The Financial Times December 03, 2009 Germany’s parliament voted to extend for another year a longstanding commitment to keep up to 4,500 soldiers in Afghanistan, even as the government was busy damping hopes it might send more in a US-led troop increase. more
EuropeanVoice.com December 03, 2009 The EU cannot plausibly pussyfoot around building a European External Action Service while Afghanistan and Pakistan go to blazes. more
EuropeanVoice.com December 03, 2009 The EU and the US are moving swiftly to increase civilian support for the development of Afghanistan and Pakistan, following US President Barack Obama’s decision, on 1 December, to send more troops to Afghanistan. more
EuropeanVoice.com December 03, 2009 Van Rompuy and Ashton may prove the doubters wrong, but until then the transatlantic partnership will remain troubled. In Washington, the selection of Herman van Rompuy as the president of the European Council and Catherine Ashton as the EU’s high representative for security and foreign policy has, in private, evoked outright […]
EuropeanVoice.com December 03, 2009 The Swedish presidency has irritated many national governments by announcing that foreign ministers will not be invited to attend next week’s summit meeting (10-11 December), which will be the last European Council to be chaired by the prime minister from the country holding the rotating presidency of the EU. more