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    Tony Barber

    European Comment Editor

    Tony Barber is European Comment Editor of the Financial Times. He is a former foreign correspondent in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland, the former Soviet Union, the US and the former Yugoslavia.

    In 2012 he was awarded the Medal of Gratitude by the Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk in recognition of his work in support of freedom and democracy in Poland. He wrote the introduction to Mud Sweeter Than Honey, a book on communist Albania by the author Margo Rejmer.

    Email Tony Barber @TonyBarber8  on Twitter (link opens in a new browser window)

    Add to myFT Digest

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    • Saturday, 23 September, 2023
      ObituaryGiorgio Napolitano
      Giorgio Napolitano, Italian statesman, 1925-2023

      The first former communist to serve as head of state, he played an indispensable role in overcoming the 2011 eurozone crisis

    • Saturday, 23 September, 2023
      Europe Express
      A tug of war in Poland and Slovakia Premium content

      Elections in the two central European countries will test support for Ukraine and measure the appeal of illiberalism

      People in a rally near the Slovak National Uprising square under the slogan “For a Decent Slovakia”, against corruption and to pay tribute to murdered Slovak journalist Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova
    • Saturday, 16 September, 2023
      Europe Express
      Rethinking neutrality in Europe Premium content

      Austria, Ireland, Malta and Switzerland will probably not join Nato but changes in defence and security policies are coming

      Swiss federal councillor Viola Amherd, Austrian defence minister Klaudia Tanner and German defence minister Boris Pistorius
    • Saturday, 2 September, 2023
      Europe Express
      Reviving the German economy Premium content

      The ‘sick man of Europe’ label made its debut in 1998 but it seems overdone to apply it today

      Ben Hickey illustration of a brown bear with one of its hind legs caught in a steel bear trap - howling in pain.
    • Wednesday, 30 August, 2023
      Russian economy
      Russia still has options to sustain its creaking war economy

      The Kremlin’s apparent aim is to tough it out and see if the political tide turns in the US elections

      People visit the Victory Museum in Moscow. Russia displays many classic symptoms of a wartime economy, such as inflation, labour shortages, rising government expenditure and deficit financing
    • Saturday, 26 August, 2023
      Europe Express
      Scandals fuel Austria’s far right Premium content

      The rise and fall of Sebastian Kurz is one symptom of a political system in deep trouble

      Sebastian Kurz and Viktor Orbán
    • Wednesday, 23 August, 2023
      ReviewFT Books Essay
      The delusions that put Putin on the path to war

      In two piercing accounts, Sergei Medvedev and Jade McGlynn expose the manipulation of history used to justify Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

      Vladimir Putin appears on a big screen, flanked by veterans in military uniform, to address a parade of soldiers on Moscow’s Red Square in 2021
    • Saturday, 19 August, 2023
      Europe Express
      Europe fights disinformation Premium content

      Public awareness of fake news is rising but eradicating it completely may be an unrealistic goal

      Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen
    • Saturday, 12 August, 2023
      Europe Express
      Italy’s disastrous bank tax Premium content

      The economic record of Giorgia Meloni’s government is coming under harsh and justified scrutiny

      Giorgia Meloni
    • Friday, 11 August, 2023
      Russian politics
      Russia provides an updated lesson in distorting history

      A new school textbook forms part of a wider effort to make society proud of a state-designed version of the past

    • Saturday, 5 August, 2023
      Europe Express
      How effective is Russian propaganda? Premium content

      At home and abroad, the Kremlin’s control of information is less tight than it would like

      Russians wave flags with the letter ‘Z’, which has become a symbol of support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, at a rally in March 2022 marking the eighth anniversary of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea
    • Monday, 31 July, 2023
      EU enlargement
      Ukraine’s EU road is littered with obstacles

      Enlargement into eastern and south-eastern Europe will be impossible without far-reaching reform of the bloc

      Illustration of prime ministers of south-eastern European countries (Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Moldova and Ukraine), eaching holding their country’s flag and being buffetted as a blue bus with the EU stars on it speeds past
    • Saturday, 29 July, 2023
      Spanish politics
      A victory for common sense in Spain Premium content

      Election losers include the hard-right Vox party and separatists in Catalonia

      People’s party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo celebrates the Galicia’s Day, Santiago de Compostela, Spain on July 25, 2023.
    • Friday, 28 July, 2023
      ReviewHistory books
      Mannerheim, Marshal of Finland — nation-builder and Nazi partner

      Henrik Meinander’s balanced biography cuts through historical myths to reassess the towering, controversial statesman

      Hitler and Mannerheim shake hands
    • Saturday, 22 July, 2023
      Europe Express
      Fortress Europe is hungry for overseas workers Premium content

      The EU pursues a two-track policy of cracking down on irregular migrants and filling its workforce with foreigners

      A photo provided by the Hellenic Coast Guard shows migrants onboard a boat during a rescue operation before it capsized in the open sea off Greece
    • Saturday, 15 July, 2023
      Europe Express
      Clouds gather over support for Ukraine Premium content

      Politicians and public opinion in parts of central and eastern Europe have doubts about Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the war

      Polish president Andrzej Duda, left, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy pay tribute to the Polish citizens murdered in the Volhynia massacre
    • Wednesday, 12 July, 2023
      ObituaryMilan Kundera
      Milan Kundera, author, 1929-2023

      Czech-born novelist and essayist who diagnosed how communism ruptured the unity of European culture

      A black and white photo of Milan Kundera
    • Saturday, 8 July, 2023
      Alternative für Deutschland
      The sun rises in the east for Germany’s far right Premium content

      Elections in three states next year will test the popularity of Alternative for Germany in the former GDR

      Björn Höcke, Alternative for Germany’s regional leader in Thuringia
    • Monday, 3 July, 2023
      Kazakhstan
      The ABC of alphabet reform in Kazakhstan

      Moving from Cyrillic-based to modified Latin script will distance the central Asian state symbolically from Russia

      A female teacher points to a whiteboard with alphabet characters as pupils look on
    • Saturday, 1 July, 2023
      Europe Express
      A glimpse of a different Russia Premium content

      Yevgeny Prigozhin’s mutiny fell apart but may come to be seen as a turning point in Vladimir Putin’s 23-year rule

      The Time of Troubles painting of Russian conflict by Konstantin Egorovich Makovsky
    • Friday, 30 June, 2023
      Wagner Group
      Wagner is the monstrous legacy of a Russian mercenary tradition

      Private contractors and paramilitary forces have stained modern European history with blood and terror

      Vladimir Putin and Yevgeny Prigozhin
    • Saturday, 24 June, 2023
      Summer Books 2023
      Best summer books of 2023: History

      Tony Barber selects his best mid-year reads

    • Saturday, 17 June, 2023
      Europe Express
      Central Europe returns to diversity Premium content

      For a proper understanding of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, look at what makes them different

      Albanian prime minister Edi Rama, left, and Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán
    • Monday, 12 June, 2023
      ObituarySilvio Berlusconi
      Silvio Berlusconi, Italian prime minister, 1936-2023

      Media mogul inescapably linked to economic decline and sometimes woeful standards of public life

    • Saturday, 10 June, 2023
      Europe Express
      Growing pains of EU enlargement Premium content

      The accession of Ukraine and other eastern countries is a geopolitical imperative but not easily achieved

      Ethnic Albanians protest in the south of the ethnically divided city Mitrovica, Kosovo, June 2023. Tensions flared after ethnic Albanian mayors took offices in four towns following elections boycotted by Serbians
    Previous page You are on page 1 Next page

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