Two-speed Europe is the dog that doesn’t bark
According to Brian Cowen, Ireland’s premier, a No result in Friday’s referendum on the European Union’s Lisbon treaty would raise the prospect of a “two-speed Europe”, with some countries forging ahead...
View ArticleFears grow of Sarkozy initiative to downgrade Turkey’s EU bid
Even before he was elected as president of France in 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy made it crystal-clear that he didn’t want Turkey to join the European Union - ever. Now concerns are growing in Brussels that...
View ArticleLessons in Power May Loom for the EU in 2010
What does 2010 hold in store for the European Union? With people in Brussels only just drifting back to work after a couple of weeks of snow, sub-zero temperatures and seasonally adjusted flu, it...
View ArticleJournalist’s Murder: Bulgaria Must Put Its House In Order
Tuesday’s murder of Bobi Tsankov, a young Bulgarian journalist who wrote about his country’s over-mighty gangsters, took place in broad daylight in a crowded street in the centre of Sofia. As a...
View ArticleTurkish Cypriot election looms over Cyprus settlement talks
A potentially decisive moment is approaching in the Cyprus settlement talks that started in September 2008. Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, is to visit the divided island on Sunday...
View ArticleTymoshenko’s defiance risks losing her friends in Europe
Yulia Tymoshenko’s refusal to acknowledge Viktor Yanukovich as the legitimate winner of Ukraine’s presidential election is starting to embarrass her friends in the European Union. The White House,...
View ArticleEU suffers an extreme case of Balkan enlargement fatigue
One little-noticed side effect of the Greek debt crisis is that it is playing into the hands of those who oppose faster progress on enlarging the European Union. Western Balkan countries such as...
View ArticleWhite nights of Reykjavik throw little light on EU entry
Will Iceland really join the European Union? I have come to Reykjavik in search of answers. In one sense, it’s the right time to be here: the skies are white for almost 24 hours a day at this time of...
View ArticleRocky road ahead for Iceland’s EU membership bid
After spending three days in Reykjavik and the northern town of Akureyri, just below the Arctic Circle, I am starting to get the feeling that Iceland’s entry into the European Union is anything but...
View ArticleThe flame of Turkey’s EU membership bid burns ever lower
Turkey’s bid to join the European Union is expected to make a little progress today. I stress “a little”. In most respects, the cause of Turkish membership of the EU is in worse shape than at any...
View ArticleFocus turns to corruption as EU eyes enlargement in Balkans
Slovenia’s announcement last Friday that it is ready to lift its veto on Croatia’s European Union entry talks gave a welcome boost to the EU enlargement process. Other than Iceland’s decision in July...
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