Europe

Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, surprises critics with pragmatic leadership, earning respect in Europe and at home. Despite initial skepticism, she navigates international diplomacy and domestic politics with finesse and authority.

Despite the threats of Russia, China, and stagflation, Hungary and Turkey are backstabbing the organisations they belong to – Nato and the EU.

At the moment, a war between Greece and Turkey seems unlikely because it would be an all-around catastrophe. Then again, that is precisely why many believed Putin would never invade Ukraine.

The strategic implications of Putin’s war against Ukraine keep evolving as the conflict enters its fourth month. As yet another unintended consequence, it has broken the anti-EU axis between Warsaw and Budapest.

Of all the developments triggered by Putin’s war, the left’s departure from pacifism may be the most surprising one. It will be interesting to see whether only the left in Europe will focus on security in this way.

Putin’s war on Ukraine, and Zelensky’s heroism, force us all to take a stand. It leaves no room for neutrality, even if dressed up as an independent foreign policy.

Putin’s attack on Ukraine was a complete miscalculation. But that now makes it our problem.

We must rediscover the cultural and political foundations of our civilisation. It is the Enlightenment values of freedom and peace that we must defend against illiberalism, both at home and abroad.