Lectures & Debate

Europe aspires to strategic autonomy, yet when it comes to car manufacturing, some Member States and many European companies are choosing Chinese dependence instead. China’s trade surplus with the European Union has reached the stratospheric level of €1 billion a day. Behind this staggering drain lies decades of strategic planning and industrial subsidies designed to make Chinese manufacturing technologically superior and unbeatable on cost, niche by niche, sector by sector.

If the current shift continues, we may be heading towards a NATO in which European countries assume ever greater responsibility for their own conventional defence, while the United States primarily retains its nuclear umbrella. The fundamental question is: who will coordinate Europe's military dimension—the EU, NATO, or the Member States? Will Ankara 2026 go down in history as the birth of NATO 3.0? That is the term circulating in diplomatic circles to describe a NATO in whic

2026 is proving to be a far better year for Europe than 2025. If the stars remain aligned, it could become a landmark year. Could 2026 be Europe’s year? This may seem an outlandish proposition, given how a continent lacking in geopolitical muscle, industrial strength and technological autonomy is facing the combined onslaught of Russian aggression, American dominance and Chinese mercantilism. It may seem a naïve aspiration, given how a European Union built for globalization i

Europe Day comes and goes, but where is the European vision and the political imagination needed for a Europe ready for a new era? On May 9, 1950, the French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman set out a bold political and economic vision to make war between European nations “not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.” The Schuman Declaration inspired a generation of leaders to build Europe’s economic integration on a foundation of common security by pooling coal and stee

Has the new European Union quietly been born, with three tiers of membership? Last week’s European summit was, as previous summits before it, dominated by the geopolitical travails of the European Union. This time around, Europe’s leaders could confirm the widely expected post-Orbán step to unlock Ukraine’s financial support package, discuss the energy shocks radiating from the Street of Hormuz, ponder the role of the EU’s NATO-style mutual assistance clause, and brainstorm o

Viktor Orbán is gone, but his shadow still hangs over Europe. In one way or another, we are all a little like Orbán. The curse of Donald Trump has not failed to make its mark. After Anthony Albanese in Australia and Mark Carney in Canada, Péter Magyar wins elections in Hungary despite the open support of the American president for his opponent. When Trump and his acolytes interfere in the elections of other democracies, the electorate seems to know above all whom not to vote