Europe
The New Cold War’s Front Line
Russia is waging a covert war against NATO, with Estonia, a member state that was formerly a Soviet republic, now on the front line. In Tallinn, the fear is that Putin could make the cost of protecting the country too high for its allies to bear.
Rolling Up the Welcome Mat
Middle-class Russians are angry that the EU’s new visa restrictions punish them for a war they have no power to stop. But the inconveniences they face pale in comparison to Ukrainian suffering, which the new entry policy makes it more difficult for them to ignore.
‘Black Pete’ Still Has His Supporters
The blackface tradition of “Black Pete” has largely vanished from Dutch streets after a concerted campaign. But its remaining supporters increasingly see it as a right-wing cause.
Cycling in Search of a Disappearing Europe
In 1978, the author’s father cycled through the Balkans. A trip following in his tire tracks reveals a continent grappling with globalization, uniform commercialism and rising nationalism.
The Syrians in European Limbo
The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime brought euphoria to millions of Syrians in exile, but also created political and legal uncertainty. As some European states suspend asylum claims or discuss revoking refugee status, activists are campaigning for temporary return permits that would allow Syrians to reconnect without losing protection.
The Farther East One Goes in Europe, the More ‘West’ One Winds Up
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has led to many unintended consequences, but none so quick and profound as the consolidation of the Nordic and Baltic regions under the NATO umbrella following Finland’s and Sweden’s accession to the alliance in the past two years.
Can Europe Back Ukraine’s Fight Alone?
For Europeans watching, one thing is clear: Washington now regards Kyiv as an adversary from which concessions must be wrung and terms of conditional surrender imposed, while it sees Moscow as an ally-in-the-making and the more justifiably aggrieved party in the war of conquest Moscow started three years ago.