Thoughts from Yorkshire on Faith and Politics in Montenegro

Except for Captain Tom Moore, who recently captured the nation’s hearts for his fundraising efforts at the height of the pandemic, the most famous living son of the Yorkshire town of Keighley (the area I represented in Parliament from 2017 -2019) is probably Alistair Campbell, writes John Grogan.  Whilst working for Tony Blair as Director of…

The Citizens of Belarus Have Spoken. Will the EU Support Them?

We publish here in full an open letter signed by the 8 MEPs: Manfred Weber, Sandra Kalniete, David McAllister, Andrius Kubilius, Michael Gahler, Miriam Lexmann, Andrzej Halicki, Radosław Sikorski, “Belarusians supporting democracy who long for change are the moral victors of yesterday’s election. The result is clear: the majority of Belarus voted against Mr Lukashenko and in…

Is Brazil a Token Democracy Under Bolsonaro?

By Luiz Eduardo and Pedro Abramovay. Soldiers can be angels of mercy or weapons of tyranny. In Brazil, in 2016, when Zika virus swept through Brazil, the country deployed 220,000 soldiers to hand out educational material to citizens on how to combat the new virus that was ravaging the country, a strategy that proved effective in mitigating the spread of the…

Elections In North Macedonia

Early parliamentary elections took place in North Macedonia on 15 July, in the challenging context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a public statement Josep Borrell the EU’s High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy has commended North Macedonia’s citizens for exercising their right to vote. The EEAS reported that according to the preliminary findings and…

Rebalancing EU-China relations: will Berlin want to deliver?

By Zsuzsa Anna Ferenczy With its economic strength, leadership skills and commitment to the European project, Germany is in the position to accelerate the much-needed shift in EU-China relations. Will Berlin want to act? On July 1 Germany took over the presidency of the Council of the European Union. The aim, as German Foreign Minister…

More of a Coronation than a Referendum

Russians voted by a landslide to pass constitutional changes that will allow Vladimir Putin to run for president twice more, according to preliminary results released last night. Around 78 percent voted yes to the amendments, versus 21 percent against, with turnout about 65 percent. There were reports of widespread irregularities including inconsistent tallies of results,…

Eurogroup Presidency

Three ministers have put forward their candidacy to become president of the Eurogroup: Nadia Calviño, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation of Spain – Bio – Motivation letter; Paschal Donohoe, Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure & Reform of Ireland – Bio – Motivation letter; Pierre Gramegna, Minister for Finance of Luxembourg – Bio – Motivation letter.   The…