Thirty-two years ago, after some 4000 days as Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher was ousted by her own MPs. At the time this seemed exceptional: sacking Tory leaders is now the new normal, with Liz Truss’s premiership breaking a new record by being doomed within her first 40 days. Exactly ten years ago in a lengthy…
The tourism sector is defined by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev as one of the strategic sectors of the country’s national economy. In a short time, thanks to the open door policy in Uzbekistan, the number of visa-free countries has grown from 9 to 90 over the past three years, and…
Boris promised us that Brexit would mean we would have our cake and eat it. Liz Truss, keen on growth, has pledged to increase the size of the pie. Meanwhile, thanks to both of them, the nation is now in the soup! writes Philip Bushill Matthews. It is nearly 50 years since the country had…
I spoke at the Brussels Press Club with Mr Serhii Shulha, the Chairman of the Kirovohrad Regional Council, the central agrarian region of Ukraine that lies just 150 km from the front line where Ukrainian military defence against the Russian invasion are taking place. He was in Brussels on a two-day trip to lobby for…
Rental and housing markets in European cities and regions have come under significant pressure since the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Members of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy and EU Budget of the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) call for increased support for European regions and cities on the frontline of the refugee…
The multiple crises facing Europe in terms of defence, health, energy, immigration, inflation and the economy are generating ground shaking political changes in all countries as voters call for strong leadership prepared to deal with the problems that most concern citizens. In Lower Saxony in Germany today a vote for the regional government returned a…
On 4 October Alexander Lukashenko the President of Belarus said, “NATO is preparing for war with Belarus”. Belarusian Defense Minister Khrenin, in turn, said that “a number of countries neighbouring Belarus have already outlined the goals they want to achieve”. This statement, made at the highest level, shows that Belarus is creating a pretext for…
The French city of Montpelier has thrown its hat into the ring in the race to become European City of Culture in 2025. It is among ten French cities competing to win the prestige award and a delegation from Montpelier and the city of Sete, which is supporting the initiative, were in Brussels this week…
Last week in a European parliamentary debate on Hungary’s democratic demise, S&D MEPs criticised the European Commission and the Council for its inaction against Viktor Orbán’s government. S&D MEPs fully supported the vote on a report that lists the Orbán government’s worsening record on the rule of law. Among the issues under the spotlight are: the…
Last night 12 September the units of the armed forces of Armenia conducted aggressive incursions in the direction of Dashkasan, Kalbajar and Lachin along the Azerbaijan-Armenia state border. According to information provided by the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, sabotage groups of the armed forces of Armenia using the mountainous relief of the…
