Canada can’t join the EU because member states have to be European! Morocco applied in the 1980s and was rejected for this reason. Unless of course you ignore the rules or change them, which would open the door to a huge EU enlargement

The Romania elections cancellation story has been largely ignored by western media but thanks to JD Vance us now on the agenda to the point where Macron has been forced to respond publicly.

I read the Flemish press and I’m proud, which makes me unique right?

open.substack.com/pub/justinst...

Obituary for my father, still the best journalist I’ve worked with t.co/RsQd5LU9eb

Fact checking, when newspapers were print-only, used to be part of the job of sub-editors. With the digital revolution these jobs were scrapped and subs told to rewrite and lay out only. Fact-checking should be in-house, not outsourced. The “back bench” should make a comeback.

Since Brexit the EU has dropped British English in favour of American English. Words like “finalized” now pop up across all EU docs. Some of this is unintentional, but when British diplomats were in the room they made sure they edited out that nonsense:)

Will the EU take down X as some politicians want? The chance must be close to zero. In any transatlantic trade war Europe has much more to lose, and Europeans are pretty dependent on US tech.

Netflix should do a Narcos-like series based on Belgium’s losing battle with organised crime. The bad guys would be Turks who would constantly complain about the weather.

Fun fact: Belgium hasn’t had a federal government for six months. Hardly anyone has noticed.

Do you really need to take your phone into your yoga class? Can’t you leave it in your locker?