Only when the Western Balkans is integrated into the EU, and the EU reforms itself, can Brussels really turn its attention to Ukraine or other potential accession candidates.
Germany’s leading economic index, the ZEW, collapsed in July as fears mount that Russia will cut the country off from gas entirely at the end of this month, and that could spark a major economic crisis, Oxford Economics reported on July 12.
In my opinion, the macro environment is riskier than before the Dotcom Bubble and before the Great Financial Bubble. Why? A nasty cocktail of factors which may reinforce each other:
Economic crisis in country so severe that meat consumption is said to have halved in five years.
Ratings agency notes risk that in event of weaker depositor confidence or deterioration in until-now resilient access of banks and corporates to external financing, official international reserves would come under pressure.
Nuclear is set to make a "comeback," with capacity forecast to double between 2020 and 2050 from 413 GW to 812 GW, the IEA said.
Pockets of weakness persist in emerging markets where real interest rates are deeply negative – and risks for those countries are rapidly mounting.
Global efforts to combat climate change are being endangered by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the current energy crisis.
Germany’s opposition to expanding nuclear power could be changing slowly, as the current gas crisis leads to more voices calling for an end to the closure of nuclear power plants.
The worsening economic data coming out of the US and yet another coronavirus lockdown in China will tip the world into a global recession, the Institute of International Finance (IIF) said in a note on July 1.
An increase in extreme weather events and natural disasters like flooding, heatwaves and landslides will hit urban areas the hardest, making climate change adaptation a matter of paramount importance, the UN has warned.
Price rises and demand weakness combined to lead to softer new orders and scaling back of production.
Global inflation refuses to be tamed and with price increases in the US hitting 8.6% in May, its highest level in 40 years, the Fed is expected to continue tightening monetary policy by hiking rates that will suck liquidity out of emerging markets.
Turkish president says objections to Sweden and Finland joining Nato were all about terrorists and militants. Analysis still suggests a bigger issue in play is the autocrat’s determination to get his hands on warplanes.
Security alliance’s leaders agree a big increase in troop deployments on its Eastern Flank, more help for Ukraine in its defence against Russian aggression, and a new Strategic Concept.
Europe’s gas storage tanks were 58.23% full as of June 26 and are still on course to hit the EU target of 80% full by October 1, the traditional start of the heating season, despite Russian cuts in gas flows to Europe this month.
Big boost for Western defence bloc as Madrid summit gets underway, with member states seeking to demonstrate unmistakable unity to Kremlin while the Ukraine-Russia war continues to rage.
Turks are rightly proud of the success of Bayraktar drones in the conflict in Ukraine and Kyiv was grateful, but now they are not so sure as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan plays both side of the fence.
Among many other competitors, it will take on BluTV, the market leader in Turkey’s subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) market with a 42% share.
Vladimir Putin wants to reorientate Russian trade east and south. To some extent, such a strategy will be complicated by an avoid-Russia-at-all-costs mentality drawing commerce to a ‘Middle Corridor’.