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EU enlargement to the Western Balkans has been stuck in a rut for years. But there is a glimmer of hope this could change in the next few months, under the Council presidency of Slovenia, one of the biggest advocates of expansion.
Besides post-pandemic recovery, enlargement to the Western Balkans is among the main priorities for the EU in the coming period, needed to respond to strategic and security challenges posed by third actors like Turkey, Slovenian Prime Minister, Janez Janša, whose country takes over the EU presidency in July, told the European Parliament a week ago.
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A plane from an Irish company, flying on an inner-European route from Athens to Vilnius, was hijacked and escorted by a Belarusian fighter jet outside EU-territory to arrest a journalist who had sought refuge in Poland – it’s straight from the good, old KGB playbook.
It is, indeed, a remarkable (and rather bold) act of air piracy, considering Europe’s Eastern Flank is not the worst protected border in Europe.
But the Lukashenko regime and his Moscow overlords may have miscalculated, though so far they do not seem impressed by the new sanctions from Brussels and the closure of European airspace to Belarusian airline Belavia.
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Die drei ??? (= The Three Question Marks), has been very popular in Germany.
As the race to succeed Chancellor Angela Merkel heats up, the three main contenders to succeed her are also facing a mystery of sorts, namely what their country’s foreign policy will look like in the post-Merkel era.
The German election campaign has only just begun, but analysts believe that in terms of foreign and security policy, none of the five parties in the running presents a fully reassuring image to Germany’s neighbours or allies.
“Of course, elections are generally not fought or won on foreign policy. But German voters would do well to remember that their country’s wealth and power depends on the stability and security of its neighbourhood,” commented Constanze Stelzenmüller, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute.