The center-right European People’s Party, with which von der Leyen is aligned, has come out in support of creating a defense post in the next Commission to steer work on ramping up the bloc’s industrial and defense capacity. However, the scope of any such job is still unclear, and also if it would cover the … Read more
As the largest member of the European Union, Germany’s stance carries weight in Brussels. And Berlin has found itself at odds with many European countries — led by Spain, Ireland and Belgium — which have called for a cease-fire. French President Emmanuel Macron added his voice to the growing chorus of criticism of Israel’s actions, … Read more
We can no longer afford to diddle around like this! And rarely has anything hammered home just how much we remain stuck in the harsh reality of centuries past as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It is, however, far from the only recent wake-up call as to just how far opponents of our liberal democratic order … Read more
The Munich Security Index 2024 also reveals how the war in Ukraine is competing with other geopolitical threats and priorities. Concern about mass migration and radical Islamic terrorism now top the list of threats in Germany — a turnaround from the previous year. The threat posed by radical Islamic terrorism jumped to second place, compared … Read more
Well, here we are folks, at the end of another turbulent year. When we put this list together at the end of 2022, its contents largely covered something many of us thought we would not see again in our lifetime: a major war in Europe. Now, we are grappling with two wars in our immediate … Read more
