German Chancellor Olaf Scholz tried his best to persuade Sofia to abandon its blockade of accession talks with North Macedonia. Finance Minister Vassilev has now rejected the hoped-for solution ahead of Thursday's summit.
By Till Hoppe
After the EU Commission's "go", the way seems clear for Ukraine at the EU summit on Thursday. Denmark and the Netherlands have put aside their reservations, but Hungary is still considered a shaky candidate. There is also the "political knot" in the Western Balkans.
By Eric Bonse
The word "historic" was frequently used during yesterday's visit of the quartet of EU heads of state and government to Kyiv. Emmanuel Macron held out the prospect of Ukraine's immediate candidate status for EU accession while Olaf Scholz was somewhat more cautious. The chancellor knows that not all member states are on board yet.
By Till Hoppe
Scholz, Macron, and Draghi will likely travel together to Kyiv today – sending a strong symbol of solidarity with Ukraine. They could bring President Zelenskiy a perspective for his country's EU accession, albeit conditionally. Macron is also promoting his model of a European Political Community.
By Till Hoppe
Global risks create new challenges. Inflation, food shortages and energy supply, which is being redefined by the Russian war in Ukraine, are closely intertwined and mutually reinforcing. These risks also recently occupied the World Economic Forum in Davos very intensively. That's good, but: It seems that the long-term climate goals of the global community have been lost in the fog of war, and that is by no means in Beijing's interest.
By Table.Briefings
The Ukraine-China relationship has long been cold, but it holds a lot of potential. For a long time, the relationship was characterized by a simple trade exchange. Currently, however, China is emerging as a major trading partner of Ukraine. In the plans of China's New Silk Road initiative, Ukraine has played a minor role until now. In the wake of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the Chinese government is behaving cautiously, but increasingly a slight distancing can be seen. Read the latest Ukraine-China news from the Table.editorial team. How has the Ukraine-China relationship developed? Even though Ukraine has repeatedly expressed interest in the Silk Road initiative, the state has made few moves on China. Due to Ukraine's difficult economic and political situation resulting from Russian aggression, China is distancing itself from Ukraine. Ukraine also focused its foreign policy on the West - the European Union and the United States to persuade Russia to make peace with economic and political sanctions. Given the complicated U.S.-China relationship, Ukraine had deliberately avoided rapprochement with China. Closer contact with Xi Jinping is emerging under Ukrainian President Volodymyr Selenskyj, heralding a possible new phase in the Ukraine-China relationship.
