Heavy lifting ahead For her plan to work and to attract the necessary firepower, expertise and resources, Meloni needs buy-in from the EU. European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen, who could find herself in need of Meloni’s support after the June EU election to secure a second term, has confirmed she will attend the … Read more
People attend the 54th annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, January 18, 2024. Denis Balibouse | Reuters The potential for generative artificial intelligence, when interest rates might be cut, and the ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip were key topics at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this … Read more
BRUSSELS — Ursula von der Leyen is readying plans for a second five-year term as European Commission president and her party is pressing her to launch the official campaign as soon as possible, according to two officials informed about her thinking. The timing of a potential announcement, not confirmed by people close to von der Leyen, … Read more
STRASBOURG — MEPs demanded the EU Council explore the possibility of stripping Hungary of its EU voting rights in a clash with Budapest over the rule of law. In a vote Thursday at the European Parliament, a majority of MEPs backed a nonbinding resolution calling on the other 26 EU countries’ governments to use a sub-clause … Read more
More than 20 senior European foreign affairs politicians have called on Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to investigate allegations of fraud in December’s election in Serbia. “We call on the EU to conduct an independent investigation of all reported election irregularities and claims of fraud,” the politicians wrote in a letter seen by POLITICO … Read more
BRUSSELS — The Brits are making a comeback in the EU capital. Exhibit A: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s international policy shop is wrapping up a hiring spree in Brussels. In just a year, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) went from virtually non-existent in the Brussels bubble to recruiting some half-dozen … Read more
BRUSSELS — After years of talk about regulating artificial intelligence, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday reiterated that the technology also presents an opportunity. During her special address at the World Economic Future (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the Commission chief painted a remarkably starry-eyed tech future. Artificial intelligence and its “adverse outcomes” … Read more
When EU ambassadors met Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, for lunch in recent days, they had one pressing question: Did she plan to run for reelection? Several national envoys asked the head of the EU executive “politely” about her plans at a lunch hosted by the Commission, according to two … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. Europe’s socialists are on course to pick a relatively unknown European commissioner to take on Ursula von der Leyen at the EU election. Nicolas Schmit, the 70-year-old EU commissioner for jobs and social rights, is the front-runner to become lead candidate (so-called Spitzenkandidat) for … Read more
DAVOS, Switzerland — World leaders gathered together in the Swiss Alps this week are nervous that Donald Trump will be even more anti-global if he returns as United States president. And they have good reason to be wary. If polls prove correct, the front-runner for the Republican nomination is set to be crowned winner of the … Read more
