“Do not lose sight of the geopolitical consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Western Balkans must not fall into the Russian disinformation trap. The region has a better future with the EU”. That is the message from German MEP Michael Gahler, EPP Group Spokesman for Foreign Affairs. He was speaking after the recent EU-Western Balkans…
By Denis MacShane One of the biggest red herrings in this year’s Brexit threnody has been the endless words wasted on the question of an extension at the end of June. A completely artificial argument has been created by supporters of Dominic Cummings’s hard / no-deal Brexit coterie, and those like Ed Davey and Caroline…
By Jayne Adye Chief Brexit Negotiator for the European Union, Michel Barnier, constantly talks about the Withdrawal Agreement’s obligations not being fulfilled by the United Kingdom, as well as implications the UK is not taking the Brexit negotiations seriously enough to secure a Deal. One of the main themes of Barnier’s argument is the matter of ‘EU…
The European Commission, on behalf of the EU, has approved the disbursement of a €500 million loan to Ukraine as part of its fourth macro-financial assistance (MFA) programme. With this disbursement, the EU has now provided Ukraine with €3.8 billion in MFA loans since 2014. This is the largest amount of MFA the EU has…
By Willy Fautré Twenty-five years after the end of Croatia’s war for independence from Serbia, thousands of Serbs are still fighting for their property rights in that Western Balkan country which became a member state of the European Union (EU) in 2013 and is now chairing the EU. Dalibor Močević, a Croatian citizen of Serbian…
Ukraine, like other European countries, is experiencing a crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic. In the energy sector, this is reflected by a significant decline in electricity consumption. However, the situation is further compounded by an ongoing systemic crisis in the sector. Even before the Coronavirus outbreak Ukraine’s energy sector was facing enormous challenges, with…
The European Parliament has approved €3 billion in loans to help EU neighbours and partner countries deal with the fallout of COVID-19. The loans, which will be given on highly favourable terms and disbursed over a year, will help the following ten countries whose economies have been pushed into recession by the pandemic. The are:…
Three independent British health and care charities have warned that it will take many more months before NHS and social care organisations are able to fully restart services following the Covid-19 outbreak. At a UK Parliament Health and Social Care Select Committee evidence session yesterday (14 May), the Health Foundation, The King’s Fund and Nuffield Trust…
I met with Philippe Bresson to explore his experience of investing in Eastern Europe. Philippe manages the BEE Family Office, formerly BRICOSTORE Holding, a 160-year-old family-owned holding company that manages a variety of assets and holdings in various business sectors. It was originally focused on the retail sector in France and internationally. In the late…
There has been a week of opposition protests in Belgrade as the political campaigns start to crank up in anticipation of rescheduled elections in Serbia on 21 June. These were due to be held in April, but have been delayed because of the crisis facing the country with the COVID-19 pandemic. Commenting on recent developments Tanja…
