What is an EU diplomat? So far the term has covered a wide scope of diplomats of European origin. It can mean a European Commission official (the only truly European institution), a European Council official or even a diplomat from one of the member states. This state of affairs has been marked by the so-called […]
As expected, President Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM) won nation-wide in Georgia’s recent municipal elections, with Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava winning re-election with a vote of over 55% in the Tbilisi race, competing against eight other candidates. UNM got a stunning 66% of the popular vote across the country, a convincing mandate, although a little […]
Robert Nolan guest blogging from Strasbourg Dear Congress. The European Parliament would like your attention. And they’d like you to visit too. I say take them up on it. Strasbourg is a lovely city. Just ask Joe Biden or even President Obama, who have both visited here over the past year. Yes, I know you’ve […]
Georgia is gearing up for nation-wide municipal elections on 30 May, with the most closely-watched contest in Tbilisi, the capital. Incumbent Gigi Ugulava, a close associate of President Saakashvili, will run against a large slate of opposition candidates, including the charismatic Irakli Alasania, who was once ambassador to the UN before he turned against President […]
Victory for the British Tories came with a price. Several of Cameron’s front bench candidates for ministerial positions learned this the hard way, when they were informed they missed out on a cabinet position, in order to make room for their Liberal Democratic colleagues. The skipped over MPs are not alone in feeling that the […]
Robert Nolan guest blogs from Brussels As European finance ministers meet once again this week in Brussels, questions linger over the nature — and pace — of economic reforms under consideration by the European Union in the wake of the Greek tragedy. While many national governments have agreed to new austerity measures amidst growing resistance […]
This post can also been seen on FPA’s Latin America Blog. Today and tomorrow the Spanish Presidency of the EU will be hosting the 2010 EU-Latin America Summit in Madrid. Since 1999, the Summit has sought to engage Europe and Latin America in increased cultural and trade ties and create a defined relationship between the […]
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) released their 2010 “Predators of Press Freedom” list on May 3. The list consists of the top forty “politicians, government officials, religious leaders, militias and criminal organisations that cannot stand the press, treat it as an enemy and directly attack journalists,” says the RSF web site. Many of the usual suspects […]
The FPA has gone European over the last while as several blogs addressed the issue of the Greek Tragedy and focused on Europe in concert with a talk by French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde as she addressed the 2nd annual Global Financial Forum, sponsored by the FPA, Chatham House and British-American Business, on global financial regulation […]
Police broke up a commemoration in Baku last Friday of the murders of twelve people—most of them students—at the State Oil Academy on 30 April 2009. The perpetrator of last year’s massacre, Farda Gadirov, was a Georgian of Azeri descent who shot students and staff indiscriminately once he gained entry into the academy. As police […]
The chill in US-Azerbaijani relations may be thawing soon. After months of perceived snubs from Washington and acrimony out of Baku, which included a recent announcement by Azerbaijan that they have pulled out of a scheduled military exercise with the US, a Turkish newspaper reports that the two countries have discussed a possible visit to […]
The dire straits of European economy have made the necessity of major financial reforms blatantly obvious. Measures that a few months ago were taboo are now unabashedly aired. These days it is not unusual to find heretic ideas – such as the possibility of suspending a country’s participation in the euro – in the columns […]
Thursday will decide the future of British politics, with not only a change from a Labour Government and the final reckoning of the political career of current Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the aftershock of years of Tony Blair, but also the birth of a consistent three party system within the world’s oldest Parliamentary Democracy. […]
Europeans have had a tendency to consider the problems in the transatlantic relationship stemming from the US being governed by the “wrong” president. Despite Obama’s popularity in Europe, events have demonstrated that the new administration has not provided the EU with a strengthened avenue of influence. In some respects, the multilateralism of the new administration […]
At a press conference in Berlin, following an effort by IMF boss Dominique Strauss-Kahn and European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet to persuade German MP’s of the necessity for a financial rescue plan, Strauss-Kahn stressed that swift action was necessary and warned of the ripple effect of failing European economies. Greek economy crisis prompts shockwave […]