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Gabriel Gavin

@gabrielgavin.bsky.social

Writing about energy, the EU, Brussels and the world with POLITICO. Author ‘Ashes of our Fathers: Inside the Fall of Nagorno-Karabakh.’

1,634 Followers  |  95 Following  |  8 Posts  |  Joined: 06.10.2023  |  1.8627

Latest posts by gabrielgavin.bsky.social on Bluesky

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EU refuses to bow to Trump demands to tear up business rules Brussels has signaled it won’t yield to U.S. pressure to ignite a bonfire of green regulations as part of their trade deal, a top official tells diplomats.

The EU has signaled it won't give in to pressure from Washington to tear up its green rules in order to firm up a deal on tariffs, the bloc’s top trade official has told member countries.

10.10.2025 07:21 — 👍 148    🔁 41    💬 5    📌 5
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Leaders press to reshape EU under Putin’s aggressive shadow Wednesday’s Copenhagen summit is a step toward turning the EU into a military power. But the bloc isn’t united and the risks are great.

The provocations of Vladimir Putin and the semi-detachment of Donald Trump are forcing the EU to radically transform itself.

This week's summit of European leaders will offer the starkest evidence yet the bloc as it once was is no more.

29.09.2025 07:41 — 👍 48    🔁 12    💬 0    📌 0
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Moldova chooses EU Presented by Bayer By GABRIEL GAVIN with ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Contact us on X @NicholasVinocur @swheaton @TimRoss_1 | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser GOOD MOR…

Moldova’s pro-Western government is set to secure a renewed majority after an election in which the campaign was marred by reports of widespread Russian interference.

But the victory presents a new challenge for the EU.

Brussels Playbook has more 👇

29.09.2025 07:14 — 👍 68    🔁 16    💬 0    📌 2
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🚨 BREAKING: The pro-EU Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) is firmly in the lead of Moldova’s election, with around half of votes counted so far and PAS-sympathetic constituencies still to tally.

Full story: www.politico.eu/article/poll...

28.09.2025 19:59 — 👍 492    🔁 109    💬 11    📌 21
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Polls close in Moldova after defining vote on EU path The parliamentary election comes amid reports of an “unprecedented” Russian hybrid interference campaign.

Moldovans voted today in a landmark parliamentary election that could determine whether the country stays on course to join the European Union, amid widespread warnings of interference by Russia.

28.09.2025 19:00 — 👍 57    🔁 13    💬 2    📌 0
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Moldova embassy in Brussels evacuated after election day bomb threat The diplomatic mission has been doubling as an overseas polling station in Moldova’s critical parliamentary vote.

Voters and officials were rushed out of the Moldovan embassy today in central Brussels after reports were received of a bomb in the building, which proved to be false.

28.09.2025 13:54 — 👍 66    🔁 28    💬 4    📌 2
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Hello? Am I speaking to the president of Europe? Presented by Amazon By GABRIEL GAVIN with ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Contact us on X @NicholasVinocur @swheaton @TimRoss_1 | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser GOOD MO…

Various European leaders have tried to position themselves as Donald Trump’s confidante.

But only one has been silently successful. For the US President, Ursula von der Leyen is Europe’s hotline.

Brussels Playbook has more 👇

25.09.2025 06:59 — 👍 12    🔁 2    💬 1    📌 0
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Russia ‘testing’ NATO with warplane incursion, Estonia warns Vladimir Putin has no interest in peace, Margus Tsahkna told POLITICO.

Estonia is calling on its Western allies to show unity in the face of growing aggression, the Baltic nation’s foreign minister said today after three Russian fighter jets entered its airspace.

19.09.2025 19:00 — 👍 113    🔁 37    💬 11    📌 2
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EU plans more sanctions on China. Will that be enough for Trump? Donald Trump says he’ll slap a harsh embargo on the Kremlin if Brussels turns the screws on China, but EU diplomats suspect the U.S. president is stalling.

The EU is planning more sanctions on China.

Will it be enough for Donald Trump to persuade Donald Trump to finally press Russia to end the war in Ukraine?

17.09.2025 07:29 — 👍 30    🔁 6    💬 18    📌 2
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Quit Russian oil? For the EU, Trump’s other demands are even harder. From facing down Hungary and Slovakia to taking on Turkey and China, meeting the U.S. president’s requests will be challenging.

If Donald Trump is going to slap sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine, there are a few things he’d like his European allies to do first.

Some are easier than others.

16.09.2025 07:49 — 👍 15    🔁 5    💬 5    📌 3
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Trump lieutenants tell Europe to stop worrying about climate change U.S. energy secretary and finance watchdog each dismissed EU’s strict approach to global warming.

Quit stressing about climate change — it'll all be fine.

That was the message from two of US President Donald Trump's top government appointees during a trip to Brussels last week.

16.09.2025 07:55 — 👍 38    🔁 19    💬 18    📌 8
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Hungary and Slovakia must quit Russian gas and nuclear, Trump envoy warns “The more we can strangle Russia’s ability to fund this murderous war, the better for all of us,” says U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright has called on the EU’s remaining buyers of Russian fossil fuels to drop their campaign against the bloc’s efforts to end dependency on Moscow and buy from America instead.

12.09.2025 08:52 — 👍 57    🔁 21    💬 15    📌 3
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Trump finally wants to put the squeeze on Russia. Now comes the hard part. Europe targets new sanctions on Moscow. Washington eyes tariffs and trade deals.

A coalition of European leaders has convinced US President Donald Trump that Russia is not interested in ending its war in Ukraine and must be forced to the negotiating table.

Now they have to persuade an unpredictable White House to agree on how to make that happen.

12.09.2025 07:12 — 👍 86    🔁 25    💬 27    📌 9
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Top European court rules nuclear power can be green General Court finds against Austria, which sought to overturn the decision to include nuclear and gas in the EU’s taxonomy regulation.

The EU can continue to count nuclear power, and in some cases fossil gas, as “environmentally sustainable,” after the bloc's top court ruled the European Commission was not breaching its obligations to tackle climate change.

10.09.2025 08:53 — 👍 31    🔁 11    💬 6    📌 3
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Von der Leyen wants to ax languishing legislation. What will be on the list? The Commission president wants to clean house with a review of legislative proposals that have become stuck in negotiations.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's crusade against red tape has reached her own institution. The question is, how far will it go?

10.09.2025 07:05 — 👍 19    🔁 5    💬 1    📌 2
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Von der Leyen’s State of the Union speech — live updates Follow our analysis as the European Commission chief outlines the EU’s priorities against the backdrop of a turbulent world order.

🍿 In just a few minutes Commission President will start her State of the Union Speech!

Follow @politico.eu's LIVE BLOG here:

www.politico.eu/article/ursu...

With ace colleagues @l-guillot.bsky.social @maxgriera.bsky.social and @gabrielgavin.bsky.social reporting on the ground from Strasbourg ⭐

10.09.2025 06:56 — 👍 2    🔁 1    💬 1    📌 0
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Orbán’s favorite Brussels think tank received millions from Budapest, new figures reveal MCC Brussels has received more than €6 million in funding to influence debate on public policy.

The EU’s most prominent hard-right pressure group has received millions of euros in financial support from sources linked to Hungary’s populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, new financial disclosures show.

04.09.2025 15:59 — 👍 51    🔁 32    💬 8    📌 6
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Ukrainian drone strikes strangle Putin’s fuel supplies Refinery attacks have triggered a fuel crisis and halted Moscow’s lucrative gas exports — as pressure grows on the Russian president to start negotiating.

A creeping barrage of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure has knocked out a major share of the country’s crude refining capacity in recent weeks, triggering domestic shortages and leaving the Kremlin’s most important strategic industry teetering on the brink.

03.09.2025 06:57 — 👍 207    🔁 48    💬 10    📌 8
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European heavyweights come out in force to urge Moldovans to snub Putin Merz, Macron and Tusk are visiting the country in support of Maia Sandu’s pro-EU camp ahead of a pivotal election.

The leaders of France, Germany and Poland are converging today on tiny Moldova to urge voters to keep turning away from Russia and support their country’s pro-EU government.

27.08.2025 06:52 — 👍 174    🔁 43    💬 8    📌 4
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Low on sanctions ammo against Putin, EU pins hopes on Trump As Brussels waits to see whether the White House will ramp up secondary sanctions, Ukraine is destroying key energy infrastructure in Russia.

The EU is drafting new measures designed to squeeze Russia’s ailing war economy.

But, having already committed to a phaseout of oil and gas imports, the bloc is increasingly aware it is Washington, not Brussels, that is best placed to turn the screws.

26.08.2025 07:00 — 👍 32    🔁 12    💬 6    📌 6
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Europe thinks Trump’s peace talks will fail. It wants them anyway — to call Putin’s bluff. Plan is to play along with Trump’s peace efforts until he realizes that Putin is not serious about ending the war.

European leaders don’t believe Vladimir Putin is sincere about a peace deal — so their strategy is to humor and praise Donald Trump until he finally reaches the same conclusion and realizes he will need to get tougher on the Kremlin.

19.08.2025 20:15 — 👍 135    🔁 36    💬 23    📌 4
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Trump piles pressure on Zelenskyy Presented by Fair Trade Advocacy Office By GABRIEL GAVIN with ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Contact us on X @NicholasVinocur @swheaton @TimRoss_1 | Listen to Playbook and view in …

Zelenskyy has arrived in Washington ahead of a potentially momentous showdown with Trump later today — and this time, he’s not alone.

But will the presence of other European leaders in the Oval Office actually help?

Brussels Playbook unpacks it all 👇

18.08.2025 06:38 — 👍 41    🔁 10    💬 4    📌 3
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Ukraine won’t give up territory Russia hasn’t captured, Zelenskyy says “The contact line is the best line” for negotiations, Ukrainian president said ahead of talks in Washington with Trump on Monday.

Ukraine is ready to talk about territorial changes as part of a peace agreement to end Russia’s invasion, but Kyiv won’t give up land that Moscow’s forces do not occupy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said today.

17.08.2025 13:59 — 👍 82    🔁 15    💬 16    📌 4
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Zelenskyy enlists top EU leaders for Trump talks in DC European Commission’s Ursula von der Leyen and Germany’s Friedrich Merz will join the delegation to the White House.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is taking top European leaders with him to Washington for crunch talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.

17.08.2025 10:46 — 👍 198    🔁 41    💬 16    📌 9
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Putin doesn’t want peace, EU’s Kallas warns after Trump talks The Kremlin is dragging out talks and refusing to make any concessions, Brussels’ most senior envoy said in an apparent break from colleagues.

Russia has no intention of backing down from its brutal war in Ukraine, the EU’s top diplomat said today, just hours after American President Donald Trump insisted he could be close to brokering a truce.

16.08.2025 11:48 — 👍 298    🔁 111    💬 10    📌 17
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Trump enlists Zelenskyy and European allies after Putin talks fizzle Ukraine’s Zelenskyy said he will travel to Washington on Monday and is open to trilateral talks with Moscow.

US President Donald Trump began a flurry of diplomatic outreach to Western partners following his high-stakes talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska, as capitals weigh up what might come next from Washington’s bid to end the war in Ukraine.

16.08.2025 08:33 — 👍 48    🔁 22    💬 23    📌 3
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EU leaders sound upbeat after Ukraine call with Trump. They could be in for a rude awakening. A call between Trump and EU leaders gave them hope that he’ll protect their interests in any Ukraine peace deal. It may not last.

European leaders can now breathe a little easier after receiving assurances from US President Trump that he’s not going to realize their worst nightmares and sell out Ukraine at a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday.

13.08.2025 20:59 — 👍 55    🔁 25    💬 46    📌 12
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Russia targeting voters across EU, Moldova warns Moscow is hoping pro-European Moldovans living abroad don’t go out to vote in September’s elections, the country’s national security chief told POLITICO.

Russia is ramping up efforts to influence Moldovans living abroad across Europe to try to sway critical elections next month, the EU candidate country’s security chief has warned.

04.08.2025 07:10 — 👍 483    🔁 181    💬 14    📌 10
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Europe learned to love American LNG. This is how Trump wrecks it. Backroom deals, embassy contacts and brown liquor built a booming export trade. Now, the lobbyist who saw it all says the U.S. president’s dalliances with Vladimir Putin are an incoming “aste…

There's a widening fear on the EU’s eastern fringe that Donald Trump will offer Vladimir Putin huge concessions and economic deals to end his war.

It’s the sledgehammer that could smash the West’s economic firewall around Russia — and take American energy with it.

31.07.2025 07:00 — 👍 33    🔁 16    💬 6    📌 1
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Von der Leyen’s hole-in-one? Presented by MedReAct By GABRIEL GAVIN with ZOYA SHEFTALOVICH PRESENTED BY Send tips here | Contact us on X @NicholasVinocur @swheaton @TimRoss_1 | Listen to Playbook and view in your browser GOOD …

After a nail-biting weekend of high diplomacy on the sidelines of Trump’s golfing trip to Scotland, the EU and the US finally managed to agree on a landmark trade deal.

But the bloc has a busy week ahead as it scrambles to lock in the agreement.

Brussels Playbook explains 👇

28.07.2025 06:45 — 👍 13    🔁 4    💬 5    📌 0

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