Latest news with #Atlanticist
Straits Times
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Straits Times
Norway seeks deeper security ties with Europe, saying US relations uncertain
Flags of NATO member countries are seen at the Alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, November 26, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo OSLO - Norway said on Thursday it would seek to deepen security ties with Nordic neighbours and major European allies, bolstering protections against a resurgent Russia and signalling a shift for a nation long one of NATO's most Atlanticist members. In its first ever national security strategy, the government said that while the NATO military alliance remains key, the changes made in U.S. policy on trade and security had made transatlantic ties less predictable. "Relations between the U.S. and Europe have changed ... Unconventional and confrontational policies, including major changes in trade policy, have generated considerable uncertainty in transatlantic relations," the document said. "Continued extensive U.S. military presence in Europe is not a given." Norway, a founding NATO member, has traditionally been among the most Atlanticist nations in the alliance. While the new strategy shows Norway remains committed to its relationship with the U.S., it also marks a shift in priorities, with Oslo saying it will spend more time than before on deepening its relationships with other European countries. Outside the immediate Nordic region, Norway will seek to work more closely with Britain, France, Germany and Poland as well as the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, the government said. Norway is not an EU member and is thus outside the EU-led forums on foreign and security policy. "Through our cooperation, we will seek to ensure that the EU complements NATO," said the document. The presentation of a broad national security strategy coincided with the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two in Europe, during which Norway was occupied by Nazi Germany. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Merz government to be sworn in as Germany ends months of stalemate
Germany's parliament is set to elect conservative Friedrich Merz as its new Chancellor. The 69-year old is promising to revitalize the country's flagging economy and boost its voice on the world stage. It brings an end to Germany's recent political limbo after the last government collapsed. But Merz takes office at a time of huge uncertainty abroad and a surging far-right at home. "It's our historical duty to make this government a success," said the CDU leader on Monday, as he officially signed the coalition agreement. Merz's supporters argue that what they see as good government can help address growing voter discontent. "I think we really need to prove that we solve the problems, not in a radical way, just in a very responsible, visible, detailed way," says Mark Helfrich, a CDU member of the Bundestag. But the CDU, CSU and SPD coalition have a narrow majority with 328 seats – just a dozen more than the minimum required. In February's federal election, the CDU/CSU nudged up its support by just four points while coalition partner, the SPD, crashed to its worst post-war result. Merz has promised to tighten immigration rules, invest in the nation's ailing infrastructure and rebuild ties with key European partners. He already steered through a law to exempt defence and security from Germany's strict debt rules – knowing that in the new parliament he wouldn't be able to find the necessary majority to do so. "A remarkable decision," says Claudia Major, a senior vice-president at the German Marshall Fund in Berlin. But because support for the governing parties is relatively low, "Merz will need to convince the broader public of the necessity to spend more on defence". Snapping at Merz's heels throughout this parliament will be the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), now the main opposition force in the Bundestag. The AfD wants to close Germany's borders, deport migrants en masse, end weapons supplies to Ukraine and re-open ties with Putin's Russia. Last week, the AfD was officially classed as an extremist organisation by domestic intelligence (BfV), re-igniting a debate about whether the party should be banned. The AfD has now said it's suing the BfV, accusing it of an "abuse" of power. And the designation was publicly denounced by senior figures in Donald Trump's US administration – including vice president JD Vance. Managing relationships with Trump's White House will be another balancing act for Merz, a committed Atlanticist who raised eyebrows on election night when he declared Europe should "achieve independence from the USA". Nevertheless, Merz's government will "invest a lot to keep the transatlantic relationship going" says the GMF's Claudia Major. There's speculation he may even "go for golf" – a reference to seeking to woo golf-mad Trump by playing some holes out on the fairway. But Merz's first trips abroad are set to be to Paris and Warsaw, relationships he claims suffered under Olaf Scholz. It's "high time" to improve German-Polish relations, says Agnieszka Pomaska, a member of the Polish Sejm and member of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Platform party. "We need to invest together in the army, in defence," says Pomaska, who says that Scholz's government was "politically weak" and "it's never easy to cooperate with a government that is simply weak". "We didn't have this feeling that was very much present during previous years that Germany is one of the leaders in the European Union." Germany defends AfD extremist classification after Rubio criticises 'tyranny in disguise' German politics froze out the far right for years – is this about to change? Germany is back, says Merz, after sealing government deal Friedrich Merz: Risk-taker who flirted with far right
BBC News
06-05-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Merz to be sworn in as Germany ends six months of political stalemate
Germany's parliament is set to elect conservative Friedrich Merz as its new 69-year old is promising to revitalize the country's flagging economy and boost its voice on the world brings an end to Germany's recent political limbo after the last government Merz takes office at a time of huge uncertainty abroad and a surging far-right at home. "It's our historical duty to make this government a success," said the CDU leader on Monday, as he officially signed the coalition supporters argue that what they see as good government can help address growing voter discontent."I think we really need to prove that we solve the problems, not in a radical way, just in a very responsible, visible, detailed way," says Mark Helfrich, a CDU member of the the CDU, CSU and SPD coalition have a narrow majority with 328 seats – just a dozen more than the minimum required. In February's federal election, the CDU/CSU nudged up its support by just four points while coalition partner, the SPD, crashed to its worst post-war has promised to tighten immigration rules, invest in the nation's ailing infrastructure and rebuild ties with key European already steered through a law to exempt defence and security from Germany's strict debt rules – knowing that in the new parliament he wouldn't be able to find the necessary majority to do so."A remarkable decision," says Claudia Major, a senior vice-president at the German Marshall Fund in because support for the governing parties is relatively low, "Merz will need to convince the broader public of the necessity to spend more on defence". Snapping at Merz's heels throughout this parliament will be the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD), now the main opposition force in the AfD wants to close Germany's borders, deport migrants en masse, end weapons supplies to Ukraine and re-open ties with Putin's week, the AfD was officially classed as an extremist organisation by domestic intelligence (BfV), re-igniting a debate about whether the party should be AfD has now said it's suing the BfV, accusing it of an "abuse" of the designation was publicly denounced by senior figures in Donald Trump's US administration – including vice president JD relationships with Trump's White House will be another balancing act for Merz, a committed Atlanticist who raised eyebrows on election night when he declared Europe should "achieve independence from the USA".Nevertheless, Merz's government will "invest a lot to keep the transatlantic relationship going" says the GMF's Claudia speculation he may even "go for golf" – a reference to seeking to woo golf-mad Trump by playing some holes out on the Merz's first trips abroad are set to be to Paris and Warsaw, relationships he claims suffered under Olaf "high time" to improve German-Polish relations, says Agnieszka Pomaska, a member of the Polish Sejm and member of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's Civic Platform party."We need to invest together in the army, in defence," says Pomaska, who says that Scholz's government was "politically weak" and "it's never easy to cooperate with a government that is simply weak"."We didn't have this feeling that was very much present during previous years that Germany is one of the leaders in the European Union."
Irish Times
05-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
The Irish Times view on Friedrich Merz: a change in Berlin
When Friedrich Merz tomorrow assumes Germany's chancellorship at the head of a coalition between his conservative Christian Democratic Union/Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) alliance with the Social Democrats (SPD), most of his country's European allies will breathe a sigh of relief. Emerging from economic doldrums and political drift, Germany, they hope, will be back, the signs already there that the vital, once-dynamic Franco-German leadership is being rekindled. That, at least, is the promise: a reinvigorated economy, flush with a commitment to a trillion-euro infrastructure and defence spend, which will lift all European boats; the largest economic stimulus since the fall of the Berlin Wall; in response to Donald Trump's prevarication over US Nato obligations, a strong commitment to independent European defence, including solidarity with Ukraine – with arms and a willingness to contemplate Nato membership. And a renewed commitment to European integration. The German public is perhaps less optimistic about what many see as a lacklustre government led by a party whose election vote of 28.5 per cent was the second worst in its history. But Merz's bold first steps are all the more remarkable from this strong Atlanticist and fiscal conservative. In a nod to Trump, without naming him, Merz said last week: 'We have come to the realisation that we can no longer be certain of the transatlantic relationship in the spirit of freedom and the rules-based order. READ MORE Accordingly, he has moved to amend Germany's constraining constitutional fiscal brake. In Brussels and other capitals, the hope is that the willingness to loosen domestic curbs on spending and borrowing may also be reflected in a new willingness to do likewise in the EU. On raising European competitiveness, France's president Emmanuel Macron continues to press Berlin for the joint borrowing recommended by Mario Draghi's important report, which argues the union needs both public and private investments of ¤750-800 billion a year, up to 5 per cent of total GDP. Domestically, Merz promises to maintain a barrier to collaboration at federal level with the far-right Alternative fur Deutschland (AfD) which is now for the first time ahead of the CDU in polls. He was accused of pandering to it on immigration ahead of the elections, promising to tackle 'irregular' immigration that had 'got out of hand' over the past decade . But he is at odds with the SPD about what to do in practice. The CDU- SPD coalition agreement also contains few clues, beyond tax cuts and investment incentives, of exactly how the incoming administration will revive the stuttering German economy. The answer to that question will determine the success or failure of the new government.
The Guardian
29-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
The EU can't replace the US as a global player until it sheds its own colonial thinking
Donald Trump has disrupted the global economy with his disastrous tariff wars and appears hell-bent on gutting transatlantic relations. I am hoping he has also unwittingly injected new life into the EU's struggle to wean itself off overreliance on Washington. A vast network of trade and aid agreements connects the EU with more than 70 countries. The union could become an important standalone global actor and even thrive in a multipolar world. But it must first shed its Eurocentric worldviews, complacent policymaking and double standards. The omens are mixed. Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has announced plans to build a 'new EU' that can actively shape a different world order. She has acknowledged that the 'west as we knew it no longer exists', and so the EU must get used to a more complex global system. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, advocates for European 'strategic autonomy', and Germany's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, although a staunch Atlanticist, says Europe must regain its independence from the US. Amid geopolitical chaos, it is good news that there is an increase in public support for the EU and that many in the global south see the bloc as an important geopolitical actor. But some countries, such as Italy, Hungary, Poland and the three Baltic states, still hanker for life under US protection. Moreover, Brussels has yet to disprove a complaint about the EU's mindset by the Indian foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. After Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, he said Europe thinks 'its problems are the world's problems, but the world's problems are not Europe's problems'. Many in the global south are outraged, for instance, at the EU's failure to condemn Israel's genocide in Gaza even as it talks up its commitment to human rights in Ukraine. As the South Africa-based academic Carlos Lopes, author of a recent book on EU-Africa relations, told me, the EU retains such a deep-rooted 'colonial attitude of superiority that it translates into a sort of patronising charity and altruism'. Yet the EU remains attached to global trade rules, has an economy that is posting modest growth and an attractive and vibrant single internal market. The time is right for an upgrade in EU relations with the global south, but the old rules of engagement need an urgent overhaul. Von der Leyen claims the world is 'lining up' to find safe business opportunities with a Europe that upholds the rule of law as Trump sows chaos on global markets. But having reported on EU relations with the global south for most of my professional life, it is clear to me that EU policymakers must stop lecturing and start listening. In addition to protecting trade, the EU has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to re-evaluate its soft-power credentials, which are now tarnished by racism, Islamophobia, antisemitism and attacks on women's rights and the gay community. After years of negotiations, prospects for new EU free-trade agreements with Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and India appear upbeat. But only if European negotiators heed figures such as the former Indonesian president Joko Widodo when they stand up against perceived EU coercion and an assumption in Brussels that 'my standards are better than yours'. The EU, for instance, has clinched or is pursuing critical raw-material deals with resource-rich countries such as Rwanda, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Europe needs to protect its green and digital transition, but these deals risk turning into little more than neocolonial resource grabs: no wonder Indonesia and some African countries are pushing back. Since Trump dismantled USAid, European activists are also fighting to maintain EU funding for the world's most fragile nations. But what hope is there when EU governments, including France and Germany, are slashing their development budgets. As efforts continue to limit migration to Fortress Europe in all its harsh manifestations, the EU's strategy of relying on neighbouring strongmen who are paid to deter migrant crossings is provoking serious racial strife. Yasmine Karimi, an expert in Europe-north Africa relations, tells me: 'The Tunisian president has accused African migrants of being part of a scheme to change the demographic composition of Tunisia. It is a 'great replacement' argument that has never before been heard in north Africa.' Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion The EU could also show more grit as Trump takes a sledgehammer to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. But while Hadja Lahbib, the EU's equality commissioner, is seeking to strengthen women's rights, no action has been taken so far to revive an important antidiscrimination law that was abruptly withdrawn earlier this year. The EU's moral authority has been undermined by Germany and other states cracking down on pro-Palestine protesters. In many ways, Trump provides European policymakers with an opportunity. They have a chance now to revise some of the EU's more egregious policies and to truly reinvent the bloc as a credible, relevant presence on the global stage. I am confident that stronger EU engagement with the global south could help bring geopolitical stability to an unsettled world. It would also offer a compelling alternative to Trump's dystopia. But it will require more than von der Leyen's rhetoric and wishful thinking. Shada Islam is a Brussels-based commentator on EU affairs. She runs New Horizons Project, a strategy, analysis and advisory company
