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...situation when those ideals are brought into question? Europe might want to see progress on democracy, but one member might choose not to make that a priority. What if, say, Germany strikes business deals with Russia? There is no difference to how Germany approaches Russia and any other member state's approach. Russia is a key player in our relationship. Russia is part of the Middle East "quartet." We also have a strong trading relationship. We would like Russia in the World Trade Organization. We have regular summits and dialogues with them at different levels. If you take any strategic...
There are grumbles that the Obama Administration is ignoring Europe. Do you feel that? Not at all. I've just come back from a very long and very good meeting with Secretary of State Clinton in Washington. We've met three times, and often speak on the phone. And as an old parliamentarian, I'm always anxious to go to Capitol Hill when I am in Washington. We knew there was an issue for the President for timing, but he will be coming to Portugal for the NATO at the end of year. (See pictures from Obama's overseas trips...
...thing straight: Europe is a remarkably good place to live. Many of the E.U.'s member states are among the richest in the world. Workers in Europe usually enjoy long vacations, generous maternity leave and comfortable pension schemes. Universal health insurance is seen as part of the basic social contract. Europe is politically stable, the most generous donor of development aid in the world. Sure, taxes can be high, but most Europeans seem happy to pay more to the state in return for a higher - and guaranteed - quality of life. "The E.U. offers an attractive social, economic and political model...
...Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, was supposed to change all that. In practice, however, the new E.U. will be run by a complex mechanism with four axes: the President and Foreign Minister; the country holding the rotating presidency; the President of the European Commission and national heads of state and government. The new setup looks like a parody of all that is wrong with the E.U., bureaucratic and complicated, built on least-bad options and seemingly designed to encourage turf wars rather than action...
Kaliningrad's transport tax, for instance, has been called off for this year, and Russia can afford it: the state is still reaping massive profits from its sales of oil and gas. The broader economy is also recovering, and even though Putin's initial reaction to the protests showed some signs of dismay, Mitrokhin is far from certain that the government is afraid. "It amazes me," he says. "People are screaming for him to get out, but there is no sense that he is trying to reform or justify himself. He feels his own strength. If needed, he knows...