Andrew Gray
@andrew_r_gray
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European Affairs Editor @Reuters , covering NATO & EU foreign policy. Once of UK, Germany, Geneva, Balkans, Iraq, West Africa & DC. Ex-Politico editor/podcaster.
Brussels, Belgium
Joined May 2014
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Last Seen Profiles
Pinned Tweet
I've been working on this story for 16 years, on and off. Now it's finally out, as a podcast beautifully produced by
@Claire_Crofton
for
@RadioNational
and a written piece from me.
Listen:
Read: …
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Nobody does 'informal' quite like the EU...
Welcome to the first day of the informal European Council in
#Versailles
#EUCO
The meeting has just started with an exchange of views with
@EP_President
Metsola.
To ensure confidentiality, discussions today take place without electronic devices per request of
@eucopresident
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Italy asked to activate EU mechanism for supply of medical equipment: “Unfortunately, not a single EU country responded to the Commission’s call. Only China responded bilaterally. Certainly, this is not a good sign of European solidarity.”
#coronavirus
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Watching Scholz in Bundestag today is watching decades of German foreign policy change in a few minutes before your eyes.
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NATO boss
@jensstoltenberg
with blunt comments on Ukraine just now:
- Ukrainians are running out of ammunition
- NATO allies not providing Ukraine with enough ammunition
- Urgent need for allies to make decisions to step up
- Allies have capacity, it's about political will
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Happy to say I’m returning to Reuters, my first journalistic home, as senior correspondent for European security and diplomacy.
I’ll be covering NATO, EU foreign policy and more.
I start on Jan 9 but happy to meet for coffees, lunches etc before then. DMs open! (1/2)
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New year, new job!
I’m honoured to take on the role of European Affairs Editor at Reuters.
I’ll still be reporting & writing on EU foreign policy and NATO.
But now also leading a team of ace reporters & working with many others across Europe.
Really looking forward to it.
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As you may have seen (or heard!), yesterday was my last day at Politico Europe.
I've hugely enjoyed my 5+ years there. I'm proud of what we've built together and will miss the team dearly.
But I decided it was time for a new chapter. Coming next: a break and hopefully a book.
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When a European Commissioner tweets that the European Commission is doing something...
...that's not an official statement of the European Commission...
according to...
the European Commission 🤔
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As someone who has actually lived there, compassion definitely springs to mind when I contemplate the Balkans.
'Stereotype' springs to mind when I contemplate this tweet.
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If you don't know much about something, it's ok to to say nothing.
If you have half a thought, it's ok to wait until you have a full one.
Radical thesis, I know. For some people here anyway.
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First day back at Reuters as senior correspondent covering NATO & EU foreign policy.
There have been a few changes while I've been away but this guy seems familiar. Always good to have someone around who's even older than you.
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Genuine question: Is it a smart Western Balkans strategy to keep making promises to the region that you don't have the power to keep?
North Macedonia has made outstanding progress on EU-related reforms and taken courageous decisions.
I support the formal opening of accession negotiations with North Macedonia & Albania, as soon as possible.
You will be part of the EU.
It is not a question of if, but when.
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Good morning from Chisinau, where your intrepid correspendents have gathered at 5 am for the European Political Community express.
Stay tuned to
@Reuters
for stories from the summit.
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Biggest headline: €100 billion special fund for German armed forces, Germany to spend NATO target of 2 percent of GDP per year on defence.
But the overall tone, the recap of dramatic policy changes in past few days, also make it feel truly historic.
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Trump wants leaders to show up in person for a G7 summit in Washington. But it's a 'danke - aber nein, danke' from Merkel.
@POLITICOEurope
scoop from
@MKarnitschnig
@herszenhorn
@jacopobarigazzi
& team.
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Disarray in EU response to Hamas attack on Israel:
European commissioner says aid payments for Palestinians suspended
Multiple member states question announcement
6 hours later, Commission: "as there were no payments foreseen, there will be no suspension of payments".
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It's been a rough old year. A lot of us
@POLITICOEurope
will be thinking tonight of Stephen Brown, who we lost in March, and of his family.
Here's to better times in 2022.
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Rally in support of Ukraine at Place Jean Rey in Brussels, close to EU institutions.
Chants of "Stop Putin! Stop war!"
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The European Commission president has clearly taken on board criticism that she does too many interviews with German national media.
She's switched to German regional media.
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Musk seems to be suggesting there was a UN-supervised referendum in Kosovo. There wasn't.
This is basic stuff. And drawing comparisons with Kosovo in this way just isn't helpful, it's straight from the Kremlin playbook.
No wonder the guy wants an edit button.
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We've made a special edition of our podcast telling the story of Stephen Brown, our editor in chief, whose death has hit us so hard.
We've tried to give a sense of an extraordinary journalist; serious & funny, important not self-important, a boss & a pal.
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One of the big questions tonight:
Are Polish exit polls more reliable than Slovakian ones?
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So... Serbia won't keep its part of the 'deal' if Israel keeps its part? As great peacemaking initiatives go, this one doesn't seem to be going terribly well so far.
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A year ago today, we
@POLITICOEurope
lost a great friend, mentor and boss in Stephen Brown.
His family lost even more - a great father, husband, son and brother.
They're in our thoughts and in our hearts today as we remember him.
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If
#sofagate
has become a contest of EU political skills, it's not hard to call a winner.
One leader made an incident go viral by stopping briefly in her tracks and saying "erm."
The other took a chair without indicating anything was amiss and still hasn't said a word about it.
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🚨Great job alert!
Reuters is expanding coverage of European security with a new correspondent post based in Brussels.
Come and join a fantastic team!
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🧵A quick thread for anyone trying to get their head around Charles Michel's plan to step down early as president of the European Council, the body that brings together the EU's 27 national leaders:
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🚨🇩🇪Achtung!
We're launching a pop-up Playbook to cover the final stretch of the German election campaign.
Daily news, analysis & maybe even a little humor. With
@florianeder
@MKarnitschnig
& co in Berlin, Brussels & beyond.
From 5pm tomorrow! Sign up👇
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Nothing says "informal meeting" like suits and ties, a big official building and official "informal meeting" branding. Can't wait for the formal version with the top hats.
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Homeward bound, probably not on Twitter much for a couple of weeks but wishing you all light amid the darkness.
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In Toledo for meetings of EU defence and foreign ministers.
Not a bad walk from the train station.
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“You’re getting a well-deserved kicking on Twitter, I see,” he wrote me once with obvious glee.
@MKarnitschnig
doesn't deserve one today. He's written a moving tribute to our dear friend, team mate and boss, Stephen Brown.
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NEW: NATO-Ukraine Council to meet on Wednesday at Zelenskiy's request to discuss transport of Ukrainain grain through the Black Sea, per
@NATOpress
.
Council established at Vilnius summit, held first meeting there. This one will be at ambassador level.
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Breaking Scottish news: My mother got a COVID vaccination today.
All done in about 15 mins after a surprise call from local GP surgery.
Note to the ‘it’s not a race’ crowd: Every jab boosts not just the immunity of one but also spirits of many. Worth a lot this bleak midwinter.
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Another one of those Brussels mornings when you find yourself Googling “Europe’s sunniest cities”.
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The on-again off-again jet saga is the biggest Western shambles of the war so far and none of it is helping Ukraine.
Quite something for the Pentagon to publicly tell a NATO ally (Poland) that its plan is not "tenable.'
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What really happened when Merkel and Macron met Balkan leaders in Berlin?
@MKarnitschnig
has the scoop - and it isn't pretty.
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We are shocked and heartbroken at the loss of a great friend, journalist and boss.
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"Everyone"?!
The
@Ryanair
flight took off just now from Minsk bound for Vilnius. Great news for everyone especially the families and friends of people onboard.
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For a few minutes there, the helicopter holding the trophy hung in the sky.
And then it was gone.
But the sun still shines on Saint-Gilles.
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So Croatia will pull its NATO troops out of Eastern Europe if there's an escalation in Ukraine, right?
Um, no.
But the president said it!
Yeah, well, couple of problems with that...
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German candidates' debate is being billed as a novelty, first ever three-way battle - but presentation is very old-fashioned. No captions summarising candidates' statements, no hashtags displayed, no way for viewers to get involved. All looks a bit 1970s.
#RTLTriell
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Western Balkan readers will be very familiar with a lot of the linguistic contortions coming from EU leaders tonight to avoid saying clearly whether they want Ukraine as a member.
"European path," "European family"... just needed "European perspective" for the full house.
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You're the European Parliament. You have the European Commission president for a big speech...
Do you
a) have an actual debate with her that might be interesting and enlightening?
b) make her listen to 81 MEPs first, by which point even hardcore EU nerds have tuned out?
🤷♂️
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If something you've done is stirring up trouble in the Balkans, this is not the way to calm it down.
@fbieber
The claim about the map is totally misplaced & false. This official EU map is – in line with the 🇪🇺 position – status neutral. I would recommend everyone to focus on real issues that help to advance the Dialogue on normalization, instead of trying to make up false stories.
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Austria's Blue Danube Radio launched this day 1979. This 20th anniversary video is a treat, featuring illustrious alumni
@AngusRobertson
@BBCkatyaadler
& criminally forgotten sidekick Huckle the cat. H/t
@DavidLloydRADIO
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Big move. In the Balkans, at least, America is back.
Biden’s new pick for ambassador to Serbia is retired diplomat Christopher Hill, who helped broker the Bosnia peace deal + was envoy to Kosovo in 1999.
The US seem to want to pick up where the EU failed in achieving a final deal between Kosovo and Serbia.
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Last time there was a Kosovo-Serbia "agreement" but no annex
Now there's an annex but no signatures (so far anyway)
Is that really a deal?
Borrell didn't take any questions from reporters, which doesn't make it easier to find out.
More soon
@Reuters
We have a deal
Kosovo and Serbia have agreed on the Implementation Annex of the Agreement on the path to normalisation of relations
The parties have fully committed to honour all articles of the agreement and implement their respective obligations expediently and in good faith.
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Tour de France starts in Brussels tomorrow. New format this year - usual race until the final stage, then Ursula von der Leyen gets the yellow jersey from EU leaders and rides to the finish, supported by a peloton of supposedly outraged MEPs.
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A week ago today, Olaf Scholz stood before the Bundestag and ditched decades of German foreign and defense policy in a few minutes.
The inside story of how it happened, told by
@MKarnitschnig
@vonderburchard
@florianeder
&
@AndrewDesiderio
👇
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Why EU Regions are Redrawing Their Borders. Amazing piece of data journalism with animation and graphics on how a big chunk of the EU’s budget is spent. Chapeau
@maartenzam
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The EU can't get its Balkan act together. Our take on Albania, North Macedonia & membership talks. Even the word "welcome" is the subject of debate. With top reporting from
@jacopobarigazzi
in Brussels &
@AnotherEUJourno
&
@MKarnitschnig
in Berlin.
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I spoke to Timothy Garton Ash
@fromTGA
for our EU Confidential podcast about dangers and opportunities for EU in coronavirus crisis, why he thinks Hungary is now a dictatorship👇, "inequality of respect" and more.
Listen here 👉
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Tough times indeed. Some Brussels households have even resorted to stockpiling banknotes, no doubt so they can burn them to stay warm.
@MacaesBruno
Everyone I know in Brussels has been heating their homes as little as possible due to explosive heating bills.
There’s a general strike planned here this week over this among other things.
The bills won’t make people turn on Ukraine- but they are definitely feeling the cold.
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Seeing the light after 2 summits & an EU foreign ministers' meeting in 10 days.
Thanks to all Reuters people near & far for an amazing team game.
And happy Belgian National Day in advance to all who celebrate!
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If want to give the people of Ireland and Northern Ireland an explanation of the past few days, obviously...
... give yet another exclusive interview to a German media outlet!
Wann wird Europa Großbritannien und die USA eingeholt haben beim Impfen?
Antworten von
@vonderleyen
im ZDF heute-journal um 21.45h
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This is becoming an issue of credibility & authority for EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
One commissioner says development aid to Palestinians is suspended, the Commission and EU foreign policy chief then say it isn't - then the first commissioner insists it is!
🚨Zelenskyy in Brussels today to attend Nato meeting
🇪🇺EU commissioner at heart of Palestine aid debacle tells
@FT
he stands by position that funding is suspended
🇷🇴🇺🇦And budding Black Sea bonhomie btw Ukraine & Romania
All in today’s Europe Express!
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The whole point of Twitter is to be brief.
If you're publishing a 21-tweet thread to make a point,
you don't need Twitter -
you need an editor.
Ideally yourself.
Or get a blog!
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Amazing what some people will say to get a final batch of expenses approved before I go!
Do give a listen to
@andrew_r_gray
's finale on the podcast.A proud Scotsman, skilled editor and an even better friend, Andrew is off to the world of book writing. We'll miss his salty brogue, steady hand and, above all, his compassion. Tìoraidh an-dràsta!
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Scholz comes out strongly against ban on imports of Russian oil and gas.
Very clear pushback on calls from US and Ukraine — made in a written statement, not just some off-the-cuff remarks to reporters.
Story by
@vonderburchard
& Merlin Sugue 👇
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Headlines rejected for this story: From Brussels with Love, Spies on the Rise in City of Fries - and, for Brussels bubblers, The Spy Who Came in from The Exki. Wisely in the end we just went with
@liliebayer
's original.
“The Cold War is back,” said a former senior Belgian intelligence official, adding that there are now more agents operating in Brussels than in the years before the fall of the Berlin Wall. My article this morning for
@POLITICOEurope
.
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As a reporter, some stories stay with you.
As a refugee, new wars recall old traumas.
Read this story from Richard Meares (
@DrearMarchesi
) on a Bosnian family he has followed over the years and the echoes of Bosnia in today's war in Ukraine.
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After a magnificent 3+ years at the helm of Brussels Playbook,
@florianeder
signs off today - as you would expect - in style.
Looking forward to his next adventures with
@POLITICOEurope
after the summer break.
👏👏👏
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Why is Sigmar Gabriel the main guest on German public radio defending Berlin's hesitancy in sending heavy weapons to Ukraine?
Gabriel hasn't been in government for more than four years and is hardly a military expert.
Maybe time for a current minister to step up?
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What are the chances of a Kosovo peace deal? I asked Serbian President
@avucic
and Kosovo's
@HashimThaciRKS
&
@haradinajramush
. Also spoke to their neighbor, Montenegro's President Milo Djukanovic.
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Been thinking all week about a headline for this news...
NATO: The Inside Scoop?
Bon weekend!
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Initial reactions to the EU-brokered Kosovo-Serbia agreement not great.
First Serbian President Vucic joked about a pain in his hand making him unable to sign documents.
Now we have Kosovo PM Kurti calling Vucic "Dr No or Mr Nyet"
Guess that's one way of forming a Bond.
After refusing to sign the Feb. 27 Agreement & before refusing again to sign it w/ the Mar. 18 Annex, Serbia's President declined my generous offer of self-management for 🇽🇰Serbs, in an association that I'd draft & propose. Is he Dr No or Mr Nyet? Well, we know he’s not a doctor.
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Will Ukraine be granted immediate membership of the EU? Almost certainly not.
Could it get something else, like the status of official candidate for membership? Maybe.
Our latest 👇
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NATO chief
@jensstoltenberg
gave new figures this morning on allies' & partners' support for Ukraine:
98 percent of promised combat vehicles delivered
Over 1550 armoured vehicles
230 tanks
Trained & equipped more than 9 new Ukrainian armoured brigades
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Congrats to
@PoliticoRyan
- a Politico Europe original in every sense.
An amazing source of ideas, energy and positivity in my time there, he did so much to make Politico a must-read in the Brussels bubble.
Also top-class Cher impersonator. But that's another story (and pic!).
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We
@POLITICOEurope
stand by
@MarksSimon
, a top reporter who has done excellent work for us across two continents.
"Anyone who believes in free press will wish to join us in turning attention to this troubling development,” says
@harrispolitico
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At
@POLITICOEurope
, we can furnish all your
#sofagate
needs:
1. Catch up on the deep-seated rivalries...
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Really good to see this again - the sign of a newsroom slowly returning to normal.
Check out the
@POLITICOEurope
paper tomorrow and read
@MKarnitschnig
's unmissable cover story online now 👉
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"Stick with the story. Don't go away when the blood stops flowing... It is not enough to just appear when the blood starts flowing and go home when it stops."
— Kofi Annan to reporters (including this one) in Geneva, May 1999.
Good advice then and now.
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They put up scaffolding on Brussels' Palais de Justice 40 years ago for "work that never took place"!
Now they need to renovate the scaffolding.
Very much hope they will put scaffolding around the scaffolding with a sign saying "ceci n'est pas un échafaudage".
Belgian things: State Secretary explains that in order to move forward with the renovation of the Palais de Justice (under scaffolding for 40 years) the *scaffolding itself* has to be renovated. “C’est assez délirant,” he acknowledges!
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New Steinmeier formula:
German president + Kyiv = 0
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Quite a story on Luxembourg's copy-paste PM.
Unlike a certain dissertation, our article clearly cites its source — chapeau
@reporter_lu
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I know some people don't like others tweeting that they've been vaccinated.
If you're one of those people, don't read the rest of this tweet.
To paraphrase the two Phils, right now at least, I'm an AZ lover...
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The sequence of events leading to the killing of a Brussels police officer last week is staggering.
According to reports,
the suspect, who was *on a terror watchlist*, came to police, asked to be taken into psychological care, said he hated police, wanted to attack them... (1/3)
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So tonight's philosophical question:
If you agree to a deal but not to an annex that is an "integral part" of the deal... do you have a deal?
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EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell's speech to EU ambassadors is belatedly (but rightly) getting a lot of attention today.
In many ways, it's classic Borrell: Lots of sharp analysis and blunt talk but also a bit fuzzy and contradictory. (1/7)
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Great to see EU Confidential in such illustrious company in this list of the best podcasts of 2020 from
@WBEZ
.
Many thanks to
@AlexandraSalomo
for selecting us.
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Not sure Europe has enough buses for all the EU politicians being thrown under them tonight. Better hurry up and find a transport commissioner.
"I, also, was not consulted ahead of any candidates’ nominations"
@manfredweber
.
#EPHearings2019
#Goulard
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"Grateful he chose Brussels for his first trip abroad." Subtle.
Good discussion with
@Avdullah
Hoti. Grateful he chose Brussels for his first trip abroad. We will support 🇽🇰Kosovo in the necessary reforms on its path to the EU and in post-pandemic recovery.
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Anyone could predict what Emmanuel Macron will tell the European Parliament today.
Only your friends
@POLITICOEurope
can bring you a fun preview of what he won't say - and why it actually says a lot.
👇
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Mega-sccop: EU officials' 173-page blueprint for Ursula
@vonderleyen
.
@bsmithmey
& colleagues on plans for a €100B wealth fund to take on US and Chinese giants, new trade penalties and much, much more.
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Lot of calls today for swift, harsh sanctions on Belarus. Totally understandable. But if you're an EU diplomat, your first thought may be: Is there a chance of getting Roman Protasevich & Sofia Sapega released? Maybe there isn't. But if there is, what helps or harms your chances?
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This is a strong line from von der Leyen. But, of course, it's not actually up to her. EU members decide on who's invited to join and who gets to come in.
Now, if Emmanuel Macron were to say the same thing, that would be something...
President
@vonderleyen
: Ukraine is one of us and we want them in EU.
Watch her interview with Euronews⬇️
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