World

Are spheres of influence returning to the international stage?

Published

11 months ago

March 24, 2025

Are spheres of influence returning to the international stage?

While the concept lost some of its relevance at the end of the Cold War, it is back in the spotlight with the return of Donald Trump and the war in Ukraine.

Are spheres of influence making a comeback on the international stage?

The concept lost relevance at the end of the Cold War but seems to be regaining interest with the return of Donald Trump to the White House and the war in Ukraine.

“The prolonged crisis in Ukraine has really brought the concept back into global conversations about geopolitics and security. And more recently, the return of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States has accentuated this concept,“ Iain Ferguson, assistant professor at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow, told Euronews.

A sphere of influence refers to a geographical area that a power has unilaterally declared to be its exclusive space and over which it exercises political, economic and military control.

The concept was defined at the Berlin Conference of 1884-1885, at which the European colonial powers shared out Africa – without of course consulting any Africans on what they thought about being colonised.

However, it had already been shaping international relations long before, when the United States adopted the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, which condemned all European colonial intervention in Latin and North America.

Catalyst for conflict

It is in Europe’s interest to prevent the formation of exclusive spheres of influence, says Sven Biscop, director of the Europe in the World programme at the Egmont Institute.

“The immediate threat of a sphere of influence is that you cut others off from resources and trade. For Europe, this is a problem because we are an export economy and we have to import most of our resources”, the researcher explained.

In his view, a global race by the major powers to establish spheres of influence would increase geopolitical tensions and risk triggering conflict.

Russia, China and the United States are looking to gain ground. The US President has threatened to annex Greenland and Canada, but this is about territorial expansion, not spheres of influence, Biscop said.

For its part, “Russia is trying to establish an exclusive sphere of influence by military means and abroad”, he added.

“China is intelligently gaining a lot of influence in the world, but mainly through an economic and political strategy. But this could only become an exclusive sphere of influence if other players, including the European Union, abandoned these countries to China. But this is not the case,“ he stated.

According to Biscop, the reappearance of spheres of influence is therefore not being observed on a global scale.

“Many countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America are trying to maintain good relations with various major powers, including China, the United States and the EU. So, in a way, it’s exactly the opposite of exclusive spheres of influence.”

For the EU, enlargement is a way of promoting its values. But, in his view, it is not a sphere of influence.

“Of course, enlargement increases the European Union’s power and influence. But enlargement does not create a sphere of influence. If another state joins the Union, it is part of us. There should be a sphere around us. It would not be part of us,” he stated.

Spheres of influence “are back in the geopolitical conversation in the 21st century. But it is very difficult to see how this translates into concrete political reality on the ground,” Iain Ferguson concluded.

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World

Did the EU bypass Hungary’s veto on Ukraine’s €90 billion loan?

Published

1 minute ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Did the EU bypass Hungary’s veto on Ukraine’s €90 billion loan?

A post on X by European Parliament President Roberta Metsola has triggered a wave of misinformation linked to the EU’s €90 billion support loan to Ukraine, which is designed to help Kyiv meet its general budget and defence needs amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.

Hungary said earlier this week that it would block both the loan — agreed by EU leaders in December — and a new EU sanctions package against Moscow amid a dispute over oil supplies.

Shortly afterwards, Metsola posted on X that she had signed the Ukraine support loan on behalf of the parliament.

She said the funds would be used to maintain essential public services, support Ukraine’s defence, protect shared European security, and anchor Ukraine’s future within Europe.

The announcement triggered a wave of reactions online, with some claiming Hungary’s veto had been ignored, but this is incorrect.

Metsola did sign the loan on behalf of the European Parliament, but that’s only one step in the EU’s legislative process. Her signature does not mean the loan has been definitively implemented.

How the process works

In December, after failing to reach an agreement on using frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war effort, the European Council agreed in principle to provide €90 billion to help Kyiv meet its budgetary and military needs over the next two years.

On 14 January, the European Commission put forward a package of legislative proposals to ensure continued financial support for Ukraine in 2026 and 2027.

These included a proposal to establish a €90 billion Ukraine support loan, amendments to the Ukraine Facility — the EU instrument used to deliver budgetary assistance — and changes to the EU’s multiannual financial framework so the loan could be backed by any unused budgetary “headroom”.

Under EU law, these proposals must be adopted by both the European Parliament and the European Council. Because the loan requires amendments to EU budgetary rules, it ultimately needs unanimous approval from all member states.

Metsola’s signature therefore does not amount to a final decision, nor does it override Hungary’s veto.

The oil dispute behind Hungary’s opposition

Budapest says its objections are linked to a dispute over the Druzhba pipeline, a Soviet-era route that carries Russian oil via Ukraine to Hungary and Slovakia.

According to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Hungary and Slovakia imported an estimated €137 million worth of Russian crude through the pipeline in January alone, under a temporary EU exemption.

Oil flows reportedly stopped in late January after a Russian air strike that Kyiv says damaged the pipeline’s southern branch in western Ukraine. Hungary disputes this, with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán accusing Ukraine of blocking it from being used.

Speaking in Kyiv alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the pipeline had been damaged by Russia, not Kyiv.

He added that repairs were dangerous and could not be carried out quickly without putting Ukrainian servicemen in danger.

Tensions escalated further after reports that Ukraine struck a Russian pumping station serving the pipeline. Orbán responded by ordering increased security at critical infrastructure sites, claiming Kyiv was attempting to disrupt Hungary’s energy system.

World

Video: Pakistan Launches Airstrikes on Afghanistan

Published

10 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Video: Pakistan Launches Airstrikes on Afghanistan

new video loaded: Pakistan Launches Airstrikes on Afghanistan

Tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan escalated on Friday as the two countries clashed.

By Monika Cvorak

February 27, 2026

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