Europe abroad
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PORTUGAL/BRAZIL: Sócrates looks to Lula for salvation
19 May 2010PresseuropDiário de Notícias -
International Trade: EU must seize Latin American opportunity
17 May 2010PresseuropEl País -
Moldova/Russia: Moscow, an invitation you can't refuse
3 May 2010PresseuropJurnal de Chisinau -
Democracy: African elections, a naive European ideal?
29 April 201073 Trouw Amsterdam -
Ideas: Europe, for globalisation without tears
15 April 201050 6 De Volkskrant Amsterdam -
Diplomacy : Van Rompuy gets handshake in Washington
14 April 201011 De Standaard Brussels -
Afghanistan: Italian government leaves NGO high and dry
13 April 2010PresseuropIl Manifesto -
Diplomacy : EEAS, the toothless colossus
29 March 201013 1 El País Madrid -
Germany / Turkey: Berlin and Ankara agree to disagree
29 March 2010PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
Afghanistan: A costly miscasting
23 March 2010PresseuropLibération -
Middle East: Europe should rethink its aid to Palestine
22 March 20104 Financial Times London -
Belgium-DR Congo: Atrocities report spoils celebrations
17 March 2010PresseuropDe Morgen -
EU–Mediterranean: On the other side of the Med
17 March 201018 El País Madrid -
EU-Cuba: Dissident death scuppers Havana deal
16 March 2010PresseuropEl Mundo -
Geopolitics: Revolutions fail to change the East
11 March 2010Tygodnik Powszechny Cracow -
Afghanistan: War comes home
22 February 2010 -
EU-Israel: Union and Tel Aviv on collision course
19 February 2010PresseuropEl País -
Italy-Iran: Silvio's Teheran love affair on the rocks
10 February 2010PresseuropLa Stampa -
Elections: Ukraine turns blue
8 February 2010PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza -
Iraq War: Blair, blinded by the Enlightenment
1 February 201013 1 The Independent London -
Human rights: Europe can close Guantánamo
25 January 2010The Irish Times Dublin -
Haiti: Blame it on France
21 January 2010131 5 The Times London -
Iraq War: The truth doesn't quite matter
13 January 201014 -
Diplomacy: Karel won't go to the Congo
7 January 2010PresseuropDe Standaard -
Justice: Israel livid over Livni arrest warrant
16 December 2009PresseuropThe Times -
Afghanistan: 100 dead soldiers
8 December 2009PresseuropThe Daily Telegraph -
Afghanistan: Mission : Blurred
3 December 2009Die Tageszeitung Berlin -
Afghanistan: Poland answers Obama's call
30 November 2009PresseuropPolska The Times -
Visas: EU favours Russia over Ukraine
26 November 2009PresseuropPolska The Times -
Macroregions: Europe flows west to east
23 October 2009La Vanguardia Barcelona -
Moldova: Bridging the Prut
21 October 2009PresseuropTimpul -
United Nations: Why not a permanent seat for the EU?
15 October 20092 La Stampa Turin -
Copenhagen summit: Brussels and Brasilia tudo bem
7 October 2009PresseuropLa Vanguardia -
After Lisbon (2): Europe’s plot to take over the world
7 October 200926 Financial Times London -
Afghanistan: McChrystal calls for fresh blood
22 September 2009PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza -
Italy-Afghanistan: Should we stay or should we go?
18 September 2009PresseuropLa Repubblica -
Democratisation: EU too soft on hardline regimes
14 September 2009PresseuropDer Tagesspiegel -
Czech Republic/Liechtenstein: All's well between Prague and Vaduz
9 September 2009PresseuropMladá Fronta DNES -
Afghanistan: Germany's good war unravels
7 September 20092 Süddeutsche Zeitung Munich -
Diplomacy: Wary Mitteleuropeans to share embassies
7 September 2009PresseuropHospodářské Noviny -
Bosnia-Herzegovina: Have passport, can't travel
3 September 200921 BH Dani Sarajevo -
Kosovo: Pristina walks out of EU talks
28 August 2009PresseuropDie Tageszeitung -
Middle East: Moving closer to Syria
27 August 2009The Guardian London -
Afghanistan: European soft power is not working
20 August 2009Presseurop -
United Kingdom: Doubts about British involvement in Afghanistan
17 August 2009PresseuropThe Daily Telegraph -
Burma/Myanmar: Powerless to influence junta
12 August 2009Presseurop -
Georgia-Russia Conflict: Russia ignores Georgia peace accords
12 August 2009PresseuropDziennik Gazeta Prawna -
Israel: Israeli claims damages from EU over Hamas attacks
11 August 2009PresseuropEUobserver.com -
Fisheries: Somali piracy, made in Europe
27 July 200923 1 Die Welt Berlin -
Immigration: Canada punishes Czechs
14 July 2009469PresseuropHospodářské Noviny
Blinded by their desire to establish democracy, Europeans are inadvertently promoting the spread of a pork-barrel politics that is detrimental to the well-being of African populations, complains Alphonse Muambi. The Democratic Republic of Congo born writer and journalist insists that Africa's tribes should take charge of the political destiny of the continent. 
The EU needs to do more to protect people against the upsurge of populism. Otherwise the current “second globalisation” will culminate in a crisis of massive proportions, prophesies Dutch philosopher Paul Scheffer. 
At the nuclear security summit in Washington DC on 12/13 April, Barack Obama did not grant Van Rompuy a one-on-one interview, which confirms the European Council president’s lack of international recognition. But we need to remain indulgent for the time being, advises De Standaard. 
Will Catherine Ashton’s new plan for a “European External Action Service” suffice to propel the EU to the world power status to which it lays claim? Nothing is less certain, in view of the sheer size of the envisaged diplomatic colossus, the states’ reluctance to yield any of their prerogatives to it and the institutional wrangling over its powers. 
Following Catherine Ashton’s trip to Israel and Palestine, EU foreign ministers are gathered in Brussels on 22 March seeking to define union policy in the Middle East. According to the Financial Times, it should start by rethinking the question of aid to the Palestinian territories. 
In these times of economic crisis, the countries of the southern Mediterranean are displaying unexpected dynamism – a trend the EU is beginning to shore up with regional cooperation projects, reports El País. 
In Ukraine and Georgia, "pro-Western" movements, which are hoping for a second wind even though they cannot count on support from the EU, are not only paying for their poor political performance but also for the fact that they no longer figure in Europe's geopolitical ambitions, explains Polish political analyst Olaf Osica. 
Unable to agree on whether to keep their troops in Afghanistan, the Dutch coalition government collapsed on 20 February. The shockwave could hit other European contingents on the ground, predicts the European press. 
At the Chilcot inquiry, Tony Blair expressed no regrets over his decision to join the war in Iraq. Bruce Anderson in the Independent argues that he was driven by a typical delusion of Enlightenment thinking, that it is possible to reshape human nature and the world in the West’s image. 
One year after Barack Obama announced his intention to dismantle Guantánamo, 198 prisoners still remain at the notorious detention centre. Colm O'Gorman in the Irish Times argues that Europe, having facilitated extraordinary rendition flights and CIA secret detention centres, made Guantánamo possible, and must open its doors to former detainees. 
Before the devastation of the 12 January earthquake, Haiti was already an economic disaster zone, crippled by centuries-old debt at the hands of its former colonial master – France. A “j’accuse” from Ben Mcintyre in The Times. 
In the Netherlands, an inquiry considers the US led invasion of Iraq as illegal, while in the United Kingdom, the Chilcot inquiry seeks to shed light on the Tony Blair's decision to lead his country into war. But politicians are still refusing to owe up to their responsibility in the disaster, regrets both the Dutch and the English press. 
The US wants more German soldiers in Afghanistan. The current Bundestag debate goes to show the governments involved have yet to clarify their objectives or give up the myth of the noble warrior, and they adamantly refuse to put the public in the picture, deplores the Tageszeitung. 
20 years after the Iron Curtain came down, Europe still has its sights set more on the East than on the South. The EU regards the Baltic, the Danube and even the Black Sea as priority macroregions, sidelining the Mediterranean, which is sundered by huge social and economic imbalances between its two shores. 
The new German government no longer wants a permanent seat for Germany on the UN Security Council, but plans to obtain one for the European Union instead. Meanwhile, Italy's former ambassador to the UN, Francesco Paolo Fulci, explains how the EU could exert greater influence on Security Council decisions.
Strengthened by Ireland’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, the European Union, it is argued, may now be on the verge of becoming a global superpower. The way to achieve this ambition, notes Gideon Rachman in the Financial Times, is in using the new platform that the G20 offers. 
After German-ordered airstrikes on two fuel tankers in northern Afghanistan caused massive civilian casualties, European coalition partners are heaping censure on the Bundeswehr. Premature and risky reproaches, says the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which nonetheless go to show that the war finally has to come to the fore in the upcoming electoral campaign. 
From 1st January, 2010, Muslim Bosnians and Kosovans will be the only citizens of the former Yugoslavia required to obtain visas to enter the European Union. Sarejevo daily, BH Dani, explains how impartial principles will result in discriminatory practice. 
Britain’s recent call to bring Syria into the EU’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is part of a wider western strategy to tempt the previously isolated Ba'athist regime away from Iran and continue co-operation with the west in Iraq and Lebanon. Chris Philips at the Guardian wonders whether we are witnessing another example of human rights and democracy being sacrificed for political expediency. 
As Afghans go to the polls today, the 20th of August, to pick a president for the second time since 2005, peace and Western-style democracy are having a hard time taking hold. European countries, while claiming they have a role to play there, are not entirely pulling their weight in the NATO mission or, for that matter, allotting adequate resources to the country’s reconstruction. 
The European Union was quick to condemn a decision to sentence prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi to another 18 months of house arrest and announced further "targeted measures against those responsible for the verdict." However, the European press remains skeptical about the EU's ability to influence the Burmese regime and some European countries' willingness to intervene. 
Pirate attacks and hijackings off the Somali coast have received widespread media attention. Less is said, however, about the European trawlers "looting" Africa's territorial waters, hurting local fishermen. Die Welt calls it piracy in another form.