In 2013, the Chinese president introduced the New Silk Road project, also known as the Belt and Road Initiative. It was to connect China with countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe and maritime regions with the purpose to coordinate policies and link infrastructure. However, the initiative, and especially China's role in it, raises many questions and doubts. What is its future? This is what our intern Šárka Váchalová discusses in her blog.

The policy paper, written by Míla O’Sullivan, illustrates that to centre the gender dimension and women’s voices in all aspects of Europe’s security and recovery responses to Ukraine are areas with the most serious gendered impacts and identifies the risks of gender-oblivious responses to Ukraine’s peaceful and sustainable future as well as to its European integration.

If you missed the debate EU - Pacific talks: EU - Security Challenges for the Pacific, EU, and Russia, here you can read the report from the debate written by Tomáš Moudrý. During the debate, it was discussed, for example, that despite the considerable geographical distance, the EU and the Indo-Pacific region are now more interconnected than ever before and both sides are seeking to strengthen their partnership in many areas, with security policy now one of the most important due to many factors.

As part of the internships provided by our Brussels office to Czech researchers, Tereza Stašáková wrote a policy paper on rising electricity prices and developments in the EU. It analyses the reasons for rising prices and how EU Member States have reacted to the situation. And whether the solution is to restructure the electricity market.

The war in Ukraine and the subsequent economic crisis caused by Europe's dependence on Russian fossil fuels showed Europeans the danger of keeping too tight economic ties to autocratic regimes. However, while Europe is shedding its dependence on Russia, another economic reliance is gaining strenght, namely that of Germany on China. In her blog, our intern Kristina Kropáčková explores the broader context of this phenomenon and its implications for EU cohesion.

The recent US midterm elections made headlines around the world. The main issues that voters were interested in were the state of democracy and the rule of law, abortion, the economy and education. Our intern Tomáš Moudrý addressed these topics in his blog. "The most expensive midterms in the US history are over. Republicans gained the House majority with 221 seats and the Democrats retained the Senate with 51 seats. Is this a surprising result? Partly yes, partly no. Firstly, polls and even Republicans were sure about a “Red wave“ that would sweep across the US. Instead, there was a tossup in both Chambers of the Congress. Secondly, the President’s party usually lose the midterms. One can argue that midterms from the incumbent President’s party perspective traditionally have just one major goal – to mitigate losses by the closest possible margin. The Democrats seem to have found a way to deal with this fate, despite Biden's low approval rating."

When will the Czech Republic be ready to adopt the euro, as it committed to when it joined the EU. Why do we not have the euro yet and what will be the impact of its adoption? Our intern Šárka Váchalová covered this topic in her blog.

In her blog, our intern Leonor Tavares focuses on the new European media freedom act. Independent media as a means of freedom of expression is under threat in some EU member states and is being used for political propaganda or is being shut down altogether. The new law should ensure that public service media provide a plurality of information in an impartial manner, while regulating their funding and the acquisition and protection of journalistic sources.

In her blog, our intern Barbora Volkova discusses the new Franco-German proposal regarding the Kosovo-Serbia disputes. She analyses what this initiative entails and what relevance it may have for the accession negotiations within the European Union.

If you missed the debate EU - Pacific talks: EU - ASEAN relations: for better and for worse, you can read the report from the debate written by Šárka Váchalová. During the debate these questions were discussed: As tensions with authoritarian powers such as Russia and China amplify, how can the EU and ASEAN partnership remain strong moving forward? What are the areas that the two regions can strengthen given the ongoing geopolitical tug of war?

As the world eagerly awaits the outcomes of Brazilian elections, which will have strong impacts on the future of the Amazon and global climate efforts, our intern, Benedetta Milani, breaks down the status quo as Brazil determines its political future tomorrow.

On Wednesday 21 September 2022, the National Convention on the EU took place. The roundtable featured three recommendations, which were formulated by our office and project manager Alexandra Ilkova together with our researcher Danielle Piatkiewicz. The convention produced three recommendations by answering the following questions: How will the implementation of the Strategic Compass contribute to shaping the EU's defence capabilities and how can the EU Strategic Compass and the NATO Strategic Concept make the EU a stronger and more capable guarantor of security? How will the Strategic Compass address current and emerging security threats within the strategic areas of competence? What can CZ PRES achieve in the implementation of the Strategic Compass?