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Panos Tasiopoulos

‘Russkiy Mir’ and ‘Mavi Vatan’: Two Sides of the Same Coin

On 24 February 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. In the televised address he gave justifying his actions, Putin stated the “operation” had the purpose of protecting people facing humiliation and discrimination due to their Russian origins. This rhetoric lies at the core of the concept of “Russkiy Mir” (Russian […]

22 September 2022

Niklas Nováky

The EU Needs to Move Quickly With its Planned Ukraine Training Mission

At the 29-30 August informal defence ministerial meeting in Prague, EU countries agreed on the idea of establishing an EU Military Assistance Mission for Ukraine. The mission will help Ukraine’s armed forces meet their training needs and boost their capacities as the country continues to defend itself against Russia’s invasion. This isn’t the first time […]

16 September 2022

Tomi Huhtanen

From Claiming a Global Role for the EU to Defending it – State of the Union 2022

War is raging on the European continent. As a result, President Ursula von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech of 2022 did not follow the typical script of previous addresses. It was not a follow up to the points emphasised by the Commission at the beginning of von der Leyen’s term, and perhaps cleverly […]

15 September 2022

Garvan Walshe

Europe as a Global Power? France Needs to Embrace Central and Eastern Europe First

Writing in the Financial Times, France’s Minister of State for Europe Laurence Boone called for Europe to become a ‘global political power’. She’s right: we can’t defend ourselves from Russian aggression, secure our continent from state failure in the Middle East and North Africa, or protect the international trade on which our economy depends without […]

29 August 2022

Eoin Drea

After the Easy Money Comes the Hard Political Reality

As the European Central Bank (ECB) begins to tighten monetary policy, Ireland, as the famous band U2 once wrote, really is “stuck in a moment it can’t get out off”. With inflation at multi-decade highs (9.6% and rising), a worsening housing crisis, escalating public spending and full employment, the Irish economy is remarkably unbalanced. However, […]

12 July 2022

Peter Hefele

Cyber Diplomacy: a Key Field for European Diplomacy

It is increasingly difficult for any organisation to escape the omnipresent “cyber hype”. So, it is not surprising that in recent years a new field of activity has also emerged in the area of diplomacy: Cyberdiplomacy. Under the influence of digital technologies and the possibilities they afford to create virtual spaces and opportunities for interaction, […]

05 July 2022

Theo Larue

A New Era for French Politics

Political fragmentation has come to France. The 2022 legislative elections, marked by the chronically high abstention rate which now characterises the system, has seen the emergence of two extremist blocs, frustrating Emmanuel Macron’s hopes of an outright majority. With 245 seats, Macron will need to enlist the help of at least 44 opposition representatives for […]

21 June 2022

Eoin Drea

Dimitar Lilkov

Stablecoins are Crypto’s Feet of Clay

The recent price crash of Bitcoin and Ethereum has caught many investors off guard and re-opened the debate about the inherent risks of crypto assets. Interestingly, their current volatility  is not just about the whims of increasingly risk-averse investors. Rather, it is the inherent design flaws of stablecoins which are also hastening this era of […]

09 June 2022

Álvaro de la Cruz

Reconquering the West

In the spring of 2012, the European People’s Party controlled 17 of the 28 governments in the EU. Ten years on, they control 7. The reasons behind this dramatic drop are manifold, and nobody in particular is to be blamed for it. Nevertheless, the reality is that the centre-right family has been removed from the […]

24 May 2022

Jarosław Pietras

Linking Russian Sanctions to Rebuilding Ukraine

Europe’s immediate reaction to the invasion and attempted destruction of Ukraine was to impose harsh sanctions on Russia. However, the EU should also think about how to create mechanisms that, in the long term, will involve Russia in financing Ukraine’s recovery from the conflict. Stopping Russian energy imports so as to reduce the Kremlin’s capacity […]

09 May 2022

Gavin Synnott

The Clock is Ticking – Ukraine Needs Urgent Support Ahead of Russia’s Next Offensive

As Russian forces regroup ahead of their imminent offensive in eastern Ukraine, now is the time for decisive action to force Moscow to re-evaluate the cost of its unprovoked war and any future attacks. Time is of the essence. Russia must be dealt such insurmountable losses, at home and on the battlefield, that it loses […]

14 April 2022

Theo Larue

2022: The Year of Le Pen?

52-48 is a rather standard division of the vote share in Western Presidential democracies. In France, François Hollande beat incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on that score in 2012. 5 years earlier, Sarkozy had won election 53-47 against Ségolène Royal. The particularity in 2022 is that this 52-48 division reflects polling data involving incumbent President Emmanuel Macron […]

13 April 2022

Jarosław Pietras

Ukraine’s Accession Cannot Happen Overnight, but it Deserves Due Consideration

The author is a WMCES Visiting Fellow and the former Polish Secretary of State in the Office of the Committee for European Integration, who was involved in Poland’s accession to the EU. On 11 March 2022, EU leaders met informally in Versailles to discuss the Russian war against Ukraine. The question of how to address […]

12 April 2022

Anne Blanksma Çeta

Understanding Fidesz’s Landslide Victory in Hungary: Some New Data

By Anne Blanksma Çeta, Principal Social Impact Strategy, Glocalities While opinion polls announced a narrow race in the Hungarian parliamentary elections of 3 April, Fidesz enjoyed a decisive victory. How did Viktor Orbán achieve this? And what does it mean for Fidesz’s public support in the coming months, now that the EU has decided to […]

08 April 2022

Vít Novotný

Ukrainian Refugees and the EU’s Absorption Capacity

Popular sentiments are crucial in how societies respond to immigration. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the volume of refugee migration into the EU stagnated. The bloc’s share in hosting the world’s refugees had been declining since the peak of the bloc’s asylum and border crisis of 2015-16. There was also […]

06 April 2022

Anna Nalyvayko

Normalising Ukraine’s Tragedy Would be Europe’s Gravest Mistake

After Euromajdan, the feeling of “Ukraine fatigue” slowly creeped across the EU over the years, as the plight of the Ukrainians became increasingly less newsworthy. Today, there is growing risk that a similar fatigue will re-emerge. That cannot happen; that must not be allowed to happen. Not now. Not after the daily sacrifices made by […]

24 March 2022

Tomi Huhtanen

Putin and the End of the Strong Man’s Tale

Putin is rapidly losing the war in Ukraine; his war. The advance of Russian troops remains stalled, and the logistical problems stemming from operating on multiple fronts remain unsolved. Putin had three basic options to move forward; seek a peace agreement with Ukraine in upcoming weeks, try to continue the war with new resources from […]

16 March 2022

Eoin Drea

The Future of the Russian Economy – Echoes of 1918?

The recent downgrades of the Russian economy have increased the prospect of the Kremlin defaulting on its foreign debts. Tied to international sanctions and the retreat of foreign investment from Russia, there is much speculation about the prospects of a reeling Russian economy. But although President Putin is a self-proclaimed scholar of economics, the economic implications of invading […]

15 March 2022

Tomi Huhtanen

The Fight for Europe’s Future is Being Fought in the Streets of Ukraine

While Ukrainians fight for the defence of Kyiv, for the country and for their independence, it is clear that the year 2022 will define Europe’s history in a way comparable only to 1989. Europe’s history after the Second World War, the development of the European community and later the European Union was largely about rectifying […]

27 February 2022

Henna Virkkunen

The EU is too Dependent on Imported Energy

The European Union has accomplished many of its energy policy goals. Energy efficiency has improved, the share of renewable energy has increased, and emissions have decreased; the latter two have progressed even faster than expected. In 2020, a milestone was reached when renewables overtook fossil fuels in the EU’s electricity mix. On the other hand, […]

15 February 2022

Vladimir Milov

How Gazprom Manipulated the EU Gas Market

In light of the European gas price crisis of 2021, questions are mounting whether Gazprom—a Russian majority state-owned energy corporation and an important supplier of energy to Europe—had contributed to record-breaking European gas price hikes by manipulating the market and withholding the supply of gas from Europe. Most recently, the Russian gas giant was accused […]

03 February 2022

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Hi, we are the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies, the official think tank of the European People’s Party.
Through our work, we inspire ideas for action and shape responses to European challenges.

During testing times for Europe, we believe these challenges deserve the best of our intellectual efforts
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