Britain to Brussels: I wish I knew how to quit EU
It seems ironic that, after years of acting like a man afraid of commitment and unfortunately shackled to a clingy girlfriend, the U.K. is now obsessing over Brexit in a way Brussels isn’t. As an EU...
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The beginning of the end of Angela Merkel
Germany without a government? That’s like Britain without pints and pounds — unimaginable. While Italy has seen its 65th government since World War II, Germany, this rock of the ages, has had only...
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In defense of Christian Lindner
BERLIN — This week, top officials from Germany’s conservative Christian Democratic Union, its Bavarian sister party the Christian Social Union and the Greens finally found something they could agree on...
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In the East, the EU is leaving its partners behind
Ask any of the EU’s six “Eastern Partners” what the Eastern Partnership policy means to them, and you’re likely to get several answers. Ask the EU, and you’ll get something else entirely. In response...
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How Obama and Trump left a vacuum in the Middle East
Once upon a time, all the experts said that America was the guarantor of security in the Middle East. To the extent that it’s still true, it’s not at all what you’re thinking. Actually, it’s probably...
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Egypt attack is tragic evidence of ‘new normal’
The murder of at least 305 practicing Sufis in Egypt on Friday not only represents a dangerous escalation of violence in the Sinai, it also reflects a dramatic expansion of terrorism across North...
View ArticleUkrainians will fix Ukraine, not Brussels
Your recent article “How the EU broke Ukraine (with help from Russia)” (November 24) gets three things wrong about my country. First, its headline parrots the Russian propaganda trope that blames the...
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Poland: Authoritarian, not patriotic
This is a POLITICO debate. For the counterargument, click here. BUDAPEST — The massive independence day march that took place in Warsaw earlier this month left even the harshest critics of Poland’s...
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Poland: Patriotic, not authoritarian
This is a POLITICO debate. For the counterargument, click here. WARSAW — How many legs does a dog have if you call his tail a leg? Lincoln’s famous question sought to ridicule those who wished to...
View ArticleHow I trolled Putin and lived to tell the tale
NEW YORK — An avalanche of sleekly produced, glitzy talk-shows took over prime time television in Russia in the aftermath of Vladimir Putin’s military adventure in Ukraine in 2014. He needed to sell...
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Redrawing the Brexit map
LONDON — Since the 2016 Brexit referendum, the biggest issue in British politics has been the country’s membership in the EU. The Brexit fault-line cuts directly across traditional party lines and pits...
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Why Europe doesn’t need a finance minister
In his State of the Union address in September, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called for the creation of a European finance minister position to improve the bloc’s fiscal...
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Brussels, ease up on Theresa May
It’s become increasingly clear that the European Union holds virtually all the cards in Brexit negotiations. Instead of watching British Prime Minister Theresa May squirm, as she fends off mutinies in...
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Two-speed Europe is a mistake
PRAGUE — The European Union is at a crossroads. Some have called for the creation of a “two-speed Europe,” in which a small group of EU countries pursue tighter integration, leaving those unwilling to...
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The weird campaign to get Taylor Swift to denounce Donald Trump
WASHINGTON — Late last month, amid another week of controversies and Twitter-induced firestorms from the president of the United States, one of the world’s most widely read newspapers thundered at …...
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Bratislava is for losers
It’s been a rough few weeks for Slovakia. First, its capital is passed up as the new host of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) after Brexit in favor of Amsterdam. Then its finance minister, Peter...
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In Northern Ireland, history repeats itself
LONDON — History “is a nightmare from which I’m trying to awake,” says Stephen Dedalus in James Joyce’s Irish literary masterpiece, “Ulysses.” Nowadays, history is like being stuck in an Irish comedy...
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May’s divorce deal doesn’t add up
PARIS — The sighs of relief in Brussels, London and Dublin may not last long. To be sure, the first-phase divorce settlement Britain struck with the European Union early Friday morning keeps the show...
View ArticleGermany’s biggest Brexit boon: Immigrants
BERLIN — On the face of it, Germany appears to have little to gain from Brexit. Frankfurt might benefit as banks move their operations to the bloc, but the uncertain outlook is unsettling German...
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Brexit transition deal isn’t a done deal
Now that the European Union is poised to greenlight moving on to the second phase of Brexit talks, the United Kingdom seems to think it has beaten the clock and is on track to avoid a cliff-edge...
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