Georgi Gotev
The Brief – Brace for EU’s Perestroika
Est. 7minEvery five years, the EU revamps its institutions. Faced with enormous global challenges, this time, the EU needs to reinvent itself, but instead, we are witnessing a timid Perestroika.
The Brief – The Guy Fawkes conspiracy revisited
Est. 7minAs the news of shots fired at former US president and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump continues to reverberate across the globe, a few tidbits from the not-so-distant past come to mind.
The Brief – One for the money, two for the show
Est. 6minBlame and reprimands followed Viktor Orbán's “Ukraine peace tour” to Moscow and Beijing, which he started as soon as Hungary took over the Presidency of the Council of the EU on 1 July.
The Brief – ¡No pasarán!
Est. 7min“¡No pasarán!” or "They shall not pass" is an iconic slogan used in the context of leftist forces fighting fascism. During the Spanish Civil War, Dolores Ibárruri Gómez ("Pasionaria"), a member of the Communist Party of Spain, pronounced her famous "No pasarán" speech on 18 July 1936.
The Brief – Message from the three Italian tenors
Est. 6minThe United States is such an important country: Whatever they decide affects us so much that it's almost like the whole world should be allowed to vote in US elections. With these provocative words, I started an opinion piece written exactly twenty years ago.
The Brief – No light at the end of the tunnel?
Est. 5minFrench far right lurches toward power. Viktor Orbán’s Hungary to lead the EU for the next six months. AfD states aim to govern Germany. Pro-Russian patriarch elected in Bulgaria. In the US, Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance augurs his election route in November.
The Brief – Hardline EU trio to confront Putin
Est. 6minWe can only second-guess what Vladimir Putin’s goals were when he started the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We can see that in the meantime, NATO has become bigger and stronger, and today, the EU may agree a lineup of new leaders considered “hawks” towards the Kremlin.
The Brief – Single-handed manmade disasters
Est. 7minClimate change is a manmade disaster caused by mankind as a whole. But history remembers disasters of dramatic proportions caused by a single man. We are currently paying the price of at least two such disasters.
The Brief – Did Ursula stab Macron in the back?
Est. 6minIt looks like she did. The European Commission announced it intends to open the first excessive deficit procedure against France—coming at the worst time ever—11 days before the first round of the snap legislative elections that may become a nightmare for the French president.
The Brief – The dinner of frustration
Est. 6minIn psychology, frustration is an emotion arising from perceived obstacles to fulfilling one’s will or goal. In EU politics, frustration is today’s special.
The Brief – A battle against disinformation was won
Est. 7minWe may like or dislike the results of the European elections, but we can safely say that no major incidents involving propaganda and disinformation took place in the days of 6-9 June, which amounts to a victory for those who are busy countering this threat.
The Brief – Who needs a weak France?
Est. 7minThe announcement by President Emmanuel Macron that he is dissolving the National Assembly and calling snap elections caught me (and the rest of the world, probably) by surprise just two minutes before I went live on TV on Sunday night.
The Brief – Lord, protect me from my friends
Est. 6min“Lord, protect me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies” is a quote attributed to many, specifically to Voltaire. In recent times, the tensions between Joe Biden and his main Western allies over the two conflicts burning at the gates of Europe have never been so visible.
The Brief – China as a global peace broker?
Est. 7minToday, news agencies broke two news stories that are worth a closer look as both seem to indicate that China has ambitions to help solve the two wars at the gate of the EU.
The Brief – A nuclear blast that would kill nobody?
Est. 6minDuring the Russian invasion of Ukraine, several senior Russian politicians, including President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and former president and prime minister Dmitry Medvedev, have made several statements widely seen as threatening to use nuclear weapons.
The Brief – New Caledonia: Another stone in Macron’s shoe
Est. 6minWhat a difference a few weeks can make. Until recently, this was a standard description of New Caledonia: A French territory comprising dozens of islands in the South Pacific, known for its palm-lined beaches, marine-life-rich lagoon, and a barrier reef that surrounds the main island, Grand Terre, a major scuba-diving destination.
The Brief – The cunning state of Azerbaijan
Est. 6minA few months ago we described Qatar as a “cunning state”. Cunning means the quality or skill of being clever at planning something to reach your goals, even by tricking others. Lately, it has emerged that Azerbaijan has also resorted to cunning strategies to punch above its weight.
‘Massive’ French police deployment arrives to secure New Caledonia
Est. 3minFrench police reinforcements have started arriving in New Caledonia as part of a massive operation to regain control of the capital Noumea, the top French official in the Pacific island territory said on Friday (17 May).
The Brief – Open wounds in the flesh of a nation
Est. 7minPolitical murders often happen in authoritarian countries, and even more often in dictatorships, but when an elected politician gets shot in a democratic country, it opens wounds in the nation’s society that are very hard to heal.
The Brief – The EU election punching bag
Est. 6minRegards from Sofia, where the author of this Brief has witnessed the first days of the European election campaign and concluded the following: The number one election punching bag is the European Green Deal, and it's no different in many other EU countries.
Editor’s take: The discrete charm of dictatorship
Est. 4minChina’s President Xi Jinping has been received in Serbia and Hungary as the messiah. Only during communism Belgrade and Budapest were so decorated with flags and posters and so many people were bussed to greet the high visitor.
Putin’s fifth inauguration: “Together we will win”
Est. 5minVladimir Putin was sworn on Tuesday (7 May) for a fifth presidential mandate that will run until 2030, pledging that Russia “will win” in the conflict he personally started by invading Ukraine, and promising to those loyal to him to take the highest positions in the country.
The Brief – Looking back before we vote
Est. 7minOne month before the EU elections, it is useful to look back and see how the nine previous votes have exemplified historical developments and the changing balance of power in our union.
EU says information from three Chinese EV makers insufficient
Est. 3minThe European Commission has warned three Chinese electric vehicle makers that they have not supplied sufficient information for its anti-subsidy investigation, according to two people familiar with the case.