Independent analysis on European policy, integration, and democratic governance.
On 7 October 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in Athens with the ancient Acropolis in the background, told Europe that power rests not only on strength but on “the credibility that you are willing to use it”. Two days later, on 9…
Speaking on a panel at the 21st Bled Strategic Forum on 31 August 2026, Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar stated, “It’s quite difficult to explain to Hungarians why Hungary is treated so unfairly in Brussels [over migration policy]. We have a court ruling; we have…
The European Commission has once again made enlargement a priority. Its Communication, entitled Preparing for a wider Union (COM(2026) 705), published on 6 October 2026, outlines the actions the EU should take before new countries become members. In 2023, EU leaders agreed in Granada that…
Introduction Every enlargement debate eventually arrives at the same question: can the European Union take in new members without weakening itself? For two decades the answer was postponed. Candidate countries were told to reform; the Union, for its part, was rarely asked to do the…
On 28 September 2026, the Russian Embassy in Belgium released a highly vigorous statement in which it accused NATO and its member states of worsening the military and political situation surrounding Russia's Kaliningrad Region; it stated that NATO was drawing up scenarios for isolating the…
Synthesis paper of the EU Awareness Centre Forum "Georgia at 35: Lessons of a Generation"
Commentary on the 2026 State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen In her State of the Union address on 16 September, Ursula von der Leyen put information warfare on the same level as war and economic competition. She said Europe faces three…
The article explains what an EU implementation report is and how to read one critically, then assesses delivery under each of the Strategy's three pillars — security and resilience, connectivity and growth, and environmental protection and civil protection — distinguishing throughout between engagement and outcome.
In a 2025 interview with Radio Free Europe's Georgian Service, former Federal Security Service (FSB) Colonel and Russian opposition figure Gennady Gudkov provided insight into Russia’s influence campaign over Georgia.
On September 1, 2026, The New York Times published an essay by the distinguished Oxford historian Margaret MacMillan under a title that was difficult to ignore: “A New World Order Is Coming. We Aren’t Ready.” I read it with the utmost attention, armed with a…
For most of the last two decades, European cybersecurity law addressed organisations rather than objects. The NIS2 Directive tells hospitals, energy operators and digital infrastructure providers how to manage risk. The 2019 Cybersecurity Act built a certification scheme that companies could use if they chose…
Bulgaria’s new government enters office with something the country has lacked for nearly three decades: a clear parliamentary majority and an equally clear anti-corruption mandate. But with administrative corruption in 2026 at the highest level ever recorded, political will alone will not be enough. If…
Comment on Amb. Tedo Japaridze, “The Anchor before the Vectors”. It is a pleasure to comment on the article of my old friend, Ambassador Tedo Japaridze. In principle, I agree strongly that in the design of foreign policy, any state should have a concept of…
More than a year ago, in a piece published here, I argued that a peace process which excluded Europe risked producing exactly the kind of settlement Europe would later have to live with, and pay for, alone. That warning about exclusion has only grown more…
Every generation inherits a country. More importantly, every generation leaves one behind. Politics, however, rarely encourages such long-term thinking. Public debate is usually consumed by immediate controversies, electoral cycles, tactical victories, ideological battles, and the endless urgency of the present moment. Too often, the preservation…
A look at Regulation (EU) 2024/900 and what it means for political ads online You're scrolling through Instagram the week before an election. A sponsored post appears, backing a candidate you've barely heard of. It's polished, persuasive, and gone the moment you swipe past. Who…
