The winds of change are now sweeping across Iceland. The island has finally come to terms with the volatile nature of current geopolitics as dictated by Trump’s vulgar realpolitik, Putin’s aggressive historical-political revisionism and China’s growing forays into the international arena. In response, the Icelandic Samfylkingin government is now planning to restart EU accession talks, which have been suspended since 2013. The process was abandoned in 2013 due to a standst

On July 14th 2026, under the scorching Parisian sun, French military troops marched down the historical Champs Elysées. Unusually, this year the military parade was opened by the thirty five countries making up the Coalition of the Willing, flying over and marching down the avenue in front of their respective leaders. What followed was one the biggest parades ever witnessed on Bastille Day, with 6.700 troops, 98 aircrafts, 31 helicopters and 315 vehicles mobilised, simultaneo

It seems an energy crisis is once again being manufactured, not only by war but by deliberate policy. The Strait of Hormuz, the passageway for a fifth of the world’s traded oil, is shut once again. The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve is at its lowest level since 1983. Russia, the world’s second-largest diesel exporter, has banned all diesel exports. And Europe heads into the winter with the lowest gas reserves in 15 years, while paradoxically purchasing record volumes of gas f

Over ten years later, Brexit remains era-defining, indirectly toppling yet another prime minister. Starmer has resigned. A resignation catalysed by the local elections that saw Labour lose almost five times as many voters to the Greens and Liberal Democrats as to Reform UK. Pressure from the pro-EU progressives and centrists was key to the end of the Starmer project, a fact that is at the front of Andy Burnham’s mind as he plans an ascent to Downing Street and has to take o

In violation of the constitutional conventions that Britain usually holds dear, Britain will endure a long, directionless interval following Keir Starmer's resignation on 22nd June. The election of a new leader, Andy Burnham, who was sworn in as MP also on the 22nd June after winning the Makerfield by-election, is the likely replacement. If Burnham’s leadership bid faces no contest, he is likely to take over in the 17-20th July period, rather than in September, as some have s

‘The only thing stopping Trump from monetising Greenland is that you can’t put it on a mug. Yet’ Donald Trump has never been a man who does things quietly, or particularly logically. Chaos is the policy. Disruption is the strategy. By the time he had set his sights on Greenland, most of the world had long stopped being surprised by what came out of his mouth; and yet, for the 56,000 people who live there, this particular fixation landed differently. At some point in 2019, Nuu

Orbán spent 16 years making himself the EU’s biggest problem. His legacy, it turns out, is an opposition equipped with a supermajority to dismantle everything that he built – if they choose to. Last Sunday, Péter Magyar 's insurgent Tisza party got the mandate to re-wire the state Viktor Orbán had consolidated around himself. For the EU, the implications of this election are immediate, and for once are in Brussels’ favour. The most relevant and urgent consequence is that the

The Iran war has reached the European Union’s back yard, with European warships crowding Cyprus’ shores and drone attacks striking RAF Akrotiri last month. While Europe insists this is not a war, the security of this small island member state is the security of the Union. A few hundred kilometres from the Levant, Europe is quietly building a defensive perimeter around Cyprus – whether it admits it or not. The UK has cleared its bases to facilitate US “defensive strikes” on

While the United States and much of the world was focused on the fallout from the Epstein files, the second phase of the Gaza peace plan began . If the current Trump administration manages to deliver a breakthrough in the Middle East, it would be by far the president’s most significant achievement on the world stage so far. Talk of a Nobel Peace Prize for Trump may have died down, but his own desire for it remains obvious, as shown by his angry messages to the Norwegian prime

On December 1st 2025 Khaled Mohamed Ali El Hishri, commonly known as ‘El Hishri’, was surrendered to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and is to face trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity in The Hague this year. The trial is a significant moment in the modern history of European-Libyan relations as it demonstrates that crimes - both contemporary and historical - of the greatest severity that are committed in Libyan detention centres are subject to internationa

Commonly known as the Western Anchor, Bulgaria has officially adopted the Euro and become a member of the Eurozone. The European Central Bank (ECB) can finally welcome Bulgaria as an official member as of January 1, 2026, carrying the weight of the anchor to new and more democratic heights. Becoming a member of the European Union in 2007 , alongside Romania, further solidifies the formidable barrier that aims to contain the Putin War Machine in Moscow. Leaving the Lev behind

The Balkan Legacy Winston Churchill supposedly posited that the Balkans produced far too much history for it to be accurately consumed, largely echoing the typical “orientalism” rhetoric that Edward Said aptly pronounced as the ignorance many in the West have of anything the wrong side of Rome. Once more, Western nations have made a deep folly in not fully appreciating the precariousness of the peace following the Homeland War of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia. Througho

In a political climate that increasingly rewards sensationalism, echo chambers, and polarisation whilst punishing nuance, Europinion was founded back in 2023 with a simple mission: to facilitate pluralistic discussion, to provide a platform for serious, accessible discussions, whilst pertinently open to disagreement without falling into antagonism. Two years on, 2025 has been the clearest demonstration yet of why that mission matters, and of what an independent organisation c

The Republic of Moldova, a small country situated between the EU and Russia, has long been vulnerable because of its heavy reliance on Russian-controlled energy infrastructure. The war in Ukraine and the 2025 Russian gas cutoff exposed this serious vulnerability. Responding to these challenges, the pro-EU Moldovan government has taken strong measures towards energy diversification and integration into the EU energy system. This article examines how Moldova is reducing its rel

As the Prime Minister looks to inaugurate a “new era” in his country’s relationship with Europe , his task is not only to repair pre-existing bonds, but also to open new avenues that support his ambitions for greater British influence abroad and economic growth at home. In this context, the South Caucasus – comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – deserves far more attention than it has traditionally received in Westminster. While famously chequered, the UK’s relationsh

On 24 October 2025, the pro-reunification, Turkish Cypriot candidate Tufan Erhurman won the elections in Northern Cyprus. He won convincingly, with a whopping 62.8% of the vote. For the past 51 years, the island has been divided between the Republic of Cyprus in the south and a Turkish-occupied zone in the north - the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Many attempts to reunite Cyprus have failed due to disagreements between regional actors, primarily

Siniša Karan has been declared the winner of the recent snap elections in Republika Srpska, after long-standing leader Milorad Dodik was removed from office back in August. Dodik attempted to seriously undermine the Dayton Accords by denying rulings from the High Representative, Christian Schmidt, which is a direct violation of the negotiated peace. Under a dual agreement , Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) has enjoyed its autonomy alongside Republika Srpska, until recently t

Two peace proposals now frame the future of Ukraine . Washington's draft plan focuses on concessions and neutrality, while Brussels has unveiled a new framework built around the principle that "borders cannot be changed by force" . At first glance, they seem to represent different strategies. In reality, they reflect two competing ways the world has thought about security for nearly a century. The first is universalism, the idea that every state, large or small, enjoys the sa

In the heat of Summer 2023, as tourists swarmed Crete’s postcard-perfect beaches, Greek police raided a fertility clinic in the port town of Chania. What they uncovered was a sophisticated operation involving illegal surrogacy and human trafficking. I first heard about the case through the Greek community in Melbourne. Some of the commissioning parents involved were known within those circles and word of the investigation in Crete circulated quickly. At first, the details w

Europe is sabotaging its own climate goals by prioritising the protection of its car industry over allowing affordable Chinese electric vehicles in. This turns the green transition into a trade dispute with China, whilst risking the green transformation both sides urgently need. Europe doesn’t need a trade war, it needs a strategy. Instead of raising tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles , the EU should establish a Green Trade Truce based on transparency, cooperation and fair