Nick Sitter

1500 words from @USverdrup and me on 12 lessons for Brexit from Norway's 23 years outside EU but in Single Market transcrisis.eu/surviving-brex…

A short piece on Energy Security and Geopolitical Risk in Turbulent Times, with ⁦@USverdrup⁩ ons.no/energy-securit…

UK-EU alignment and divergence: the road ahead ⁦@USverdrup⁩ and I contributed a chapter Norway lessons: Alignment with the EU is a continuous, demanding process of adaptation that requires constant political attention and administrative capacity ukandeu.ac.uk/reports/uk-eu-…

Har skrevet en kronikk om valget i Ungarn for Aftenposten. Her står ikke bare hvem som leder landet på spill, men også liberal demokrati, geopolitikk, og fremtiden til Trumps allierte i EU aftenposten.no/meninger/kroni…

The Trump effect on EU 1. Far right nationalist get a big boost; now present self as part of wave 2. Parties that are against supporting Ukraine will be much more assertive 3. Orban can use to on EU foreign and security policy unconstrained by eg. Meloni nettavisen.no/nyheter/trump-…

Interviewed in Nettavisen re: von der Leyen and Weber telling Orban off in much harder words that usual: a sign of how isolated Fidesz (and Patriots for Europe) now is due to combo of democ backsliding and Putin-friendly stance. And abuse of CM presidency. nettavisen.no/nyheter/full-k…

One EU member state blocks bid form another on classified grounds of national security - rail as critical infrastructure - Hungarian firms + govt Russia links probably main issue - might be tested in court => more and more focus on geopolitical risk in EU on.ft.com/3X6BXC0

My Financial Times piece on next year's Polish presidential election: ft.com/content/fd32e0…

Lots more public speculation on Nord Stream attack in Germany. Now ex-BND heads says the operation could only have been carried out with logistical support from Poland welt.de/politik/video2…

Reporting on WSJ article, FAZ emphasises continued open questions, trails to Russians was well, and cites CDU’s Roderich Kiesewetter on possibility of false flag operation (since pipeline was already out of action) faz.net/aktuell/politi…

German arrest warrant for Ukrainian in PL over NS-explosion. Not much more clarity on motive. Theory 1 - Ukr, to hurt RU. Not likely, risk too high and it removed key card in negotiations Theory 2 - RU hardline actors who wanted to prevent negotiations theguardian.com/world/article/…

Péter Szijjártó: Croatia is not a reliable transit country for crude oil Much better to rely on Russian oil… Hungary (and Slovakia) has temporary exemption from import ban on Russian oil to transition away from it, but has instead increased imports telex.hu/english/2024/0…

Years-of-lead terrorism still divides Italy. At anniversaries of far right bombs Italicus train 4/8/1974 + Bologna station 2/8/1980 Fratelli d’Italia politicians keep referring to fascist perpetrators“according to the courts” as if the real truth is other bologna.repubblica.it/cronaca/2024/0…

Ytterhögern i Storbritannien har eggats på av falska uppgifter om gärningspersonen efter måndagens knivdåd. Desinformationen online påminner om Rysslands sätt att skapa splittring, enligt Magnus Ranstorp svd.se/a/rPr3Vw/varna…

Is Viktor Orbán Ungarns risking x-border travel by letting Russians into Schengen?, asks DiePresse, pointing at an open door to Russian spies. A reminder that the border to Austria is still subject to passport checks. diepresse.com/18735744/setzt…

Der Standard asks: what does Viktor Orbán want with a private university in Vienna (Central European University’s home since it was expelled for Hungary)? Close ties between Fidesz and FPÖ of course, but also ÖVP derstandard.at/story/30000002…

Good by ⁦@liliebayer⁩ on Hungary’s sinister sovereignty protection office, which main task seems to be to cast doubt on what remains of free media and NGOs in the country theguardian.com/world/article/…