Photo by Anastasiia Rozumna on Unsplash Belfast and Bilbao are capital cities of their regions, Northern Ireland and the Basque country respectively. Both share a proud heritage of shipbuilding over centuries, followed by its decline as the world moved on. Over the last sixty years both also suffered the trauma of armed insurrectionists, fighting to impose their particular…
Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash MEPs have voiced concern about allegations of democratic backsliding in Greece, Spain, and Malta. They expressed particular concern over press freedom and pluralism, and warn that journalists will continue to be at risk as long as institutions do not prosecute exposed corruption. They also voted on a resolution comprising Parliament’s assessment of…
Photo by Lucas Marcomini on Unsplash Finland shares a lengthy and vulnerable border of 1,340 km with Russia. As the only non-NATO EU member with any such frontier it has long been wary of its larger neighbour. This wariness is not just because of present behaviour but because of the past: in 1939 the USSR…
Photo by Alexandr Bormotin on Unsplash By our staff correspondent The Balkan country has been a member state of NATO and the EU for almost 20 years, but oligarchs and politicians who are close to them are pushing it back to Russia’s sphere of influence Located at the crossroads between the West and the East, Bulgaria, which lies…
Photo by CardMapr.nl on Unsplash Having cancelled five national conferences because of Covid and then the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, the UK Liberal Democrats finally took to the stage last week. Leader Sir Ed Davey’s speech met with strong applause, but when he delivered the line “If you…
Photo by Roman Iv on Unsplash On 9-10 March, the head of the regional council of Kirovohrad Oblast (region), Sergii Shulga, visited European institutions in Brussels to raise awareness about the future of his region in the EU and the global context. Kirovohrad Oblast is a region in central Ukraine that had a population of about a million…
Photo by Patrick Metzdorf on Unsplash A huge majority in the European Parliament have welcomed the so-called Windsor Framework. They say the new joint understanding “allows more flexible and more effective implementation” of the trading arrangements for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain. It will, say deputies, ensure that both the EU’s Single Market and the Good…
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash The UK Government loves catchy slogans. From “Getting Brexit Done”, through the Covid campaign of “Hands, Face, Space” and now the latest asylum plan of “Stop the Boats”, slogans are a great substitute for action. As the Conservatives struggle in the polls the slogans are getting longer, such as the objective of…
Photo by Melissa Keizer on Unsplash A Belgian dog team has scooped a top prize at the world’s greatest dog show, Crufts. Roadrunners Beep Beep, took the top prize on Sunday 13 March, winning the flyball final at Crufts. Roadrunners Beep Beep is made up of dogs and handlers from across Belgium, mostly Flanders. The team successfully set…
Photo by Niloy Biswas on Unsplash Bangladesh is set for potentially explosive parliamentary elections in late December, a poll vital not just for the country’s own future but, it could be argued, also for the EU and wider international community. The reason is that it is felt that victory for the largely pro-India and pro-West incumbent government is…
