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Articles by Roland Freudenstein
Op-ed: Europe’s security must be a ‘Doppelstrategie’ for defence and belonging
As Europe rearms, it risks neglecting culture and identity. Without investing in what binds its people, the continent could end up fighting for nothing worth defending. A mural in the heart of the European Quarter, Brussels, promoting the EU. (Matthias Manuel/Alamy Stock) In the face of war on its borders and strategic uncertainty across the Atlantic, Europe is undergoing a historic rearmament. Hundreds of billions of euros are being committed to military and economic resilience.
Op-ed: Europe’s security must be a ‘Doppelstrategie’ for defence and belonging
In the face of war on its borders and strategic uncertainty across the Atlantic, Europe is undergoing a historic rearmament. Hundreds of billions of euros are being committed to military and economic resilience. But there’s a risk: that Europe will succeed in arming itself — yet fail to defend what it stands for. Because even the most advanced military is useless if its citizens are unwilling to fight for the continent it protects.
Why the EU must lead the fight for democracy
Europe’s swing from soft to hard power projection is necessary but risks going too far. Promoting democratic values is part of our strategic interest, not a nice-to-have. Russian aggression, American self-interest and a return to great-power conflict are the defining features of 2025. With liberal democracy under assault from several directions, the EU is finally grappling with how to make its democracies more robust and resilient, at home and globally.
A Europe Secure Between Gaullism and Washington
Only roughly four months separate Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp’s “We’re all Gaullists now” statement (in early March after the Oval Office shoutout) and that of his compatriot NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s flattering reference to President Trump, praising the latter’s leadership and referring to him jocularly as “Daddy”.
A Europe Secure Between Gaullism and ‘Daddy’
Only roughly four months separate Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp’s “We’re all Gaullists now” statement (in early March after the Oval Office shoutout) and that of his compatriot NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s flattering text message to President Trump, praising the latter’s leadership, imitating his language and referring in slightly unsettling language to an American “Daddy”.
Opinion: Troops in Ukraine? France-Germany spat plays into Putin's hands
Whoever doubts that Europe is in danger of an ominous divergence on Russia and Ukraine should take a look at the forced smiles of the “triple handshake” between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk when they met in Berlin last Friday, ostensibly to overcome their strategic differences in the context of the “Weimar Triangle.” In the past three weeks, Europe’s debate about increased support for Ukraine versus “suing for peace”...
Neue Erdoğan-Partei Dava: Redet der türkische Präsident bald in Berlin und Brüssel mit?
Eine Gruppe türkischstämmiger Politiker hat in Köln eine Partei gegründet, die der AKP des türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdoğan sehr nahesteht. Die „Demokratische Allianz für Vielfalt und Aufbruch“ (Dava) plant, bereits bei der Europawahl am 9. Juni teilzunehmen. Die Tagesspiegel-App Aktuelle Nachrichten, Hintergründe und Analysen direkt auf Ihr Smartphone. Dazu die digitale Zeitung. Hier gratis herunterladen.
Nach dem Wahlsieg der Opposition in Polen: Kann Donald Tusk die Erwartungen erfüllen?
© IMAGO/SOPA Images/IMAGO/Attila Husejnow / SOPA Images Mit dem bevorstehenden Regierungswechsel in Warschau verbinden sich Hoffnungen auf eine Verbesserung des deutsch-polnischen Verhältnisses. Bei Polens Wahl Mitte Oktober haben die bisherigen Oppositionskräfte gesiegt. Die nationalpopulistische PiS muss nach acht Jahren Regierung in die Opposition. Neuer Ministerpräsident soll Donald Tusk werden, der bereits von 2007 bis 2014 Premier war.
Nach dem Erpressungsversuch beim Nato-Gipfel: Hat Erdogan das Aus für den EU-Beitritt der Türkei besiegelt?
Rund ein Jahr lang hatte der türkische Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdoğan die Aufnahme Schwedens in die Nato blockiert und immer neue Bedingungen gestellt. So verpflichtete sich Stockholm unter anderem, einen Plan für die Terrorismusbekämpfung vorzulegen. Kurz vor dem Nato-Gipfel in Vilnius machte Erdoğan seine Zustimmung dann überraschend davon abhängig, dass der Prozess zum EU-Beitritt der Türkei wiederaufgenommen wird, bevor er schließlich einlenkte.
Transatlantic cybersecurity : Identifying the path to enhanced cyber resilience
Event GLOBSEC held a session on transatlantic cybersecurity on May 30, 2023, during the annual GLOBSEC Bratislava Forum.
Roland Freudenstein: Macron’s Bratislava speech - a French Zeitenwende or charm offensive?
“Some told you … that you were missing opportunities to keep quiet – but I believe we sometimes missed opportunities to listen. That time is over.” - French President Emmanuel Macron at GLOBSEC’s 2023 summit in Bratislava, Slovakia, on May 31, 2023, in reference to a statement made by then-President Jacques Chirac in 2003 that Central Europe “missed an excellent opportunity to remain silent” over the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
Claiming a rightful place at the table - Central and Eastern Europe’s prospects for an EU top job after 2024
Commentary In the wake of the 2019 European Elections, Central and Eastern Europe was left with none of the high-level jobs in the European Institutions. The developments in Europe ever since have placed the region at the heart of the major challenges impacting the EU.
Opinion: We don’t need strategic autonomy. What the EU needs now is strategic responsibility.
Opinion: We don’t need strategic autonomy. What the EU needs now is strategic responsibility. GLOBSEC Brussels - 06/04/2022 If EU security policy is going through a watershed moment, then this should show in our language. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, actually a war on Europe and its fundamental values, is an excellent opportunity to rethink our efforts to become a global and geopolitical actor. As our thinking needs an overhaul, so does our terminology.
Roland Freudenstein
Roland Freudenstein is a Senior Fellow with the Transatlantic Defense and Security program at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). Roland Freudenstein was born in 1960 in Bonn, Germany. After a two-year voluntary military service, he studied political science, economics, Japan studies, and international relations in Bonn and Los Angeles.
[Opinion] Hong Kong - when the Chinese Dream became a nightmare
Almost to the day, 31 years ago, on Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, the dream of Chinese democracy was crushed by the tanks of the so-called People's Liberation Army. I believe that to all democrats across the world, the true Chinese Dream was that of 1989, not the one postulated by President Xi Jinping in so many speeches recently; the same dream that is turning into a nightmare before our very eyes. Let's face it: the Communist Party of China (CPC) is not our friend.
The EU’s Action Plan Against Disinformation: Good First Step, Now We Need a Follow-Up
Today, the European Union presented its long-awaited Action Plan against disinformation. That’s good news. After several years of belittling the threat of hostile disinformation activities, and after several electoral processes heavily influenced by them, Europe’s institutions best placed to deal with the disinformation challenge on a continental level have decided to take on the challenge.
Multi-speed Europe
Delegation of Prague to the EU, the Institute for Politics and Society and the European Liberal Forum coordially invite you to the discussion "Multi-speed Europe". Europe à la carte or multi-speed Europe has been discussed for a long time. President of the European Commission Mr. Juncker presented multi-speed Europe as one of the scenarios for the future development of the EU.
A Post-Nationalist Europe Is Not a Globalist Europe
Published on: June 6, 2017 Whole and Free A Post-Nationalist Europe Is Not a Globalist Europe Roland Freudenstein, Federico Ottavio Reho, & Dalibor Rohac Simple traps American critics of the EU should avoid. Roland Freudenstein and Federico Ottavio Reho are, respectively, the Policy Director and a Research Officer at the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies in Brussels. Dalibor Rohac is a research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC.
Conservatives must not forget EU is an irreplaceable asset for US
Pro-European Union parties won the Dutch elections, despite concerns that the far-right Freedom Party might ride a Europe-wide tide of populism to victory. For now, the threat of the EU’s demise has been postponed, but not eliminated. American conservatives do not seem particularly bothered by the possible demise of the EU.
The Renaissance of the West: How Europe and America Can Shape Up in Confronting Putin's Russia
Recently the West has been challenged on many fronts: crises multiply in the eastern and southern neighbourhoods of the EU, terrorist movements gain traction in the Middle East, and authoritarian regimes such as a newly aggressive, fundamentally antagonistic Russia are threatening the core values as well as the cohesion of the West.
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