“When you kick off negotiations, you don’t start by cutting off your finger and offering it on plate, you don’t give in quite so much at the beginning,” said one person familiar with the president’s thinking, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly. Choppy waters But while Attal’s move to a top position in parliament … Read more
For the loquacious, daring 46-year-old president, who is forever grabbing the limelight, coming up with new ideas, disrupting the status quo, the new reality is not a comfortable one. The Elysée bunker But like a Napoleon forced into exile, Macron has returned to the drawing board and is preparing his next battle: ruling France after … Read more
A spokesperson for Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also criticized the EBU’s move, saying: “It is certainly regrettable to ban the flag that is the flag of all the EU members and other Council of Europe members taking part in the contest and often flies alongside national flags on public buildings.” Schinas told Playbook: … Read more
With the party staring down the barrel of defeat in the general election due later this year, could the Tories be stealing from the Trump playbook to turn their dismal poll ratings around? Featuring heavy overtones of a Batman movie, the video posted to X (formally Twitter) is composed of clips shot in moody black … Read more
The European Commission launched the so-called Article 7 sanctions procedure, which can see a country lose its voting rights in the European Council, in 2017 against Poland under the previous Law and Justice government. The move came after the government introduced reforms which the EU’s top court found violated rule-of-law standards. When Prime Minister Donald … Read more
In Wellingborough, which went to the polls after Conservative MP Peter Bone was recalled over allegations of misconduct, Labour achieved a large 28.5 percent swing. Newly elected Labour MP Gen Kitchen scooped up 45.8 percent of the votes in a seat that has been Tory since 2005. The Wellingborough result marks the worst-ever by-election collapse … Read more
Instead of appealing to EU taxpayers to fill the gap, which could embolden populists, the bloc should seize Russia’s frozen assets and start taxing Western companies that continue to operate in Russia despite sanctions, said Sinkevičius. “I think it is very important to find sources of funding that would use as little as possible from the … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. LONDON — It was meant to be the year two quiet technocrats, Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, brought calm to the fevered Westminster swamp. Unfortunately SW1 didn’t get the memo. Politics remained pretty much as wild in 2023 as it has been since David Cameron — back in action as U.K. foreign secretary … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. LONDON — Plots, bills and parties give way Monday to family — and ritual. The little traditions we make for ourselves on Christmas Day pause time and briefly silence the rattle of the outside world. POLITICO London Playbook sent out the call for Westminster’s … Read more
