As the US wages a sustained campaign against the court, Europe seems ambivalent about its response. Two tweets, sent five months apart, provide a stark illustration of falling support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the face of US sanctions against it. The first was sent by Slovenia, after...
Britain’s plans to go nuclear
The British government under Keir Starmer has committed to investing 14.2 billion pounds (around 16.8 billion euros) in the construction of the Sizewell C nuclear plant on England's east coast. According to estimates the project will take around ten years to complete. There have been major delays in the construction...
Russian bill restricts Internet searches
The Russian State Duma is due to proceed with the second reading of legislation that foresees fines for those who search for "explicitly extremist content" on the Internet. Due to their content, roughly 5,500 websites, including many international news sites, are currently blocked in Russia. Users can only access them...
UK citizens face fingerprint checks each time they visit EU
British travellers heading to the continent are about to experience one of the biggest shifts in border control in decades. Starting in November, everyone crossing into the Schengen zone by car or coach through Dover will face new biometric checks: fingerprints, photographs and digital records of time spent in the...
Is AI slowing down human development?
Many observers are concerned about the harmful effects of artificial intelligence on humanity. A new study by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is now fuelling fears that AI is slowing down human development progress. Commentators make suggestions as to how governments and leaders can steer the influence of AI...
EU budget: asking too much of member states?
The EU Commission has proposed a new budget for the period from 2028 to 2034 which totals some two trillion euros - around 700 billion euros more than is planned in the current budget. At the same time, less money is to be allocated to fixed areas, in a bid...
Sticking point gas supplies: is Fico’s blockade justified?
Slovakia is blocking the adoption of the 18th EU sanctions package against Russia. It foresees a halt to Russian gas supplies from the end of 2027, to which Slovakia cannot agree without substantial compensation from Brussels, the country's Prime Minister Robert Fico insists. The move has sparked controversy even among...
Countering russian cruise missiles and long-range drones
Russian long-range drone and cruise missile developments, production increases, and Western interceptor capabilities. Over the past week, Russia has launched over 1,800 Geran-2 (the indigenized version of the Iranian Shahed-136) alongside decoy long-range drones. This marks a sharp increase in the average intensity of long-range drone attacks per day, peaking...
Spain’s Baffling Russian Gas Addiction
The EU has published tough new measures to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports. It’s now facing opposition from an unexpected member. After years of hesitation, the EU has published a bold plan to phase out Russian fossil fuels. But as with NATO’s pledge to raise defense spending, Spain has...
Europe: time to act
The continent is at risk. The demand to do nothing is not a rational response. There is a class of intellectuals, politicians, academics, and bureaucrats, European as well as American, who think differently about Russia. They tell us the country is nasty and possibly a bit overzealous in its foreign...