Gareth Harding
@garethbxl.bsky.social
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Brussels-based writer, journalism lecturer and media trainer.
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Gareth Harding
Johnny Ryan
4 days ago
My piece in The Guardian this morning: Europeâs path to technological independence from the U.S.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Europeans are dangerously reliant on US tech. Now is a good time to build our own | Johnny Ryan
By trusting the US, we handed Trump a kill switch. Yet Europeâs digital sovereignty is an achievable goal, says civil liberties campaigner, Johnny Ryan
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/feb/17/europeans-are-dangerously-reliant-on-us-tech-now-is-a-good-time-to-build-our-own
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A sad trend with profound social and political effects: the mass closure of pubs in UK and cafes in France. Both cornerstones of communities, especially in small towns and villages.
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13 days ago
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Gareth Harding
Dave Keating
23 days ago
A continent divided into many states with different languages, histories & religions - overcoming their differences and uniting into one federation. A pipe dream for Europe? No. It's the modern reality of India. And it shows it can be done. My piece on đȘđșđźđł:
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Europe should draw inspiration from the Indian union
The subcontinent was also once split into small states speaking different languages, but the Indian union has brought great success. As the EU and India strike a trade deal, there are wider lessons.
https://davekeating.substack.com/p/europe-should-draw-inspiration-from
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Almost my entire Bluesky timeline is people commenting on Trumpâs every dumb word or act. Every day. All the time. Which is entirely understandable but also completely pointless. And one of the many reasons I donât waste my precious time on earth here like I used to on X.
about 1 month ago
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Ben Coates
about 1 month ago
Itâs surely relevant that the US has never been invaded in its homeland, while west Europeans have seen their towns reduced to rubble by invaders within current lifetimes. Americans donât seem to see that for Europeans, border disputes arenât a funny distraction; theyâre a matter of life and death
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âAppeasement does not restrain Trump. Nor does acquiescence preserve stability. It simply confirms that coercion works.â Time for Europe to grow up and grow some.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Greenland is Europeâs credibility litmus test â it must show Trump that aggression carries a price | Fabian Zuleeg
In the new dog-eat-dog world order, appeasement doesnât work. Time for the EU to grow up, says Fabian Zuleeg, chief executive of the European Policy Centre
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/13/greenland-europe-credibility-litmus-test-trump-aggression-carries-price?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
about 1 month ago
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Gareth Harding
Ben Coates
about 2 months ago
A quick reminder that a lot of people find this time of year very difficult - and even people who seem fine can be really struggling to stay afloat. If you think you know someone like this, call! send them a message! send a stupid gif or meme! Itâll take you 20 seconds & could literally save a life
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Kate from Kharkiv
2 months ago
Kaja Kallas: we have to be really clear-eyed. We have one aggressor and one victim. And the one that needs security guarantees is Ukraine, not Russia. In last 100 years, Russia has attacked at least 19 countries, some as many as three or four times. None of those countries has ever attacked Russia
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Gabriel Zucman
2 months ago
It has become received wisdom in Brussels and Washington that there is a new âeuro-sclerosisâ: that the EU economy is lagging the US This view is wrong A little primer on the measurement of productivity â and why reports of the economic death of Europe are greatly exaggeratedđ§”
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âA world where China and the US both wish to eat the EUâs economic lunch, and Russia harbours darker designs to the east, is no place for a romantic view of multilateralism..Europeans deserve far better than a continent made fit for Elon Musk.Time to fight back.â
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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The Guardian view on Trump and Europe: more an abusive relationship than an alliance | Editorial
Editorial: The White House is aggressively seeking to weaken and dominate the United Statesâ traditional allies. European leaders must learn to fight back.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/dec/09/the-guardian-view-on-trump-and-europe-more-an-abusive-relationship-than-an-alliance?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
2 months ago
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Jon Worth
3 months ago
If European Digital Sovereignty is to mean anything, it ought to mean NOT posting on a platform owned and run by a fascist intent on undermining the EU! And don't give me the bullshit you have to be there for "balance" or "reach" - the rules are stacked against you from the outset
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This book could not be more timely on the day Trump has been named the most influential person in Europe by Politico. And there is nobody who writes with more vim and verve about Americaâs domination of Europe than
@davekeating.substack.com
. Iâm ordering my copy now.
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2 months ago
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Gareth Harding
Ben Coates
3 months ago
Article 5 is now not just dead, but three times cremated and then buried at sea
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Gareth Harding
Jeremy Goldkorn
3 months ago
From R. Crumb's satirical "City of the Future" in Zap Comix (1968)
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âEurope is losing confidence, sinking into fatalism and justifying its passivity with the soothing thought that it has no real choice, as its cards are weak.â Excellebt op-ed by
@sbeverts.bsky.social
www.politico.eu/article/euro...
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Europeâs psychology of weakness
Itâs time the EU ditched its failing strategy of âreact, hope, repeat.â
https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-psychology-of-weakness-ukraine-war-trade-trump-putin/
3 months ago
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Gareth Harding
John Burn-Murdoch
3 months ago
This chart (which applies even more to social media than it did to TV) lives in my head rent free. Social media enveloping traditional media means everything and everyone is now competing in the entertainment market. Boring stuff like policy that affects millions of lives doesnât stand a chance.
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Anne Applebaum
4 months ago
Hundreds of thousands of people, dead because of a decision made by the world's richest man
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âThe project is described as a prime example of 'belgo-belge' politics, where regional-federal tensions, party rivalries and symbolic posturing have overtaken practical problem-solving.â
www.brusselstimes.com/1829144/schu...
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Schuman's roundabout facelift project might end up in court
The canopy project has then been shelved after EU funding plea failed, resulting in tension between regional and federal bodies and laying bare Brussels party politics.
https://www.brusselstimes.com/1829144/schuman-roundabout-facelift-project-might-be-taken-to-court
4 months ago
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Gareth Harding
Petter Törnberg
4 months ago
In short, the ANES data shows: đ Social media use is shrinking đ„ Twitter/X posting has moved ~50 points to the right đ§© Platforms are splintering đ Fewer people are talking â but those still talking are more politically extreme
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Great reporting from my parentsâ hometown of Caerphilly - where the leftist nationalist party Plaid Cymru saw off a threat from Farageâs far-right Reform party in a bitter by-election.
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4 months ago
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Ben Coates
4 months ago
The Netherlands has issues but is an extraordinarily successful society - rich, safe, healthy and beautiful, with outstanding public services. Unfortunately a lot of people take this for granted, and believe politicians who claim to be patriots while claiming everything is terrible
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Gareth Harding
Dave Keating
4 months ago
It is wild that the đșđž Vice President is calling senior Republican staffers, men in their 30s, "young boys" in order to excuse their leaked racist, sexist and Hitler-praising text messages.
open.substack.com/pub/jill/p/t...
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POLITICO prediction vs reality.
4 months ago
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www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Madeline Horwath on St George returning to England â cartoon
The St Georgeâs flag is more popular than ever. Itâs more complicated for Englandâs patron saint
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2025/oct/11/madeline-horwath-st-george-returning-england-cartoon?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
4 months ago
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Gareth Harding
Ben Coates
4 months ago
Christ this is grim, seeing it laid out this way. The far right is now the most popular party in the UK, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Poland⊠Unprecedented
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Gareth Harding
Anne Applebaum
5 months ago
"We took the freedom of speech away," says the president
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The EU: big on the small things, small on the big.
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5 months ago
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âThe Brussels bubble has found its voice. Unfortunately, itâs ChatGPTâsâ. Brilliant, amusing, rant against AI slop in EU circles where dull, samey writing was already a problem.
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5 months ago
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Ben Coates
5 months ago
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Incredible insider account of Trumpâs ignorance and petulance. But also of how effective his temper tantrums and bullying taxtics are.
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
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âIâm leaving,â Trump said. âThereâs no reason to be here any moreâ: inside the meeting that brought Nato to the brink
Former secretary general Jens Stoltenberg recalls the rollercoaster ride of dealing with Donald Trump â and how close the US president brought the alliance to the point of collapse
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/oct/04/im-leaving-trump-said-theres-no-reason-to-be-here-any-more-inside-the-meeting-that-brought-nato-to-the-brink?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
5 months ago
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Gareth Harding
Ben Coates
5 months ago
Itâs refreshing to hear someone - Zach Polanski, new leader of the UK Green Party - actually making the case for migration as a good thing. Not a view you hear very often at the moment, even from those ostensibly on the centre left
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Anne Applebaum
5 months ago
exactly like the Chinese surveillance state
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Further proof that Britainâs far-right Reform Party is full of Putin puppets.
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5 months ago
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âTrump and Putin â like-minded, amoral, authoritarian apex predators â are working together, or at least in parallel, to undercut European democracy, security, prosperity and progressive values. It looks like a concerted pincer movement. It feels like 1939.â
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
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Trump and Putin are threatening to carve up Europe between them. Suddenly, it all feels a bit 1939 | Simon Tisdall
Forget the US presidentâs seeming volte-face on Ukraine this week: he and Putin fundamentally agree that European liberal democracy is the problem, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisd...
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/28/trump-putin-europe-1939-us-russia-ukraine-liberal-democracy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
5 months ago
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Paul Bernal
5 months ago
This is the real threat to free speech.
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Andrew Stroehlein
5 months ago
Question to the room: which social channels do you use for EU-related communications? X: Almost no one raises hand. BlueSky or Mastodon: Almost no one. LinkedIn: Almost everyone.
#EUinfluencer
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Ben Coates
5 months ago
I KNEW IT!! itâs official, Dutch only makes sense if youâre drunk
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Andrew Stroehlein
5 months ago
Don't kill anyone. Don't spread hate. How about we all agree on that?
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Europe sacrificing its sovereignty for US protection came with two risks, writes
@davekeating.substack.com
- "that the US would become disinterested, or that the US would become adversarial. We are now in a nightmare situation where the US has become both."
open.substack.com/pub/davekeat...
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As Russia attacks Poland, an unstable America spirals out of control
With its incursion yesterday, Russia was testing US interest in defending Europe. But as American domestic turmoil rapidly escalates, Europe is in the nightmare scenario so many warned about.
https://open.substack.com/pub/davekeating/p/as-russia-attacks-poland-an-unstable?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
5 months ago
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âEuropean federalists, rejoice! The European Union finally has a bona fide president. The only problem: He lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., aka the White House.â Spot-on op-ed lead by
@nicholasvinocur.bsky.social
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5 months ago
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Dave Keating
7 months ago
"Israeli Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu declared that 'all Gaza will be Jewish' and the Israeli government 'is racing ahead for Gaza to be wiped out'" In the Knesset on Tuesday "participants spoke of Gaza as an ideal site to relieve Israelâs housing crunch"
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Column | As Gaza starves, Israelâs far right sees a dream coming true
Members of Israelâs government embrace the Trump-inspired vision of a Gaza of gleaming towers, ritzy tourism and pristine neighborhoods, but without Palestinians.
https://www.washingtonpost.com//world/2025/07/25/worldview-gaza-hunger-crisis-israel
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No. Next question.
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7 months ago
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Highway to Halle headline, surely?
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7 months ago
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Ben Coates
7 months ago
An extraordinary front page from a newspaper not normally known for its leftwing sympathies. The tide is slowly, belatedly turning.
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Gareth Harding
Ben Coates
7 months ago
Far right conspiracist grifters form a far more globalized network than the WEF could ever dream of
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Mythical Belgium: Ahead of national day I write about the seven awe-inspiring places that make me proud to live in this cool, quirky country. đ§đȘ
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7 months ago
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Do you know the words to the Belgian national anthem? Do you accelerate after youâve passed speed cameras? And do you prefer ketchup or mayonnaise with your frites/fritjes? As Belgian national day approaches, find out how Belgian you are by taking my tongue-in-cheek test.
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7 months ago
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