Press quotes

  • Eurozone may need to rethink anti-crisis strategy
    Reuters, 21 April 2011

    "The easiest way out would be to do the restructuring soon," said Charles Grant, head of the Centre for European Reform in London. "Hit the private creditors and recapitalise the banks. It may still happen."

  • Interview: Military force is not enough to end Libyan conflict
    The Voice of Russia, 21 April 2011

    Do you believe that the current Libyan crisis can be resolved by diplomatic efforts, not through the use of force?

  • War in Libya could drag on, military analysts say
    New York Times, 20 April 2011

    Tomas Valasek, a defence expert at the London-based Centre for European Reform, compared NATO to an American political party, "a coalition of countries with broadly the same interests, but with different views." It was inevitable after the cold war, he said, that NATO countries would focus on different threats: terrorism and Afghanistan for some, like the United States, Britain, Canada and the Netherlands; Russia, for the Central Europeans. "As for the rest,I don't even know why they stay in NATO." NATO will never be what it was, Mr Valasek said.

  • Tunisia immigrants row threatens to destroy dream of borderless Europe
    The Times, 20 April 2011

    "There is a rise of parties of the hard Right in Europe which have set their faces against the free movement of people and the Schengen area," said Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform. "There is a conflict coming between the democratic desire to put a 'closed' sign on the door when times are tough and a system which does not follow the demands of the democratic cycle."

  • Springtime for the anti-euro brigades
    Presseurop, 19 April 2011

    "Euro-scepticism is a political force that is waiting for its breakthrough in Ireland," warns Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform.

  • NATO may need escalation to break Libya stalemate
    Reuters, 18 April 2011

    Tomas Valasek, a defence analyst at the Centre for European Reform, said an escalation of the military effort could be necessary - at least in the short term - to end attacks on civilians and apply pressure for a political solution.

  • Libya crisis reveals splits on EU goals
    New York Times, 18 April 2011

    "Libya confirmed France's worst beliefs," said Clara Marina O'Donnell, a defence expert at the Centre for European Reform, a research organisation in London. "It could not rely on its EU partners." … "The Anglo-French accord confirmed the frustration in London and Paris over EU defence efforts," Ms. O'Donnell said. She added that European defence could become even weaker as long as these two countries continue to co-operate so closely.

  • Europe splits over Libya - as with Iraq
    Times Live, 18 April 2011

    "Ashton was not able to make a stand for the no-fly zone at last week's EU summit because the European countries are divided," ever since the mistakes in the drawn-out conflict in Iraq, said analyst Hugo Brady of the Centre for European Reform. "The EU isn't coherent," on foreign policy, he added in an interview. "It's an ongoing problem."

  • Greece's economy teeters on the brink of default
    The Globe and Mail, 17 April 2011

    "Most intelligent people know there has to be a significant restructuring to ease the burden on Greece, and we're not talking about a painless extension of maturities, but wiping away a large portion of the debt," said Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform in London. "My worry is that the longer they leave it, the stronger the euro-scepticism becomes. When they finally do decide to restructure the debt it will be too late."

  • Hooray! The Yanks are going home
    Financial Times, 14 April 2011

    The figures are set out by Tomas Valasek in an illuminating report [Surviving austerity: The case for a new approach to EU military collaboration] for the Centre for European Reform. Most European nations are already spending far below the NATO target of 2 per cent of national income. Denmark alone plans to increase its budget in coming years. One or two others are planning to freeze spending. All the rest are cutting. Mr Valasek rightly calls for the pooling of costs and capabilities. But the problem goes beyond national pride.