Helene von Bismarck

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David Cameron with Jean-Claude Juncker at the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, February 2016. Photograph: Yves Herman/Reuters

Europa

It is quite incredible really. David Cameron is back. The former prime minister who gambled with the future of his country by calling the Brexit referendum because he wanted to resolve a dispute within his own party is now entrusted with representing British interests on the world stage.

As a European, it is impossible not to laugh: I did, for several minutes, when news broke of his resurrection. But in spite of the staggering irony of it all, this could actually be good news from the perspective of the UK’s allies in Europe and beyond. Politics is the art of the possible, and every appointment should be weighed against its alternatives.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘Putin’s Russia spent decades courting German political elites.’ The Russian president, left, with the former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder in Berlin, 2005. Photograph: Herbert Knosowski/AP

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Under the veneer of western unity in support of Ukraine, reactions to the war across Europe have been informed by different countries’ readings of their own history, of earlier conflicts on this continent, and by their conceptions of Russia’s national character. There is no automatic consensus within democratic societies about the lessons of the past, nor should there be. Remembrance is often selective, and the way ahead involves a discussion about what went wrong before.

Nowhere has this process of revisiting the past in search of the right decisions for the future been more fraught since the Russian invasion than in Germany.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘The symbolic importance of this ceremony can hardly be overstated.’ King Charles III and Camilla arrive in Germany. Photograph: Ian Vogler/AFP/Getty Images

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King Charles III will not only travel to Berlin during his state visit to Germany this week, but also Hamburg, the country’s second largest city and home to its biggest port. Hamburg is a trading hub known for its anglophilia, with close connections to Great Britain that go back centuries that were revived during the British occupation of the city after the second world war, when the former enemy quickly turned into a close partner.

When you take the long view at UK-German relations, this part of the king’s trip is at least as important and meaningful as his appointments in the German capital.…  Seguir leyendo »

‘It is impossible for any country to escape geography.’ Photograph: DNY59/Getty Images/iStockphoto

EuropaUnión EuropeaPolítica Exterior

The soap opera of British politics in recent months may have eclipsed something more consequential for the UK in the long run than the revolving doors in Downing Street. The relationship between the UK and the rest of Europe is slowly and quietly changing.

It is too early to speak of a turning point, but there is at least a chance that we will look back on 2022 as the year when Britons and other Europeans finally escaped a downward spiral that has, since the Brexit referendum, poisoned not just the relationship between the UK and the EU, but bilateral relationships between the UK and many EU countries.…  Seguir leyendo »