Scroll to the top

Europe

Moscow terror attack: What happens next?
Moscow terror attack: What next? | Carl Bildt | Europe In :60

Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm.

What's going to happen after the horrible terrorist attack in Moscow?

Well, obviously, the Russian authorities have great difficulties with it. The US gave advance warning that something could happen in Moscow. It was repeated by several other embassies. That was publicly dismissed by Putin. And, of course, Putin is saying that all of the danger that is there is Ukraine and the West. Nothing else. He has everything under control. And then suddenly, well over 100 people dead. And evidently the security authorities responding fairly slowly. So he has now to adjust his narrative.

Read moreShow less
Putin wins another classic Soviet election
Putin wins another classic Soviet election | Europe In :60

Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, it's been announced that Vladimir Putin has won the presidential election with a record support and a record turnout. It was, by all standards, a Soviet election. With all of the restrictions that you could think of and the real result, well, it wasn't very much to choose between.

Read moreShow less
Why Sweden and Finland joined NATO
TITLE PLACEHOLDER | Carl Bildt | Europe In :60

Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, shares his perspective on European politics from Hanoi, Vietnam.

Was the Swedish and Finnish decision to move into NATO, was that driven by fear of Russia attacking them?

Not really. I don't think either of our countries feel any immediate threat by Russian aggression. But what happened when Russia, Mr. Putin, to be precisely, attacked Ukraine was a fundamental upsetting of the entire European security order. And although Mr. Putin's priority at the moment, he’s very clear on that, is to get rid of Ukraine by invading and occupying all of it, you never know where he's going to stop. And this led Finland and Sweden to do the fundamental reassessment of their security policies. Giving up, in Swedish case, we've been outside of military alliances for the last 200 years or something like that.

Read moreShow less
Ukraine is still standing two years after Russian invasion
Ukraine is still standing two years after Russian invasion | Europe In :60

From Kyiv, Ukraine, Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Europe in 60 Seconds. This is Carl Bildt in Kyiv, Ukraine. At this time, there's only one question here. This is two years after Mr. Putin unleashed the entire might, military might of Russia against Ukraine, trying to get rid of Mr. Zelensky, effectively get rid of Ukraine. He failed. Ukraine is still standing. Life in Kyiv goes on. But, of course, there's a horrible, brutal attrition war going on in the east and the south part of the country.

And the question is, what will happen?

Read moreShow less
Alexei Navalny's death: A deep tragedy for Russia
Alexei Navalny's death: A deep tragedy for Russia | Europe In :60

Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, shares his perspective on European politics from the Munich Security Conference:

The big news of the day is, of course, the death of Alexei Navalny. It's a deep tragedy primarily of course for his family. But I would argue even deeper for Russia because Alexei Navalny, he did represent the hope of very many Russians that there was something beyond this repressive, backward looking, imperial, nostalgic, aggressive regime that is now dragging Russia down.

I met him a number of times over the years. I was impressed by his bravery, how thoughtful he was, how determined he was in spite of the difficulties and the resistance that he was well aware of to pursue his vision. And he was firmly convinced that at some point in time, there will be another Russia, rule of the law, parliamentary, non-imperialistic.

Read moreShow less
US approves F-16s for Turkey, moving Sweden NATO membership closer
Turkey's ratification makes Sweden one step closer to NATO | Europe In :60

Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, shares his perspective on European politics from Stockholm.

How are things proceeding with the ratification of the Swedish membership in NATO?

Well, it’s been some back and forth. But now Turkey has ratified and that is important. That has to do with also the agreement with the US on deliveries of F-16s and modification kits of F-16s and deliveries of F-35s to Greece. A major package has been negotiated, so that should be okay. Now, remaining with Hungary. Prime Minister Orban is a slightly unpredictable fellow, but I would guess that he can't hold off for very long. So I would hope, expect this process to be wrapped up within a couple of weeks.

Read moreShow less
Ukraine pushes to stay top of mind at Davos 2024
Davos 2024: Ukraine remain top of mind at meetings | Europe In :60

Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, shares his perspective on European politics from the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

What are the big geopolitical issues here in Davos?

Well, it's still a lot of Ukraine. As a matter of fact, we had President Zelensky here. There's a large contingent also, even fighters from the front, sharing their experience. But then of course, a deep, deep concern with what's happening in the Middle East. We had both Jake Sullivan and Tony Blinken here yesterday, and there was no disguising the deep worries they have about where developments are heading.

Read moreShow less

Subscribe to our free newsletter, GZERO Daily

Listen now | GZERO World with Ian Bremmer - the podcast
Watch Puppet Regime - award-winning comedy series

Most Popular Videos

GZEROMEDIA

Subscribe to GZERO's daily newsletter