France's president sparked a debate with his Europe Day speech: Does the EU need a precursor to membership? There is sympathy for it in the community, but the aspirants react suspiciously.
By Till Hoppe
Many EU states want to spend more money on defense. But for what exactly, is mostly unclear. The Commission is expected to make proposals next week, including on financing. The main goal is to persuade governments to cooperate.
By Redaktion Table
Creating a sense of European community requires more than a conference, argue our guest authors Andre Wilkens (European Cultural Foundation) and Paweł Zerka of the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). They see two areas in particular as crucial, which need to be given special attention.
By Falk Steiner
The EU Commission's sixth sanctions package with the gradual exit from Russian oil is meeting with mixed reactions from industry and business associations. Experts doubt the effect, while Hungary and Slovakia reject the package in its current form.
By Stephan Israel
India, like China, rejects Western sanctions against Russia. Prime Minister Modi made that clear during a visit to Berlin. But their mutual rejection does not make the world's two most populous states friends. On the contrary, there is no end in sight to the tensions.
By Redaktion Table
More than two months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin's propaganda machinery is showing no signs of fatigue. On the contrary, the longer Putin's war in Ukraine lasts, the more propaganda efforts Russian television makes. There is no sign of de-escalation.
By Eugenie Ankowitsch
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.
