Category: Europe
Coverage of geopolitics, international relations, and current affairs from across Europe, including EU policies, NATO strategies, elections, and Europe’s influence on global politics.
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During this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions, Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch challenged Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the government’s military restraint following Iranian drone and missile strikes on British Sovereign Base Areas in Cyprus and Bahrain. Badenoch criticised the Prime Minister’s refusal to authorise offensive RAF strikes, accusing him of “catching arrows rather than…
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Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended the UK’s choice not to join initial US and Israeli strikes on Iran, calling it a “deliberate decision” in the UK’s national interest while emphasising that any UK military action must have a lawful basis and a viable, well-planned strategy. Speaking in the Commons on Monday (2 March), he…
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Speaking from a ballistic-missile submarine base in Brittany, French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed an increase in France’s nuclear warheads and pledged decisive action to defend the country’s “vital interests,” stating, “In this very dangerous and unstable world… in order to be free, we have to be feared.” “I have ordered an increase in the number…
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Belgium, in coordination with France, has seized a suspected Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the North Sea, intensifying European enforcement of sanctions on Moscow’s energy exports. Belgium’s Defence Minister Theo Francken confirmed that armed forces boarded the vessel on Saturday (28 February) evening and escorted it to Zeebrugge. President Emmanuel Macron said French helicopters…
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Switzerland’s most significant military modernisation in decades faces internal political disputes and constitutional constraints. Defence Minister Martin Pfister warns the country confronts its “most dangerous security environment in decades,” but his proposals often meet resistance within the federal government. Recent reforms include: • Reorganising the Swiss armed forces to strengthen territorial defence, decentralising the air…
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Green Party candidate Hannah Spencer won the Gorton and Denton by-election with 14,980 votes, ahead of Reform UK on 10,578 and Labour on 9,364. Turnout was 47.6%, marginally lower than in the 2024 general election. Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the result “very disappointing” but acknowledged voters’ frustration and impatience for change. He insisted he…
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The UK’s first deep geothermal plant has started operations at United Downs, Cornwall, generating renewable electricity from over 5km (around 3 miles) underground. The site will produce 3 megawatts (MW) of power — enough to supply 10,000 homes — with plans for three Cornwall projects to reach 10MW. The geothermal water, heated to over 190°C,…
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Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has called an early general election for 24 March, describing the next four years as “decisive” for Danish and European security. Addressing parliament, the Prime Minister said Denmark must “stand on our own feet” and reassess its relationship with the United States, adding that security will remain “the very foundation…
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Iceland will hold a referendum in the coming months on whether to restart European Union accession talks, Prime Minister Kristrun Frostadottir has confirmed. “In the coming months we are going to have a referendum on opening up the negotiations, the accession negotiations for Iceland to possibly join the EU,” Frostadottir told a joint press conference…
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Ireland has unveiled its first maritime security strategy, outlining plans to strengthen radar and subsea surveillance amid rising hybrid threats in the North Atlantic. Published by the Department of Defence, the strategy highlights vulnerabilities across Ireland’s territorial waters, which host major transatlantic data cables and critical energy interconnectors. The document cites concerns over Russia’s alleged…
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