Hot and Cold Receptions for the G20

Empowered Joe Biden is to meet chairman Xi Jinping at the G20 summit where Russia’s diminished world status is set to be stamped. Hungary is on the road to unlock EU funding and Kherson returns to Ukraine.

This week on Visegrad Insight:

• Gabriel Rom analyses the rationales behind the Polish ruling party’s illiberal moves and their post-1989 narrative.
• Radu Albu-Comanescu completes his assessment of NATO’s European strategy with a dramatic suggestion.
• Nicasia Picciano writes about how the EU border issues are playing out in the Western Balkans.

EU/REGIONAL

• G20 meeting under the new geopolitical reality. G20 leaders are scheduled to meet in Bali on 15 November, with the participation of Vladimir Putin remaining unresolved.
• EU says Hungary made “a significant step” to secure the unlocking of EU money in economic aid while speculation grows over a potential Ursula von der Leyen visit to Budapest. A number of observers point out systematic corruption keeping Fidesz in power is still well-embedded in Hungary. Read more here.
• Blockage to Chinese investments. Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck submitted a proposal to prevent Chinese investors from taking over the Dortmund-based Elmos chip production plant ahead of the cabinet meeting on 9 November.
• COP 27 developments. Research platform Climate Action Tracker (CAT) calculated that country targets to reduce emissions set for this decade would lead to 2.4C of global warming. This is 0.6C above the best-case scenario of 1.8C which calculates with countries achieving all of their goals including radically greater green investments and much stricter climate policies.
• CAT also said that countries shifting to more sources of natural gas in order to free themselves from Russian energy dependence risk the targets of lowering emissions. By October, import of Russian gas imports went down to 7.5% from 40% before the invasion of Ukraine (Relates to Oggi’s text)
• EU Foreign Affairs Council convenes on November 14-15 and holds talks which include the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Great Lakes region and the Western Balkans.
• EU leader censored in Shanghai. Chinese authorities pulled out Charles Michel’s video set to address the China International Import Expo (CIIE) event, Reuters reports quoting diplomatic sources. Michel’s address was supposed to include criticism of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine and warning of the EU’s trade imbalance with China.
• Benjamin Netanyahu to work with the far right. The political strategy of Netanyahu has often been likened to Viktor Orbán’s in Hungary; the two are linked by the late GOP consultant Arthur Jay Finkelstein, whose company has been advising both politicians.
• The European Commission approved the German takeover of the Gazprom branch. The takeover of Gazprom Germania involves 225 euro million in aid for the company.

Kherson returns home and the line pushes east while the Ukraine environment takes a heavy toll.

UKRAINE