Articles

For years, civil society players in Syria have had to go through agonies of uncertainty about the future of humanitarian supplies to the country every six months, as the battle over the corresponding resolution grinds into deadlock at the United Nations Security Council. It was no different this time when the mandate ran out, only to be extended yet again two days later – albeit for just another six months. If cross-border aid to Idlib dries up, the region will be under threat of famine, but medical supplies, education programmes and the fight against sexualised violence and violence against women and girls are also areas of concern.

After the German federal elections in September 2021, the Greens joined a government coalition with the Social Democrats and the Liberals. MdBs Dr. Anna Christmann and Claudia Müller are respectively the new Federal Government Coordinators of German Aerospace Policy, and for the Maritime Industry and for Tourism. Philipp Cerny and Martin Keim conducted a joint interview to find out more about their priorities and thoughts.

Anna Lührmann, Minister of State for Europe and Climate at the German Federal government, talks to Christine Pütz about the results of the "Actually European?! 2022" study and what the citizens expect from Germany’s European policy at this “turning point in history”.

The EU–Western Balkans Leaders' Meeting concluded more as a win for Putin and his allies than for progressive forces in the Western Balkans. The European Council did not meet the challenge of the moment, writes Simon Ilse.

On 1 July 2022, the Czech Republic took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union for six months. Our office Directors in Brussels and Prague, Eva van de Rakt and Adéla Jurečková, analyse the priorities of and challenges facing the Czech EU Council Presidency.

Energy prices in Europe have soared to new highs since the autumn of 2021, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine amplifying the trend and bringing energy supply to the forefront of conversations regarding the mitigation of impacts of the war on Europe. This study, based on data from Germany and Spain, shows that whilst electricity prices rose, so did the profits of energy companies. These developments were exacerbated by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine but are also symptomatic for wider issues within the European electricity market. Windfall profit taxation can help to soften the blow of high energy prices, but we also need longer term restructuring of the market mechanisms, argues Suzana Carp.

Energy policy plays a central role following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ahead of the EU-Western Balkans leaders' meeting on Thursday 23 June 2022, Simon Ilse spoke to Dirk Buschle, Deputy Director of the Vienna-based international organisation Energy Community, about the energy and geopolitical implications of EU enlargement.

The UK’s plan to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda – even before their applications have been concluded – may have been halted just in time this time, but the government is still pushing forward with its controversial plans.

Some 100 million people are currently forcibly displaced worldwide. This year's World Refugee Day therefore, once again, marks a sad record: never before have there been so many refugees as this year, according to UNHCR figures. The brutal war of aggression against Ukraine has played a part in that.

A new report by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Environmental Action Germany (DUH) finds that current EU energy supply policies run the risk of prolonging dependence on fossil gas rather than decisively moving towards alternatives, particularly in the heating sector.