The EU’s appointment of João Vale de Almeida as the new EU Ambassador to Washington confirms European Commission president José Manuel Barroso’s tightening grip on Brussels’ foreign policy levers. Virtually-unknown on the international stage, Vale de Almeida has been Barroso’s head of cabinet for the past five years, and intimately …
Following the introduction of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, the European Parliament has claimed its first scalp thanks to the increased powers bestowed upon it by the Treaty; and it has a distinctly anti-American flavor. Voting in Strasbourg, Parliamentarians voted down an EU-US agreement on tracking terrorist financing which was agreed …
Iran’s announcement today that it is a nuclear state makes the appointment of the spectacularly inexperienced Catherine Ashton as EU Foreign Minister even more ridiculous. Her speech at the Munich Security Conference last weekend was a snoozer of epic proportions – even by Brussels standards. However, it was her statements …
At the annual Munich Security Conference, German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle has called for the creation of a European army. Following the introduction of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU thinks that it is ready for the big time, ready to assume the burdens of international leadership. Last February, they sent …
Although the feckless spending of successive Labour Governments has resulted in massive decline for Britain, there is one thing that Gordon Brown got right on the economics front: he denied Tony Blair’s plans to take Britain into the single European currency. Launched in 1999, the Euro has been the bedrock …
Both British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have criticized the European Union’s police training mission in Afghanistan this past week, and it is not hard to see why. With just over 200 staff (many of whom are bureaucrats and not trainers), the NATO Parliamentary Assembly has …
President Obama has lavished time and attention on Europe in spades. He made Europe his first foreign port of call after his inauguration and since then has visited at least eight European countries (plus Russia). His popularity ratings in most of Europe, especially in Western Europe, would make the average …
A new book has revealed sensational details about Russia’s invasion of Georgia in August 2008, claiming that French President Nicolas Sarkozy bullied Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili into signing a vague and unenforceable ceasefire agreement, which eventually saw Russia illegally annex large parts of Georgia’s territory. Sarkozy is quoted as saying: …
The EU’s epic folly in appointing arguably the least qualified candidate in Europe to its newly-created post of Foreign Minister, continues to rebound on the struggling organization. The never-elected Cathy Ashton, whose resume boasts no diplomatic experience at all, has appeared before the European Parliament a second time to face …
Conservative Party leader David Cameron’s visit to British troops in Helmand is a timely reminder of the unyielding contribution the British armed forces have made to the NATO effort in Afghanistan. As President Obama announces the deployment of up to 30,000 additional U.S. troops for the mission, it is important …
