Europe

La dissolution de l’Assemblée nationale par le président Emmanuel Macron, le 9 juin 2024, a marqué un moment décisif dans l’histoire politique contemporaine de la France. Cette décision, prise dans un contexte de forte fragmentation politique, a des implications profondes pour la Ve République et ses fondements constitutionnels. Alors que la Constitution de 1958, avait été conçue pour garantir la stabilité d’un régime présidentiel fort, taillé par Michel Debré à la taille du général ...

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s ‘Zeitenwende’ in February 2022 marked a significant shift in German foreign and security policy in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This paper analyzes Germany’s new strategic direction, including increased defense spending, reduced energy dependence on Russia, and strengthened NATO and EU alliances. It examines the domestic political debates surrounding these changes and their implications for European security dynamics. The study also expl ...

Most of the Population Does Not Benefit Until mid-2021, cruise ships moved with all their glitz and glamour into Venice’s Guidecca Canal, overshadowing the historic buildings, the foundations of which were destabilized with every wave, and threatening fisher boats and cappuccino lovers sitting beside the canal. Thousands of cruise passengers spilled onto the cobblestone roads, enjoying Gondola rides, glimpsing the Bridge of Sighs, exploring the fish markets near the Rialto bridge a ...

The European Elections of 2024 were marked by a significant surge in sovereigntist parties at the expense of liberals and greens, while moderate right and left-wing parties also made notable gains. Despite the substantial wins and losses during this election, no single bloc emerged with the overall majority of 361 seats in the European Parliament. The impression from the new political balances emerging from the 2024 elections is that the European People's Party, which won the electo ...

This Paper was originally published on euromesco.net   In 2004 the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) became the policy framework setting the scene for EU interactions with its neighbours. The launch of this policy framework occurred in a context of relative stability and peace in Europe’s neighbourhood, at a time when the EU was redrawing its borders through the 2004 big bang enlargement. Nonetheless, the ENP was doomed to face a panoply of conflicts, crises, and even wars. No o ...

En mars 2024, la Commission européenne a annoncé, à Bruxelles, le lancement d'un partenariat sur les migrations avec la Mauritanie. Ylva Johanasson, Commissaire aux affaires intérieures, et Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine, ministre mauritanien de l'Intérieur et de la décentralisation, ont signé une déclaration commune officialisant ledit partenariat. La Commission européenne a annoncé les principes directeurs de l'accord, qui résonnent sans surprise avec le dernier pact ...

A Sharp Right Turn Hubert Vedrine is a foreign affairs veteran, named conseiller diplomatique to French President Francois Mitterrand at the age of 34, and subsequently appointed Secretary General of the Elysee’s Presidential Office, by the Socialist, managing his policies from the Elysée Palace in Paris. For five years, Vedrine served France as foreign minister, under the ‘cohabitation’ government (1997 to 2002), led by the conservative head of state, Jacques Chirac, and the Socia ...

A diplomatic approach is not alien to the church in Rome, used to keeping secrets. This reputation has made the Pope and his cardinals trusted mediators in world affairs. It was a surprise, then, when Pope Francis lost his sense of neutrality and suggested to war-torn Ukraine that it should raise the white flag in its conflict with Russia. In an interview with TV channel Radio Television Suisse, the Pope insisted that he believes “that those who have the courage to raise the white f ...