Western Europe Archive

The European Union, most often preoccupied with its economic problems over the past few years, grappled with two strategic challenges last week. The first involved a tug-of-war with Russia over Ukraine. The second centered on Geneva, where the union’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, chaired talks on Iran’s nuclear program. The EU appeared to fail the first test, as Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych stepped back from approving an association agreement with the bloc under pressure from Moscow. By contrast, the Geneva negotiations culminated in seeming success, as Tehran agreed to temporarily curtail its uranium enrichment in exchange for mild sanctions […]

Francois Hollande may be one of the least popular presidents of all time at home in France, but in Israel, where he was greeted yesterday with the red carpet treatment, he is certainly one of the most popular French presidents ever to visit the country. The obvious reason is France’s hard-line stance in Geneva at the latest round of talks on the Iranian nuclear issue. But contrary to how it has been portrayed, Paris’ firmness on Iran’s nuclear program is not driven by a desire to curry favor in Israel—or in the Persian Gulf—and French-Israeli relations should not be reduced […]

A new political alliance was announced in Europe this week. Meeting in The Hague, the leaders of the Netherlands’ Party for Freedom, Geert Wilders, and France’s National Front, Marine Le Pen, announced they would campaign together for the approaching European Parliament elections in 2014. Both parties oppose immigration, Islam and the European Union, and hope to rally a pan-European insurgency to their banner. The meeting was focused on May 2014, when voters across Europe will head to the ballot box to elect their representatives in the European Parliament. European elections are held every five years to determine the composition of […]

On Nov. 4, French President Francois Hollande received his Tunisian counterpart, Moncef Marzouki, at the Elysee Palace to discuss bilateral ties as Tunisia continues in its halting democratic transition. The visit coincided with yet another stalemate in recently renewed political talks within Tunisia’s National Constituent Assembly (NCA), the body formed in 2011 to draft the country’s new constitution. The 2011 Tunisian uprising that resulted in the ouster of former dictator Zine al-Abedine Ben Ali marked a new chapter for French-Tunisian relations, born out of colonial ties and maintained today through economic partnership. Amicable relations with Ben Ali flourished particularly under […]

Under new President Hasan Rouhani, Iran has moved swiftly to repair communication channels with the U.S. and speed up negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. So far, much attention has been paid to how Washington will react to Rouhani’s diplomatic outreach. But success in these negotiations will also necessitate an improved Iranian relationship with the European Union. While there is skepticism about how flexible the Islamic Republic can be and whether Presidents Hasan Rouhani and Barack Obama can deliver on whatever deal might come out of the negotiation process, an equally important question is what the EU can offer to get […]