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Politics

The European Union is holding a special summit in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war and broader security issues, Euronews reported on March 6. 

EU: Bloc Holds Special Summit To Discuss Ukraine and Defense

Energy

Slovakia's government is weighing possible retaliatory measures against Ukraine after Kyiv's refusal to extend a transit agreement with Russia's Gazprom to transport Russian natural gas to Slovakia through its territory, Reuters reported Jan. 2.

Slovakia, Ukraine: Slovak PM Fico Threatens Retaliatory Action Against Ukraine Over Russian Gas Transit Halt

Poland

Russia

European natural gas prices are fluctuating near monthly highs in anticipation for the Ukraine-Russia gas transit agreement's expiration on Dec. 31 and colder weather in the coming days and weeks, Bloomberg reported Dec. 30.

EU, Russia, Ukraine: Volatile European Gas Prices Ahead of Anticipated End to Ukraine-Russia Transit Agreement

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Dec. 22, in a visit that had not been announced in advance, the Financial Times reported the same day.

Slovakia, Russia: Slovak PM Meets with Putin in Surprise Visit to Moscow

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico remains in serious but stable condition after he was shot and gravely injured on May 15 following a government meeting in the town of Handlova, about 150 kilometers (about 93 miles) northeast of the country's capital Bratislava, Reuters reported on May 16.

Slovakia: Prime Minister in Serious but Stable Condition After Assassination Attempt

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico was shot and injured on May 15 as he greeted people following a government meeting in the town of Handlova, about 150 km (about 93 miles) northeast of the country's capital Bratislava, AP reported shortly after the incident. 

Slovakia: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico Shot and Seriously Injured in Assassination Attempt

Slovakia's parliament approved fast-tracked reforms softening punishments for a series of financial crimes and abolishing a special prosecution office dealing with high-level corruption cases, despite ongoing public demonstrations in the country and criticism from the European Commission, Reuters reported on Feb. 8.

Slovakia: Controversial Judicial Reform Paves Way for Rule-of-Law Dispute With EU

Luxembourg

Lithuania

Malta

Germany

Finland

Latvia

Czech Republic

Denmark

Greece

France

Estonia

Sweden

Belgium

Bulgaria

Portugal

Romania

Croatia

Cyprus

Austria

Slovenia

Netherlands

Spain

Italy

Ireland

Environment, Science & Technology

Science & Technology

The European Commission recommended reducing the European Union's net greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 compared with 1990 levels, Reuters reported Feb. 6. 

EU: Brussels to Exclude Agriculture from 90% Emissions Reduction Target for 2040

Snapshots

United States

China

United Kingdom

Members of the European Parliament take part in voting on the Artificial Intelligence Act during a plenary session at the European Parliament.

Cyber

The EU's recently negotiated Artificial Intelligence Act will bolster the European Union's dominance as a regulatory heavyweight in emerging technologies, yet anticipated enforcement challenges and stringent stipulations with the Act risk impeding AI innovation within the bloc.

EU Lawmakers Clinch Agreement on Artificial Intelligence Act 

Former Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico waits to meet the country's president in Bratislava on Oct. 2, 2023, following his Smer party's victory in Slovakia's Sept. 30 snap election. 

Upcoming coalition talks will likely yield a more Eurosceptic government that could reduce the country's political and military aid to Kyiv.

What Slovakia's Election Results Mean for Its Political Future and Support for Ukraine

Assessments

Turkey

Armenia

Azerbaijan

The U.S. Capitol on Dec. 22, 2022, in Washington.

A look at what the coming week will bring -- and a list of recommended RANE articles from the week that was.

The Weekly Rundown: Turkey's Parliamentary Session, a U.S. Government Shutdown

Rail cars loaded with steel sit at the ThyssenKrupp Schwelgern steel plant on May 30, 2018 in Duisburg, Germany. 

The European Union and the United States will increase efforts to deconflict their trade and climate policies ahead of the upcoming U.S. presidential and EU parliamentary elections, but lingering disagreements will not allow for a complete respite of Trump-era tariffs on EU steel and aluminum.

EU-U.S. Steel and Aluminum Negotiations Make Limited Headway

Robert Fico (left), Slovakia's former prime minister and leader of the populist Smer party, and then-Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini attend a press conference in Bratislava, Slovakia, on March 1, 2020. 

The Sept. 30 vote may yield a government that reduces the country's alignment with the EU and NATO, but drastic anti-Western moves remain unlikely.

Previewing Slovakia's Parliamentary Elections

German Minister of State for European Affairs Michael Roth speaks on the screen during a virtual EU press conference in Brussels, Belgium, on Nov. 17, 2020. 

COVID-19

EU: Regional Blocs

The Fate of the Eurozone

European Disintegration

Hungary and Poland’s move to veto an EU spending package could delay the disbursement of much-needed funds to the bloc’s struggling economies. 

A Rule of Law Dispute Threatens Europe’s Economic Recovery 

A satellite image shows Europe at night.

Security

The New Silk Road

Divided EU Foreign Policies

The U.S. and the Balance of Power

The move shows the White House remains committed to its security and economic engagements in the region, with an eye on countering China and Russia. 

The U.S. Ramps Up Financial Support to Central and Eastern Europe

Serbia

Albania

Many of Eastern Europe's governments are lurching away from democracy, provoking pushback from civil society.

As governments in EU members like the Czech Republic, Romania and others run roughshod over the bloc's values, civil society groups are fighting to uphold the rule of law.

Eastern Europe Witnesses a Quiet Revolution

The Politics of Pipelines

The Fight for Russia’s Borderlands

If passed, a measure would give Germany some negotiating power over the key pipeline project to deliver Russian natural gas directly to the EU.

EU: Germany Might Take the Lead in Negotiations With Russia on Nord Stream 2

The increasing unwillingness of eastern members to heed the EU's demands threatens to deepen the divide between the bloc's west and east.

Quarrels between the European Union's new member states and their more established neighbors are disrupting the search for harmony on the Continent.

In the EU, East and West Are Falling Out of Tune

Reflections

French President Emmanuel Macron will soon focus on Central and Eastern Europe, meeting with the leaders of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia in Salzburg on Aug. 23, and then visiting Romania on Aug. 24 and Bulgaria on Aug. 25. The official goal of these meetings is to discuss the situation of Eastern European nationals working in Western Europe. But France is also playing a more subtle political game. 

As the European Union deliberates its future, French President Emmanuel Macron will use his tour of Central and Eastern Europe to try to shape the role they have in it.

The Subtle Game France Is Playing in Central Europe

Bosnia and Herzegovina

North Macedonia

Supply Chains

China in Transition

Despite its goal to foster integration throughout Eurasia, Beijing has so far emphasized bilateral or subregional agreements with its Belt and Road projects in Europe, an approach that has raised the suspicions of the bloc's central powers.

For China, All Roads (and Belts) Lead to Europe

China's Belt and Road Initiative

SITUATION REPORTS

EU: Bloc Holds Special Summit To Discuss Ukraine and Defense

Slovakia, Ukraine: Slovak PM Fico Threatens Retaliatory Action Against Ukraine Over Russian Gas Transit Halt

EU, Russia, Ukraine: Volatile European Gas Prices Ahead of Anticipated End to Ukraine-Russia Transit Agreement

Slovakia, Russia: Slovak PM Meets with Putin in Surprise Visit to Moscow

Slovakia: Prime Minister in Serious but Stable Condition After Assassination Attempt

Slovakia: Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico Shot and Seriously Injured in Assassination Attempt

Slovakia: Controversial Judicial Reform Paves Way for Rule-of-Law Dispute With EU

EU: Brussels to Exclude Agriculture from 90% Emissions Reduction Target for 2040

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