MNI POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS – Week Ahead 11-17 April

Editor’s Note: The next Political Risk Week ahead will be published on Monday 25 April. We wish all our readers a Happy Easter.

All timings subject to change.

Monday 11 April:

• EU-Russia: Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer visits Moscow for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nehammer will be the first Western leader to meet with Putin since the launching of the invasion of Ukraine. Austria is one of the few EU member states that is not part of NATO and has some of the closest business ties to Russia of all EU nations. Nehammer stated ahead of the visit that he would be pushing for an immediate ceasefire, humanitarian corridors, and investigation of war crimes.
• US-India: US President Joe Biden to hold a call with Indian PM Narendra Modi. Following this, a ‘2+2’ dialogue meeting between Indian and US officials takes place in Washington, D.C., lasting until 15 April. The Indian delegation is led by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Foreign Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar. The US team will be led by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III and Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. While there is some resentment in the US and other Western nations regarding India’s circumspect stance on sanctioning Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, the US continues to seek closer military relations with Delhi as a counterweight to China in the Indo-Pacific.
• European Union:Foreign Affairs Council meeting takes place in Luxembourg. Situation in Ukraine set to be discussed by EU foreign ministers following 25-25 March EUCO meeting, with Mali, Libya and Yemen also on the agenda. Foreign ministers of Norway and Iceland (both NATO and EFTA members) in attendance.
• United States:With Congress not in session a number of Congressional Delegations (CODELs) are travelling to Europe to hold talks with those involved in efforts to support Ukraine. House minority leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is at the Polish-Ukrainian border with seven GOP and two Democrat representatives. Meanwhile, House majority leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) leads a delegation of four Democrat and three Republican congressmen, as well as Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) to Germany, Denmark, Poland and Greenland.
• Italy:Italian PM Mario Draghi travels to Algeria for talks with the government in Algiers. With growing pressure on EU leaders to come up with workable plans to reduce reliance on Russian gas, Draghi is seeking to ensure supplies from Algeria (currently the second-largest provider to Italy after Russia) can be boosted to match demand.

MNI POLITICAL RISK ANALYSIS – Week Ahead 11-17 April.pdf