EsadeGeo Daily Digest, 16/07/2024

The Washington Post - Ashley Parker and Josh Dawsey / Trump, after assassination attempt and a string of wins, makes his entrance
 

• A somber Donald Trump — his right ear covered by a small white bandage — strode into the Republican National Convention on Monday evening, lightly pumping his right fist and gently waving the same hand. 

• Trump appeared before the convention crowd almost exactly 48 hours after a gunman attempted to assassinate him Saturday night at his rally in Pennsylvania, a tragedy that killed one attendee, injured two others, and left Trump safe but injured. 

• In this moment, Trump seems as close as he’s ever been to returning to the White House, where he has promised to be a dictator on “Day One,” round up and deport millions of undocumented immigrants, root out the so-called “Deep State,” and carry out his vision of retribution on political enemies. 

• One prominent Democrat who speaks often to top leaders in the party described the mood as “morose” as the party watched Trump’s political fortunes seem to continue to wax, while Biden’s appeared to wane amid his refusal to step aside.
   

The Guardian - Kim Willsher / France failure to agree on new PM puts leftwing coalition in ‘stalemate’ 
 

• The leftwing coalition that won most seats in France’s snap general election is facing division after its leading party said it was suspending negotiations with the others over a failure to agree on a prime minister. 

• Just one week after the election, the fragile unity within the New Popular Front (NFP) fractured on Monday when France Unbowed (LFI) accused the Socialist party (PS) of “unacceptable methods” in vetoing suggestions over who should lead any new administration. 

• The rift comes at the start of a crucial week in which the government will resign, and new MPs will vote on Thursday to appoint a new president of the national assembly, the equivalent of the speaker of the house. 

• On Monday, LFI said it would not resume talks about forming a government or agreeing a possible prime minister until after the vote for president of the lower house.
   

Politico - Barbara Moens and Pieter Haeck / Commissioners should skip Hungary’s meetings, European Commission says
 

• The European Commission has asked its commissioners not to attend informal ministers’ meetings during the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, three EU officials told POLITICO. 

• By instead sending civil servants to the meetings, the Commission hopes to send a message to Budapest that its cavalier use of the EU presidency is unacceptable, one of the officials added. 

• Hungary took over over the rotating EU presidency from Belgium in June. Since then, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has undertaken self-declared “peace missions” to Kyiv, Moscow, Beijing and Washington and claimed, without authorization, to be representing the European Union. 

• The Council’s legal service has told EU ambassadors this breaches EU treaties, and EU leaders have been fuming about Hungary’s rogue presidency. They’ve struggled, though, to do much about it beyond publicly condemning Budapest’s actions.

Bloomberg - Donato Paolo Mancini and Natalia Drozdiak / EU Nations Mull Reopening Afghan Embassies, Recognizing Taliban
 

• Several European countries are considering reopening their embassies in Afghanistan in a move that would entail diplomatic recognition of the Taliban almost three years after the fall of Kabul, according to people familiar with the matter. 

• Western nations, including the US, left Afghanistan after hastily evacuating nationals and security personnel in 2021, as Kabul fell to the Taliban, who had mounted a decades-long insurgency after being toppled from power in 2001. At least 70,000 civilians are estimated to have been killed in the war, according to the Watson Institute at Brown University. 

• No European embassy is currently present on the ground, although the European Union has a delegation in the country and the US maintains an interest section at the Qatari representation. The only Group of Seven country with an embassy is Japan. 

• A senior European diplomat said the view among officials in Brussels had shifted to recognizing the necessity of a physical presence in the country to conduct development projects, protect women’s rights, and establish a strategic presence.

   

Our opinion reads for today: 

• Financial Times - Ivan Krastev / The US itself could be the biggest loser in this election
• Foreign Affairs - Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar / Why Iran’s New President Won’t Change His Country