The restrained criticism by President Ilham Aliyev of the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) project, voiced by him in an interview at the end of 2019, had its impact on decisions of European institutions. We should recall that speaking about the future of the EaP, the president raised serious questions regarding the non-obviousness of the prospects […]
This paper outlines how it might be possible to open accession talks with both countries in 2020, restore credibility to the accession process for the benefit of all Western Balkan countries, establish a meaningful interim goal that depends on merit – joining the EU Single Market and the EU in a two-step process, like Finland did […]
The pipeline route goes through the wintering areas in the Baltic Sea. German environmentalists say the government should turn down the request by the Nord Stream 2 operator to pursue with construction through the winter, a time when migrating birds choose their wintering grounds. Kim Detloff, an activist with the Union for Conservation of Nature […]
On an official visit to oil-rich Azerbaijan – the largest economy of the South Caucasus – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was given the red-carpet treatment by his Azeri counterpart, encouraged businesses of the host nation to invest in his country. Though the spotlight was on expanding and further deepening business relations, the two leaders, whose […]
Solving humanitarian problems and stabilizing the area around the line of contact is the bare minimum outcome of talks on Ukraine that all sides consider necessary. At the same time, each side suspects that for its opponents, this minimum is also the maximum in terms of what is politically acceptable. This week’s Normandy summit on […]
The clock is ticking. The long-term gas transit contract between Russia and Ukraine expires on 31 December. Chances that the two sides could reach a comprehensive agreement before this date are slim. EURACTIV looks behind the scenes of the dispute. Ukraine is a key transit route for Russian gas to reach Europe. A current deal […]
The Greens achieved excellent results in the last European Parliament elections, receiving the fourth largest faction. They finished third in France and the second in Germany and gained significant success in Finland, Portugal, Ireland, and the UK. This clearly indicates that Europeans are aware of the importance of environmental problems and wish to solve them. It would […]
On August 23, 2019, Georgian national and former Chechen rebel commander Zelimkhan Khangoshvili (40) was fired on by an assailant on a bicycle, in a Berlin public park. Khangoshvili died on the spot, shot twice in the head. German police quickly apprehended the suspected killer and found in his possession a recently issued Russian passport […]
Turkey and Azerbaijan formally marked the completion of the Trans-Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) on Saturday (30 November), a milestone in a major project to help reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas. TANAP comprises the longest stretch of the $40 billion Southern Gas Corridor, a series of pipelines that will carry gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah […]
With the Nord Stream 2 (NS2) pipeline’s completion date on the horizon, it is becoming apparent that the European Union (EU) is struggling to agree on how the project should be handled. While investors see the project as economically sound and beneficial for European customers, the project is mainly seen through a political lens in […]