How Europe might help re-opening Strait of Hormuz, after the ‘hot war’
Sole military options are proving inadequate to re-open the Strait. Strategic thinking on diplomatic solutions are needed. The EU’s experience and leadership could be key.
Opinion
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Europe’s far-right is divided on the Iran war — that’s an opportunity for the political centre
The far-right’s unity unravels when the debate shifts from domestic grievances on migration and climate-change denial to foreign policy. Nowhere is this clearer than in their response to the US-Israeli war of choice in Iran. Far-right parties across Europe are divided – both internally and among themselves – over how to respond to the US-Israeli war of choice in Iran – and so are their voters.
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Now Babiš’ Czech Republic wants a Russian-style ‘foreign agents’ law against NGOs
The initiative aims to give the government power to arbitrarily persecute anyone, including universities, activists, media, NGOs and others. Those who opt not to register would face fines of up to €600,000.
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Japan’s election win is a warning for Europe’s comfort zone
Europe should recognise that Japan has already confronted dilemmas we are only now fully acknowledging: how to stay open without becoming exposed, and how to deepen security ties without trading away a rules-based identity.
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The new ‘Brussels effect’ — learning to be silent on US-Israel to keep funding
Debates are becoming more muted as equality experts and activists learn to be silent on questions like Gaza and the illegal US and Israeli attack on Iran for fear of losing their access to much-needed EU funding. It is, as one conference participant says wryly: “The new Brussels effect”.
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How Iran war exposes Europe’s dangerous dependency on fertilisers
Roughly a third of the world’s fertiliser exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow chokepoint now blocked by Iran in response to being attacked. Within days of the latest escalation, fertiliser prices surged, with urea (a nitrogen-based fertiliser) jumping sharply across global markets.
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How to avoid EU arms spending spree being lost to corruption and bribery?
Europe is about to spend billions of euros on defence. But what happens if citizens later discover that part of that money was lost to corruption, problematic procurement chains, or poorly supervised contracts?
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Listen: Municipal elections in France – the rise of a firewall against far-left parties
In France and across Europe, the right casts the left as a threat. Yet left-wing parties still find ways to unite at the ballot box. At the same time, far-right actors are increasingly normalised, while anti-capitalist groups are pushed to the political margins.
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Did EU ‘right to repair’ law force Apple to finally make a repairable Macbook?
For a decade, ‘Apple Engineering’ was a masterclass in planned obsolescence. Now the new Neo is the most repairable Mac in 15 years. This is not due to some sudden surge of corporate altruism — the Neo exists because of a hard deadline: 31 July 2026.
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10 years on from the Brussels bombings, what about the victims?
On 22 March 2016, Brussels Airport became the site of the deadliest terrorist attack in Belgium’s post-war history. 13 minutes later, at 9:11am another blast was heard in Maelbeek metro station, a few kilometres away.
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Meloni wanted to tame Italy’s prosecutors. She may end up empowering them instead
On March 22 and 23, Italians will vote in a referendum intended to curb the power of the country’s prosecutors. But the reform championed by prime minister Giorgia Meloni could produce the opposite effect, giving prosecutors even greater control over Italy’s justice system.
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Beyond crisis mode: Why now more than ever, Europe must complete its crown-jewel single market
The strongest message that can come out of Thursday’s EU summit would be if European leaders fully commit themselves to completing the EU single market, without which Europe cannot unlock the growth potential needed to cover rising defence spending and build a truly inclusive economy, write Enrico Letta and Pascal Lamy.
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What Roberta Metsola needs to do to get re-elected president of the European Parliament
As someone who voted twice for European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, I believe she can win a historic third term — but only if she reassures MEPs that she represents the interests of parliament, and not national governments, writes MEP Barry Andrews.
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Europe has no legal definition of online ‘influencers’ — and that lacuna matters
The EU has spent the last five years building the most ambitious digital regulatory framework on earth. It has regulated platforms, algorithms, AI models, political advertising, environmental claims, and data brokers. It has legal definitions for “very large online platforms” and “general purpose AI models.” But it doesn’t have one for “influencer” – and that’s an interesting oversight.
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Who’s actually running EU foreign policy: von der Leyen, Kallas or Costa?
Ursula von der Leyen’s flurry of diplomacy after the US-Israel strikes on Iran is very hard to ignore. In the span of one day, she had conversations with eight foreign leaders, as well as with three EU countries — greatly overdoing communications by both the president of the European Council (António Costa) and the high representative (Kaja Kallas). Here’s why this is seen as highly controversial, or even problematic, within the EU institutional system.
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Why the EU Commission’s plan for an AI data-centres boom is short-sighted
Water-resource conflicts already happening in Spain, Ireland and the Netherlands will only worsen now that the EU Commission plans to triple data centre capacity in Europe over the next five to seven years. Little thought has been given to the oligopolistic cloud market and how it will evolve if the EU triples its data centre capacity.
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Despite growing opposition, closing the UK military bases in Cyprus would not be easy
Cypriots have long felt that — far from providing protection from the tribulations of their geographical neighbourhood —the existence of two British sovereign base areas on the island effectively placed a target on the back of Cyprus and therefore of Cypriots.
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Blaming the Green Deal for rising energy prices is simple — but wrong
As European energy ministers meet on Monday (16 March) to discuss Europe’s new Energy Package, the continent faces a strategic choice. At a time of renewed geopolitical instability, with the illegal war in the Middle East that is shaking global energy markets, we must use the Green Deal to strengthen competitiveness, boost energy sovereignty and affordability, and lead in the industries of the future, write the Socialists & Democrats.
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What Sarkozy’s corruption appeal means for cleaning up European politics
It is easy to treat the case as just a French affair. In reality, the appeal carries wider international stakes and has become a stress test for the rule-of-law ecosystem under pressure across the EU.
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Georgia is not lost — if the West acts now
Recently, nine pro-Western opposition parties in Georgia signed an agreement to coordinate their efforts against the ruling party, Georgian Dream. For a country whose opposition has long been divided and distrustful, this is a significant development. The question now is whether the West will act in time to help them keep their country in the democratic world.