Analysis - Page 18 of 24

Hungarian PM raises eyebrows after talk of reinstating the death penalty

On 28 April, Prime Minister Viktor Orban came out in favour of reinstating the death penalty. “The death penalty should be put on the agenda in Hungary,” the Hungarian leader boldly stated. “Hungary will stop at nothing when it comes to protecting its citizens.” The statement quickly drew criticism from both home and abroad with a harsh reproval from the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Junker. He called on the Hungarian leader to respect the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union which forbids the death penalty in all of its member states

Europe’s Digital Single Market discussed in Riga

Big businesses, international organizations, and academics attended in hundreds this week’s Summit in Riga to discuss ways to digitalize the current European single market. The Multilingual Digital Single Market Summit was held between 27 and 29 April and was inaugurated by the Latvian Foreign Minister, Edgars Rinkēvičs, who spoke of the importance of preserving Internet as a “neutral, single, and un-fragmented network of networks”. The Summit’s participants agreed to an open letter to the European Commission indicating that an infrastructure to address multilinguism is essential

Conclusions of the 17th EU-Ukraine Summit

If you blinked you might have missed it. The 17th EU-Ukraine Summit in Kiev has come and gone without too much fuss. Little media coverage, few analyses, only a joint statement and Donald Tusk’s Tweeter feed to remind us that Ukraine and the European Union have met for the very first time under the new Association Agreement. It is also the first Summit to take place after Viktor Yanukovych was ousted from power more than a year ago. The importance and outcome of the Summit remain by no means secondary. If anything, resuming this high-level bilateral meeting signals a less volatile, albeit still dangerous situation in Eastern Ukraine

Eurogroup talks stall as Greece dithers on its promises

At the Eurogroup meeting on Friday, 24 April, all eyes were on Greece. The embattled Eurozone country got hammered for backtracking on much needed fiscal reforms. Eurogroup officials stated that such measures are vital in helping the Greek government secure its debt repayments. Without the remaining €7.2 billion in the bailout package, Greece will run out of money in a matter of weeks. The stark warning came as Mr. Varoufakis, Greece’s Finance Minister, tried to calm fears over his country’s ability to raise

Emergency EU Summit Adopts Measures After Tragedies in the Mediterranean

The deaths of nearly 800 migrants fleeing violence and political turmoil in search of safety on European shores, which took place over a month after Ms. Mogherini’s remarks in New York, prompted an emergency EU summit of the heads of state and government in Brussels on Thursday, 23 April. But the meeting is already drawing criticism as many accuse the EU of providing a quick military response to a problem that begs a comprehensive foreign policy and humanitarian solution. The leaders in Brussels agreed that Europe’s “immediate priority” is to prevent additional carnage in the Mediterranean

EU leaders react to migrants’ deaths

Shaken by some 1,000 migrant deaths in the Mediterranean in the past few days, while trying to cross through irregular ways into Europe, the EU’s foreign and home affairs ministers agreed today in Luxembourg to a ten point action plan to avoid such tragedies happening in the future. The plan foresees more resources for the joint operations Poseidon and Triton carried out within the mandate of Frontex, setting up a joint task force to identify human trafficking and smuggling networks, and sharing the responsibility of refugee resettlement among EU countries

“Make in India” Modi tells Europe

On his first official trip to Europe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited France and Germany from 10 to 14 April. His charm offensive had a central economic rationale, promoting India as an attractive investment and technology transfer destination through his “Make in India” campaign. Interesting to note that Mr. Modi’s European purchases, especially of the Rafele jet fighters, means that developing and poor India is supporting developed France with an injection of hard-earned cash

The EU accuses Google of abusing its dominant position and opens up an investigation on Android

After five years of research, the European Commission has today accused Google of abusing its dominant position by promoting its products in Internet searches, where it control 90% of the market share in Europe. In parallel, the Commission has formally opened an antitrust investigation against Google’s Android mobile operating system, including its applications and services. This opens up a new front against Google, which could affect its aspirations of gaining ground in the mobile market.

EU Meets its Southern Neighbourhood Countries

The Spanish Foreign Minister, the Latvian Foreign Minister, and the EU foreign policy chief co-hosted an Informal Ministerial meeting with representatives of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan, who declared their support for fighting terrorism and curbing irregular migration, two top priorities of the EU’s collaboration with its neighbours south of the Mediterranean Sea. The meeting was part of a series of consultations that the EU initiated with European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) countries to review its strategy of collaborations.

Iran nuclear deal reached

Following negotiations over several years, and a marathon session from 26 March to 2 April 2015, the six world powers (China, France, Germany, Russia, UK, US) plus the EU reached agreement with Iran on key parameters for ensuring that Iran’s nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes only. A Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) will now be drafted, on the basis of the agreed parameters, by 30 June 2015 and implemented thereafter. The successful outcome of the negotiations was hailed as a “historic understanding” and a “good deal” by US President Obama.