Posted by What We’re Ignoring: Macron wants Europe to get frisky
French President Emmanuel Macron, a known Europhile, has always wanted the EU — and the rest of Europe too — to do more on things like defense and foreign policy. Last May, he floated the idea of a European Political Community, similar to a United States of Europe, that would bring together the EU, the UK, and other non-EU countries in the region. Macron got a step closer to realizing his dream on Thursday, when 44 leaders gathered in Prague for the inaugural meeting of the EPC, a talk shop now being billed as a grouping of democracies to counter Russia. Among the invitees were British PM Liz Truss — who needed a quick break away from home — as well as the presidents of Azerbaijan and Turkey, whose democratic credentials are, ahem, shaky. Still, Macron thinks they can all get along to build what he referred to as a “strategic intimacy.” They say French is the language of love, so it probably made sense in his head, but in English it felt awkward — and unleashed a torrent of Twitter memes.
Russian strike on Zaporizhzhia provokes anger and fear
Ukraine’s foreign minister said Thursday that seven Russian missiles hit residential buildings overnight, killing a still unknown number of people in Zaporizhzhia, a city located in a region annexed by Russia in recent days and the site of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. President Putin has ordered Russian troops to take control of the plant. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi was in Kyiv Thursday as part of talks on creating a zone of protection around it to avoid a catastrophe. Last week, at least 25 people were killed and many more were wounded by a missile strike on a humanitarian convoy in this same region. It’s a reminder that though Russia is losing ground at the moment in the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, it can still inflict great damage, including to civilians. And it’s one more attack that raises fears for nuclear safety.
Who Watches the Watchers? 