The Mirror Crack'd

Waking up to the latest news emanating from the European Union can be an electrifying experience these days. France particularly seems to be going through the mill at the moment. Maybe it has something to do with its revolutionary tradition - although one can't help thinking that the preponderance of paving stones (cobbles or setts) in their streets and squares might have more than a little to do with encouraging it. This was the reason the Albanian authorities, also experiencing civil unrest, have taken up the paving from the main boulevard in Tirana outside the Prime Minister's office to prevent them being used as projectiles. French protesters have gone beyond chucking stones, though, and are setting fire to vehicles and public buildings. Images of the flaming clock tower of Limoges town hall crashing through the roof revived uncomfortable memories of the collapse of Notre Dame's spire in the catastrophic fire of 2019. The cause of that traumatic conflagration was accide...

At last, President Zelensky has lost his patience and spoken exasperatedly of Trump's fixation with Putin. This is a risky strategy but he obviously feels that Trump's latest shabby deal to gain Putin's diesel fuel, and his apparent order to switch off the Starlink drone monitoring system, leaves him no option. These actions have served to emboldened Putin as winter sets in, leaving Ukraine's civilian population exposed to intolerable levels of Russian bombardment. The fact that Trump, always capricious and unreliable, appears to have acted in a fit of pique only serves to make matters worse. European leaders are cautioning Zelensky to tone down his rhetoric but many will applaud him for his candour. Having held the Russian advance at bay for years Ukraine has reached an existential crisis, leaving Zelensky little option but to speak his mind in the hope of galvanising his European allies into action. He may also, of course, be appealing to a US audience in the run-up t...