Third-country national in Brussels writing on EU policies and politics, Balkans, migration, democracy, information manipulation. Former reporter (RFE/RL, European Voice). Co-founder @dpcglobal.bsky.social. Views personal; em dashes mine.
It will be interesting to see how the EU institutions treat the Montenegrin language *in practice* once the country joins. Will Croatian interpreters and translators need to sit an exam if they want to add Montenegrin? In any case, the institutions will struggle to find qualified staff.
www.consilium.europa.euCar-crazy Belgium with its dysfunctional governance, parochial politics, and out-of-control air pollution has experienced Europe's highest surplus mortality during last month's heatwave. Somehow I'm not surprised.
Le SoirLa Belgique a connu la plus forte surmortalité d’Europe pendant la vague de chaleur de fin juin
What Tineke says
Tineke StrikToday’s disbursement of 1,5 billion to Egypt again disregards the alarming situation on human rights, democracy and rule of law in the country. The EU lets human rights defenders down and violates its obligation to ensure that external funding promotes human rights. www.eunews.it/en/2026/07/2...
Last year, Frontex director Hans Leijtens said he was getting "impatient" with Greece's human rights track record. W/ @grillmeier.bsky.social, we found that, since then, continuous reports of violent pushbacks have led to no meaningful action from the EU border agency. www.lemonde.fr/en/les-decod...
Frontex continuing mission in Greece despite serious violations of migrants' rightsHow long will Frontex tolerate the growing violations of migrants' rights in Greece? A Le Monde investigation documents the many warnings issued by the Fundamental Rights Office of the European agency...www.lemonde.frJaw dropping story from EU Observer this morning about a sketchy NGO contracted to implement Frontex's return program for Afghanistan
Exclusive: Frontex returned almost 50 people to Afghanistan this year with help from NGO fronted by UK security veteransThe little-known Irara NGO was the largest non-state recipient of Frontex funding last year, receiving some €39m in 2025. The NGO is headed by UK security veterans and operates in 36 countries, includ...euobserver.comThe EU is not serious even about the one foreign policy issue it's kinda serious about
Jorge LiboreiroThe EU spent almost €6 billion buying LNG from Russia's Yamal facility between January and June. This translated into 136 cargoes and 9.97 million metric tons, a record for six months. France, Belgium and Spain were the main destinations.