European Union Geopolitical Watch Team: Yuliana Glazunova, Audrey Moisan, Emma Chlebowski, Marie Corcelle, Gaëtan Giuliani, Yanis Kourrad, Tristan Jarraud, Florent Guichard, Antoine Bézier, Etienne Mathieu
The files we follow: NATO/EU relations and neutral and ex-neutral countries; Energy policies and energy dependencies of the EU and Member States; EU/UK/Ireland relations; Environmental policies and issues of the EU and Member States; EU/China trade policies; Franco-German axis and intra-European relations with frugal countries, Germany/Eastern Europe relations, Nordic countries; Poland/Hungary/Romania foreign policies and relations with the EU; Various EU and Member States.
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Sweden continues its efforts to persuade Turkey to lift its veto on the Scandinavian kingdom’s accession to NATO. Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billström has repeatedly reaffirmed his goal of joining the Atlantic Alliance before its next summit, scheduled for Vilnius on July 11-12, 2023. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg continues to strongly support this process.
In May, Poland continued to play a major role in the war in Ukraine, as evidenced by diplomatic tensions with Russia, the Prime Minister’s presence at the presentation of the Charlemagne Prize to Volodymyr Zelensky and the F-16 training of Ukrainian pilots. Hungary has moved closer to Serbia economically through the construction of an oil pipeline, and Viktor Orbán offered his congratulations to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan after the 1st round of Turkish elections. The country’s relations with the EU continue to deteriorate: MEPs are discussing a resolution on Hungary’s presidency of the EU Council in early July 2024.
In May, Berlin strengthened its Atlantic ties and its support for Ukraine, with the forthcoming acquisition of 60 Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy manoeuvre and assault helicopters and the award of the Charlemagne Prize to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in recognition of his European commitment. The Baltic Sea region, visited by the same Ukrainian President on a surprise trip to Finland, is also emerging as a key theatre of tension between the West and Russia, with the northern sea on the verge of becoming a NATO lake and incidents between the US and Russian air forces on the increase.
