Articles

It's not just about money. We can be the innovative and cultural magnet of the world. That is the strength of democratic and open societies.

There is a broad consensus that no significant change can be expected in Russia so long as Vladimir Putin remains in power. The big question is: what will happen when he steps down or dies in office? Summary of Jens Siegert's book "Where is Russia Heading? Scenarios for the Time Afterwards", presented in Brussels on 6 March 2025.

Massive vote buying overshadowed the 2024 elections in Moldova - over 35 million euros were spent on influencing voters. Robert Sperfeld and Julian Gröger spoke to former State Secretary Mariana Lucreteanu about coming to terms with the scandal and the lessons learned for the 2025 parliamentary elections.

Europe must step up. While EU leaders have expressed solidarity in the wake of the Trump-Vance-Zelensky Oval Office meeting, tweets and statements do not help on the battlefield. Ukraine needs weapons and financial support. The challenge Europe faces is not a lack of capability, but a weakness of will. Europe possesses immense resources but struggles to mobilise them effectively.

Despite the more difficult majorities in society and parliaments, the Greens should not spend too much time licking their wounds. Instead: open the gates and invite people everywhere to get involved in forward-looking politics.

Germany held snap federal elections on 23 February 2025. What will the new political constellation mean for European unity, the EU’s decarbonisation and competitiveness agenda, and the EU’s role in the world? Roderick Kefferpütz analysed the election results and their implications for Germany’s role in Europe with Dr. Jana Puglierin, Sven Giegold, Leonore Gewessler, Jeanette Süß and Jolanta Szymańska.

Germany voted and Europe held its breath. Despite the bleak economic performance and outlook of Germany, the promise of ‘economy-centred election campaigns’ never materialized. Yet the list of economic policy homework for the new government is long and urgent. The possibility to form a two-party government of the Christian conservative CDU/CSU and social democratic SPD now needs to be translated into political action – in both Germany and the EU.

The European Commission finally unveiled the Clean Industrial Deal, a competitiveness-driven approach to decarbonisation, aimed at securing the EU as an attractive location for manufacturing, including for energy intensive industries, and promoting clean tech and new circular business models. We asked MEP Michael Bloss (Greens/EFA) what to expect, and how to conciliate competitiveness with just transition.

The Greens emerge from the election relatively stable despite losses. Formation of the political will within and outside of parties must reorganise itself. Democratic parties must remain able to compromise among themselves in order to fulfil their responsibility for the political order in Germany and beyond.

Three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Paul Hockenos compares the efforts of the EU and the US in view of weaning from Russian fossil fuels. On the ground, Ukraine’s transition to distributed renewables already rhymes with resilience against the aggressor.