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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 1h

Spot the outlier and wonder why the British economy isn’t growing. Britain makes far less of what the world wants to buy, and the world wants much less of what Britain makes.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 1h

Weak goods exports have weighed on the UK’s post-pandemic growth more than any other factor – including weak investment.

And yet, this fact is almost entirely absent from Britain’s political debate about growth.

Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 6h

@antonspisak.bsky.social of the @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social, a think-tank, observes that, after Brexit took effect at the end of 2020, Britain’s goods exports have grown less than those of any other economy in the G7 club of rich countries.

A dangerous post-Brexit world

Britain risks being an unwitting victim of EU-US trade wars

buff.ly

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Reposted by Anton Spisak

Centre for European Reform @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social · 6h

@antonspisak.bsky.social of the @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social, a think-tank, observes that, after Brexit took effect at the end of 2020, Britain’s goods exports have grown less than those of any other economy in the G7 club of rich countries.

A dangerous post-Brexit world

Britain risks being an unwitting victim of EU-US trade wars

buff.ly

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 5d

My theory of Central European politics: the pendulum will always swing between the liberal part of the society that seeks to approximate the West, and the nationalist, socially conservative part that thrives on fear. It’s part of the post-1989 social fabric – not a bug, but a feature of the society.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 5d

The Babis-Orban-Fico axis has been reborn within the EU. There we go again.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 13d

And succeed he did. This vote makes it virtually impossible for LGBT people in Slovakia to be treated as equals under the law and lead a decent life, while exposing a fractured opposition. That division bodes ill for any united front against Fico in the next election, two years from now. 4/4

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 13d

Fico’s proposal passed not only with the votes of his populist-nationalist coalition but also the opposition Christian Democrats and two other MPs. This was his aim all along: to lure the Christian Democrats, expose the opposition as divided, and divert attention from the public finances fiasco. 3/4

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 13d

In Slovakia, LGBT people still lack even the most basic rights: no registered partnership, let alone marriage. This constitutional amendment will entrench discrimination and treat LGBT people as second-class citizens under the law. It pushes Slovakia one step closer to Orbán’s Hungary. 2/4

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 13d

Another nail in the coffin of Slovakia’s democracy. Parliament has today approved a constitutional amendment that enshrines recognition of “only two sexes” (male and female), restricts adoption to married heterosexual couples, and ends the primacy of EU law over “ethical and cultural matters”. 1/4

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 14d

This is a serious proposal by Merz – and one that could help move the debate on frozen Russian assets forward.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 20d

He also called his political opponent, Slovak nationalist Andrej Hlinka “a fool”, for pacting with Hungarian revisionists to push for Slovak statehood.

And on the Germans, he said: “give them what they deserve, but no more.”

I mean, if only you knew what came later, mate!

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 20d

The last words of Czechoslovakia’s founder TG Masaryk were sealed for 90 years, but worth the wait:

“If people are uneducated and foolish, there is not much that can be done. People are glad to be foolish. Do not make it easy for them, and argue with them.”

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/e...

Mysterious envelope to reveal secrets of Czechoslovakia’s founding father

The sealed document was entrusted to the National Archive in 2005

www.independent.co.uk

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 22d

Ha, a very fair point! Thanks for looking on the bright side, David.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 22d

An idea I’m confident all of Europe could unite behind: a European Solidarity Fund for the Redevelopment of Schuman.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 25d

Cc @loreleiking.bsky.social

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 25d

The world feels a bit much right now, so here’s Faustus the cat stretching out in the summer sun. Good week to all.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 28d

Here’s the link to the study:

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/our-proje...

A Missing Pillar: Economic Security in the EU-UK Partnership

Economic security has risen to the top of Europe’s strategic agenda, and the EU has intensified collaboration with key allies. While structural and political factors have so far prevented deeper engag...

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 28d

When European policymakers talk about ‘economic security’, they’re really talking about China.

Chart from our new paper with @jbenford-berlin.bsky.social, in which we mapped EU and UK trade vulnerabilities (and offered some ideas why the two should collaborate), published earlier this week.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · 29d

Something reassuring about this picture: truth cannot be erased, however determined the effort.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · Sep 10

Economic security is the agenda du jour in Brussels. Yet it is conspicuously absent from the EU-UK 'reset'.

In a new paper with @jbenford-berlin.bsky.social for @bertelsmannst.bsky.social, we argue this is a mistake and set out what can be done about it.

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/publicati...

A Missing Pillar: Economic Security in the EU-UK Partnership

Economic security has risen to the top of Europe’s strategic agenda, and the EU has intensified collaboration with key allies. While structural and political factors have so far prevented deeper engag...

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de

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Reposted by Anton Spisak

Jake Benford @jbenford-berlin.bsky.social · Sep 10

Economic Security is central to the EU’s external strategy - see SOTEU today - but cooperation with the UK remains nascent. Political and structural reasons are behind this but @antonspisak.bsky.social and I think there are grounds for deeper cooperation: www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/our-proje...

A Missing Pillar: Economic Security in the EU-UK Partnership

Economic security has risen to the top of Europe’s strategic agenda, and the EU has intensified collaboration with key allies. While structural and political factors have so far prevented deeper engag...

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · Sep 9

And yet, by doubling down on hardline politics, boxing themselves in contradictions of their own arguments, and eventually having to face reality, the DUP are alienating large swathes of their base that are drifting to the more radical TUV. Playing to the extremes has a way of backfiring.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · Sep 5

I don’t disagree with you both. But I’ve consistently heard complaints of Cooper from (some) EU capitals: she was seen as the blocker to the more ambitious agenda pre May summit. But as Jill says, this could be more of a HO thing…

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · Sep 5

NTS is leading the EU reset but Foreign Sec is nominally in charge of the work programme under the Security and Defence Partnership and bilateral relations with EU capitals. And Lammy reportedly had a good working relationship with Kallas.

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Anton Spisak @antonspisak.bsky.social · Sep 5

Cooper to the FCDO isn’t good news for Labour’s EU reset: her hardline position on youth mobility alienated key capitals, especially Berlin, and now risks slowing progress just as substantive talks begin. Also, Lammy’s stock in Brussels has been steadily rising. A counterproductive move.

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