Atlantic Sentinel

Author: Tilman Pradt

  • EU Must Send Strong Message to Belarus — And Russia

    Ursula von der Leyen Paolo Gentiloni Frans Timmermans
    European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen speaks with Paolo Gentiloni and Frans Timmermans, the commissioners for the economy and climate, in Brussels, May 12 (European Commission/Dati Bendo)

    The interception of a Ryanair plane by Belarus is a breach of international right.

    The crew was told by Belarusian officials there was a bomb threat, and they needed to divert to Minsk. It was a ploy to kidnap opposition blogger Roman Protasevich, who was traveling on the flight from Greece to Lithuania.

    The Western response has so far been one of shared indignation. This must be followed by concrete action against dictator Alexander Lukashenko — not in the least to send a strong message to his protector in Moscow. (more…)

  • Why Many Germans Hope Trump Will Lose

    Angela Merkel Donald Trump
    German chancellor Angela Merkel speaks with American president Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC, March 17, 2017 (Bundesregierung)

    China wants get rid of me. Iran wants get rid of me. Germany wants get rid of me.

    Donald Trump bashing Germany is hardly surprising. It has been a constant of his presidency. The once-special partnership between Germany and the United States, which already lost some of its luster in the decades after the Cold War, sunk to a post-World War II low during his administration.

    Nor is Trump mistaken. Most Germans want to see him gone — with reason. (more…)

  • Germany’s Social Democrats Trade Credibility for Power

    Martin Schulz
    German Social Democratic Party leader Martin Schulz makes a speech in Bavaria, March 1 (Bayern SPD/Joerg Koch)

    Germany’s Social Democrats (SPD) punched above their weight and won. They have secured three key ministries in negotiations for another coalition government with the right: finance, foreign affairs and labor. For a party with only 20 percent support, that is an impressive result.

    Yet they are in trouble. (more…)

  • Mar-a-Lago Summit Overshadowed by Syria Strikes

    Xi Jinping
    Chinese president Xi Jinping attends the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, January 17 (WEF/Valeriano Di Domenico)

    The recent summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping was unprecedented in its fashion and noteworthy in several respects.

    Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida was an unusual venue for the first meeting between the two most powerful men on the planet. Barack Obama’s summits with the Chinese president were more formal.

    The summit was expected to shed light on the policies of both leaders toward various smoldering issues: North Korea, Taiwan, territorial disputes in the South China Sea and Sino-American trade relations. (more…)

  • Uncertainty in China as Trump Takes Office

    Guangzhou China
    Guangzhou, China at night, September 16, 2013 (Johnas)

    This weekend, more than a billion Chinese will gather with their families to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the Year of the Rooster. It is a lively tradition, the biggest family celebration in the year and, like New Year’s Eve in the West, it breathes the magic of the new.

    But with the inauguration of the new American president, Donald Trump, it is even more unpredictable what this new year will bring. (more…)