Media Interventions

At the start of the pandemic, Europe and China helped one other. Then the mood changed.

A prominent French think tank has warned that China's so-called "mask diplomacy" amid the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic threatens to further exacerbate divisions within the European Union, with Beijing tailoring its approach to suit different nations. The French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) published a new report Thursday detailing how coronavirus could alter EU-China relations, both during the outbreak and in the long-term.

European Council meetings are seldom exciting. But last week’s virtual gathering showed once again that, despite fears, Europe is moving forward in the most serious crises.

With the United States gripped by a domestic struggle with Covid-19, China appears to have stepped into its shoes as a global provider.

Françoise Nicolas, director of Ifri's Asian Studies Center, spoke during a webseminar on European integration and China-Europe cooperation, organized by Chinese think tank CCG.

Thierry de Montbrial, Ifri's founder and executive chairman, participated in a webinar organized by the Harvard Kennedy School, alongside Daniela Schwarzer, Director, German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP).

The rise of the so-called ‘wolf warriors’ heralds a more aggressive approach to promoting the country’s official line. Analysts warn this is likely to harm the country’s image even if their careers benefit as a result.

“Populism is the great beneficiary of inefficiency. Without a virtuous response … authoritarian regimes will have free rein to thrive and rebuild walls — or wage war.”

Matthieu Tardis, Research Fellow at the Center for Migration and Citizenship spoke about the European Union's migration policy and the crisis at the Turkish-Greek border on Euronews's program, Now.

Editor’s Note: This opinion piece was written based on the experience of Kyiv Post staff writer Anna Myroniuk, a native of Donetsk, on a trip to Paris at the invitation of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which sponsored a visit by Ukrainian journalists in early February. In Paris, the reporters had a chance to speak with top-level decision-makers and hear their views on how to end Russia’s war in the Donbas.

A researcher said that ‘the balance is shifting, including in countries such as Germany’ on the role of nuclear weapons in Europe’s strategic ambitions. 

France, the EU’s sole nuclear power since Britain’s exit from the bloc, was to unveil how it intends to use its atomic arsenal as a deterrent. French President Emmanuel Macron, in an address to military officers graduating in Paris yesterday, was expected to recommit to upgrading France’s capacity, at a time when NATO allies, who would ordinarily look to the US in a nuclear standoff, worry about Washington’s retreat from the multilateral stage.

France, the European Union's sole nuclear power since Britain's exit from the bloc, will unveil Friday how it intends to use its atomic arsenal as a deterrent in an increasingly unstable world.

Ifri’s Executive Chairman Thierry de Montbrial spoke at the 20th World Knowledge Forum in Seoul on September 25, 2019 with Robin Niblett, Chatham House's director, Ed Feulner, The Heritage Foundation's Founder and Former President and Feng Zhu, Director of the Institute of International Studies at Nanjing University about the major governance issues of our time.