What future for a ‘geopolitical’ Europe?

Ursula von der Leyen wants her Commission to be ‘geopolitical’. COVID-19 is likely to make this harder, while also underlining its importance.

 
The fallout from COVID-19 will further destabilise Europe’s neighbourhood, at the same time as China, Russia and Turkey are becoming more assertive. The way the EU responds to these challenges will be a test case for whether it can act more geopolitically.

Many of the EU’s neighbours will struggle to cope with  the economic and social impact of the pandemic, even if COVID-19 has not so far hit most of them hard. Few of these countries are in a position to enact the measures necessary to restart their economies. Many are dependent on income from tourism, which is unlikely to recover fully soon. Others, such as Algeria and the Gulf states, rely on energy revenues, and will suffer from the fall in global prices. Exports will fall, investment will dry up, foreign-currency denominated debt will balloon and remittances from citizens overseas will shrink.

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Πηγή:cer.eu