Stefan Lehne is a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe, where he researches EU institutions and reforms, and the development of EU foreign policy.
From 2009–2011, Lehne served as director general for political affairs at the Austrian Ministry for European and International Affairs. Prior to that position, from 2002–2008, he served the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union as director for the Balkans, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Previously, he was head of the Task Force for Western Balkans and Central Europe. He has held a number of other appointments in the Austrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was a researcher at the Austrian Institute for International Politics.
Lehne’s work on issues of European foreign and security policy has been widely published in a number of academic journals. In addition, he has authored a number of monographs on the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.
Despite strong incoming leadership and an ambitious plan for the next institutional term, a sense of defeatism is spreading across the EU. Rebuilding faith in collective European action must be the top priority.
The rules-based order and the defense of democracy have become widely used political frames in the West. While the former concept remains relevant in today’s geopolitical context, the latter requires a considerable rethink.
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The incoming EU leadership will have to navigate political turbulence and internal power dynamics. Working together as a real team would help in tackling the challenges ahead.
Despite embracing democracy, radical-right parties pose a significant challenge to the EU’s fundamental values. European leaders and institutions must address this challenge to safeguard democracy in the EU and ensure a more effective foreign policy.
Radical-right forces are already influencing EU policies and could determine the bloc’s future direction. Yet internal divisions give mainstream parties a tactical advantage in this pivotal election year.
With the global balance of economic and political power shifting away from Europe, the EU’s influence and credibility are in decline. To repair its image abroad and rebuild trust, the union should strengthen its international engagement and position itself as a force for reform of the international order.
Rosa Balfour and Stefan Lehne discuss why the radical right is on the rise in Europe, how this trend might impact EU policies, and what can be done to contain it.
The turmoil spreading across the globe makes it difficult to meaningfully respond to individual crises. The resulting expectation of impunity is emboldening aggressors.
The prospect of further enlargement presents the EU with multiple institutional, policy, and financial dilemmas. The successful integration of Ukraine and other candidate countries will require pragmatism, reforms, and transitional arrangements.
Rosa Balfour and Stefan Lehne discuss how the EU’s institutional and political dynamics are shaping its role in an increasingly chaotic and contested global order.
