Europe: prayers for protection

08 Dec 2017
On 9 December it will be one year since the attack on the Christmas market in Berlin. Europe is on a high level of alert for possible terrorist attacks. In many countries there will be Christmas…

EU / Turkey relationships

08 Dec 2017
Turkey-EU ties are currently marked by mutual resentments and appear to be going nowhere. In a sign of the times, Brussels is withholding 175 million euros in pre-accession funds for Turkey, which on paper remains a…

Europe if Merkel goes

01 Dec 2017
Mrs Merkel brought unity and peace to the EU’s high table, which was unusual as she seldom had much to say. Like many German politicians she was unimaginative about how to stop financial rot from spreading…

Germany: stabbing escalates

01 Dec 2017
A recent surge of violence perpetrated with knives across Germany draws attention to the deterioration of security in the country. People armed with knives, axes and machetes have wreaked havoc across Germany; committing jihadist attacks, homicides,…