Unmasking Brussels

The best of POLITICO’s coverage selected by Editor-in-Chief Jamil Anderlini.
By JAMIL ANDERLINI
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Dear readers,
POLITICO is where you go to learn who will lead the European Union’s executive branch for the next five years. We have rolling updates of all the EU commissioners put forward by respective member countries and we are first with all the intrigue, gossip, controversy and significance of these key appointments.
From afar, it is easy to dismiss what happens in Brussels as arcane eurocracy. But the appointments and decisions made in this town really do impact the lives of hundreds of millions of people — billions of people, if you credit the “Brussels effect” of exemplary regulation that ends up being emulated all across the world.
Our excellent correspondent in Ukraine, Veronika Melkozerova, continues to produce outstanding, insightful coverage from inside the country as the audacious incursion into Russian territory continues. It’s increasingly clear that Kyiv is looking for an off-ramp from this conflict and this stunning invasion of Russian territory appears to be aimed at achieving maximum leverage in preparation for some kind of serious negotiations to end the conflict.
If Vladimir Putin is in a reflective mood, the one-year anniversary of the apparent assassination of mercenary warlord Yevgeny Prighozin, and the deep instability within Russia his aborted rebellion revealed, might just make the Kremlin more amenable to concessions and peace talks.
Over in Chi-town, the extraordinary Hollywood production that is American politics went into overdrive this week with the Democratic National Convention. The hottest ticket in town was, of course, the POLITICO-CNN Grill inside the security perimeter.
Hoping that a bit of the yankee glamour might rub off on them and that their American counterparts might be open to a bit of advice, a group of top British Labour Party officials made the pilgrimage to Chicago this week.
I suspect the newly elected Labour folk may be slightly flattering themselves when they say their left-wing American cousins are eager to learn from “political robot” Keir Starmer. But the parallels are still quite interesting.
One tragic story that has mesmerized people across the world this week is the awful sinking of U.K. tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s superyacht off Sicily. Lynch, who is confirmed to have drowned, had invited his legal team and their families aboard the boat to celebrate his victory in a decadelong court case in America. Also killed in the sinking were the boat’s chef, the chairman of Morgan Stanley International and a top U.S. lawyer, as well as their spouses and Lynch’s 18-year-old daughter.
The freak accident came barely a day after Lynch’s co-defendant in the long-running case was fatally hit by a car while out jogging in Cambridgeshire.
Banal as it might be to say, stories like this remind us that life is precious and it can all be over tomorrow — whether you’re stuck in a bomb shelter in Donbas or lounging on a superyacht in Sicily.
Until next week, bon weekend,
Jamil
Ukraine wants peace talks in wake of Russia incursion, but not directly with Putin
A great scoop, revealing that Ukraine does want to hold peace talks in the wake of its surprise incursion into Russian territory — just not directly with Vladimir Putin. Speaking to sources within the Ukrainian government, the story notes that Kyiv may look to copy the model of the Black Sea grain deal, where Russia and Ukraine struck separate agreements with intermediaries to resume grain exports out of the Black Sea. Read the story.
Ursula von der Leyen’s EU Commission sausage fest
A timely take on the embarrassing challenge facing Ursula von der Leyen: The Commission president asked each national government to supply her with two candidates for her Commission, one man and one woman. But so far only five countries have proposed a woman, making her promise of a gender-balanced team likely out of reach. Read the story.
Looking for a man in finance? Britain’s out of towners seek a wealthy husband.
Super fun piece on the women from Essex who head to London’s Broadgate Circle to find a rich husband. Check it out for some hilarious vox pops with a side of seriousness and politics. Read the story.
Belgium’s gonna Belgium: Budget row blows up coalition talks
As talks on a Belgian government coalition collapsed, we landed a perfectly timed, perfectly pitched story on what’s causing this latest iteration of Belgian political crisis. A fun, informative read for outsiders looking in. Read the story.
Serbia’s leader wins the West with promises of ‘white gold’ — but loses the people
Judging by the Serbian government’s allergic reaction to this deeply reported story — on how President Aleksandar Vučić won the West with a promise of “white gold” (lithium) but lost popular support as a result — it hit the mark. Read the story.
Missing tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s ties to UK spy chiefs
We were the first to document the links between the late Mike Lynch and the security services in this sensitively told and gripping story. Read the story.
EU Confidential: This burger could kill the EU
In this episode, host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Alessandro Ford, POLITICO’s agriculture reporter, to unpack how the prospect of lab-grown meat has riled up Europe’s farmers — threatening to upend the EU’s agriculture policy and lucrative subsidy program. Listen to the episode.

Westminster Insider: Meet the new MPs taking on Westminster
Parliament may still be on recess, but across the country hundreds of new MPs are getting ready to start back at work following Keir Starmer’s landslide election earlier this summer.
Host Sascha O’Sullivan meets a few of the new parliamentarians slowly figuring out their way through Westminster. Listen to the episode.

Power Play: Live at the DNC: Tammy Duckworth takes aim at Republicans for military slurs
Live on stage at the CNN-POLITICO Grill in Chicago, host Anne McElvoy talks to U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth.
The Illinois senator — a decorated war veteran — has fiercely defended the military record of Tim Walz, the running mate of Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, against Republican criticism that he exaggerated his service.

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