiership the Queen accorded a full state visit…

Benin’s President faces human rights scrutiny on Paris visit

Patrice Talon, President of Benin, is visiting Paris to address MEDEF International’s France-West Africa Business Council tomorrow on Tuesday 30 August 2022. President Talon hopes to have an economic focus to his visit. However NGOs and human rights groups are voicing concerns over the regression that has taken place in Benin since 2016 in terms…

Senior MEP Calls on the EU to Stop Granting Visas to Russian Citizens,

Anna Fotyga

Anna Fotyga was commenting on the current question of whether Russian citizens should be banned from entering the European Union. ECR Coordinator for Foreign Affairs Fotyga said:”We need to understand that this war is not Putin’s war alone.”  “It is unacceptable that citizens of an aggressive country enjoy themselves in the EU while their troops kill…

Russia Faces Demographic Catastrophe

In 2021, Russia witnessed an unprecedented population decline: the number of deaths exceeded 2.4 million people. This is the highest figure since 1945. Natural decline, excluding migration, came very close to the 1 million mark. Irreversible consequences, provoked by the demographic catastrophe, are already taking place in Russia. The reasons for the permanent reduction of…

Pseudo-Referenda in Ukraine To Be Condemned

Russian Passport

Europe must take harsh measures for Russia’s pseudo-referenda in Ukraine’s occupied territories In the Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine, human rights are systematically violated, extrajudicial executions, murders of civilians, torture and rape are carried out, filtration camps are created, payments assigned by the Ukrainian state (salaries, pensions, allowances, social payments) are stopped, the evacuation of civilians…

Russia’s Information Warfare

Russian Information Warfare

It is a classic playbook of the school playground bully to throw as much mud as possible in the belief that some of it will stick. But even by Russian standards, the egregious lies emanating from Moscow’s propaganda factory fool nobody. For the past two weeks, Russian news portals have been circulating information that weapons…

European Political Community

Emmanuel Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron is committed to creating a ‘European Political Community’, distinct from the EU. European states not in the EU – including the UK – should take the concept seriously, writes Charles Grant. Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg on May 9th, Emmanuel Macron called for a ‘European Political Community’ (EPC), a…

Metsola Addresses Ukraine’s Parliament

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola addressed Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada as part of the country’s Statehood Day celebrations.  Thank you for having me with you here today. It is a privilege, but more importantly it is a responsibility for me, as the President of the European Parliament to again have the honour of addressing the Verkhovna…