European Parliamentary Research Service Blog
Russia
Support for democracy through EU external policy: New tools for growing challenges
The crisis of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism across the globe, compounded by the coronavirus pandemic, highlight the importance of taking a more strategic and autonomous approach to supporting democracy worldwide – an objective often balanced against other external policy aims until now. Continue reading
Plenary round-up – February 2021
The main debates held during the February 2021 plenary session concerned the state of play of the EU’s Covid‑19 vaccination strategy and the de facto abortion ban in Poland. Continue reading
Navalny vs Kremlin: Latest developments
Alexey Navalny is one of Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken critics. After surviving an assassination attempt and recovering in Germany, he returned to Russia in January 2021 to face arrest and imprisonment. Mass protests over his detention and revelations of high-level corruption show that an increasingly repressive Kremlin has not succeeded in crushing opposition to Putin’s rule. Continue reading
European Parliament Plenary Session – February 2021
With the coronavirus continuing to rage throughout Europe, Parliament’s plenary agenda focuses firmly on getting beyond the crisis. Continue reading
Key issues in the European Council: State of play in December 2020
Established as an informal summit meeting in 1975, the European Council became a formal European Union institution, with a full-time President, in 2009, on the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon. Continue reading
Armenia and Azerbaijan on the brink of war
Armenia and Azerbaijan are bitterly opposed over Nagorno-Karabakh, an Armenian-backed separatist territory that international law recognises as part of Azerbaijan. Continue reading
European Parliament Plenary Session – September 2020
While Parliament and its Members were hopeful that the plenary session would return to Strasbourg this month, the significantly higher Covid‑19 health risks for the local population as well as Members and staff mean that the 14-17 September 2020 session will take place in Brussels. Continue reading
The EU and Russia: Locked into confrontation [Policy Podcast]
Following the post-Cold War reset of the 1990s, EU-Russia relations have become increasingly tense. Although initially seen as a pro-Western reformer, since the start of his first presidency in 2000 Vladimir Putin has shown increasingly authoritarian tendencies, and his efforts to assert Russian influence over post-Soviet neighbours threaten the sovereignty of those states. Continue reading
Outcome of the European Council video-conference of 19 August 2020
The European Council video-conference meeting of 19 August 2020 was called by the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, due to the increasingly worrying situation in Belarus after the recent national elections. Continue reading
Covid-19 foreign influence campaigns: Europe and the global battle of narratives
The global health crisis sparked by the COVID-19 pandemic – which is currently hitting EU Member States, not least Italy and Spain, particularly hard – raises concern that a combination of disinformation and heavily promoted health diplomacy, echoed by local proxies in Europe, could potentially pave the way for wider influence in other sectors in the wake of the crisis. Continue reading
Outcome of the European Council and Euro Summit, 20-21 June 2019
At their most recent meeting, EU Heads of State or Government postponed decisions on nominating a set of high-level EU appointments, including the position of President of the European Commission. Continue reading
Outlook for the European Council and Euro Summit meetings, 20-21 June 2019
The June 2019 European Council meeting, the last regular one in the current institutional cycle, has a full agenda. First, EU leaders will discuss, and potentially agree on, high-level appointments to EU institutions. Continue reading
The INF Treaty and European defence [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The United States has announced its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, sparking fears of a fresh nuclear arms race between Russia, the United States and China. Continue reading
The end of the INF Treaty? A pillar of European security architecture at risk
Written by Beatrix Immenkamp, graphic: Samy Chahri, The US administration announced on 1 February 2019 that it was suspending its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, with effect from 2 February 2019, and that it was giving Russia six months’ notice of complete withdrawal. Russia reacted by announcing that it was also suspending … Continue reading
Foreign policy and defence challenges [What Think Tanks are Thinking]
The European Union will face increasingly serious foreign policy and defence challenges in 2019. The current Administration in the United States seems to be abandoning its traditional role of the ‘benign protector’ of the rules-based international order. Continue reading
Russia [What Think Tanks are thinking]
The policies of President Vladimir Putin, who was re-elected earlier this year, pose a dilemma for the European Union and the United States, with some observers accusing him of trying to sabotage Western liberal democracy and others saying that he wants to regain the position of global player that the Soviet Union once occupied. Continue reading
President Trump’s trade and international policies [What Think Tanks are thinking]
US President Donald Trump has pushed ahead in recent months with his controversial policies on trade and defence, which critics say could undermine the global rules-based order and create new uncertainties. Continue reading
EU sanctions against Russia : What’s next?
Four years after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, the issue of sanctions against Moscow is more topical than ever. Relations between Russia and the West have continued to deteriorate to a level not seen since the end of the Cold War, with revelations of the Kremlin’s interference in the United States elections and elsewhere – for example, in the United Kingdom’s EU referendum. Continue reading
Outcome of the EU leaders’ meetings on 22 and 23 March 2018
On 22 and 23 March 2018, the EU Heads of State or Government convened in four different formations with varying compositions and levels of formality: a regular meeting of the European Council, a Leaders’ Meeting on taxation, a Euro Summit and a European Council (Article 50) meeting. Continue reading
Russia’s 2018 presidential election: Six more years of Putin
On 18 March 2018, Russians will elect the president who will govern their country for the next six years. Incumbent, Vladimir Putin is firmly on track to win, with approval ratings that have stayed above 80 % since Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Continue reading
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