The situation in the Western Balkans is increasingly inching toward a showdown in Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) sparked by separatist tendencies in the Serb entity of the country, Republika Srpska. This would most likely drag the rest of the region into a wider confrontation and would also most certainly have implications for the rest of Europe. […]
History is unfolding before our eyes and both the US and EU have decisions to make in about how they are approaching their attempts to deter Russia from invading all or part of Ukraine. There has been no lack of proposed solutions to the problem at hand, but what is often missing is the proper understanding and context of Russia’s actual aims for Ukraine. […]
As is well reported on by now, Belarusian authorities ordered a Ryanair flight traveling from Athens to Vilnius to make an emergency landing in Minsk just a few days ago. The flight was accompanied by a MiG-29. Their aim was to arrest dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich, which they brazenly did, and trotted him out to do a coerced speech where he was clearly shaken and physically assaulted. What was even more bizarre was the fact that the Belarusian government blamed Hamas for putting a bomb on the grounded Ryanair flight. Of course, Hamas denied any responsibility. […]
Back in November, the pro-EU candidate Maia Sandu won the Moldovan race for Prime Minister against pro-Russian incumbent Igor Dodon by a margin of 57.75% of the vote to 42.25%. While not a major event even in European politics, this election could be a bigger sign of a major shift in Moldova from a traditionally stalwart Russian ally to a country with budding EU aspirations, or even possibly reuniting with their Romanian siblings to the West. […]
In the midst of election season in America, the outcome of the election is one of the core issues for European capitals and how it will affect the Transatlantic partnership going forward. Most assume that relations would quickly improve if Joe Biden were to be elected; however, it would still not change many of the challenges that both sides of the Atlantic have to deal with. […]
In light of the spate of protests following a rigged election in Belarus, its citizens have taken to the streets enmasse to protest its outcome. The numbers are estimated to be in the tens of thousands, and they only seem to be getting stronger. Amidst all of the chaos, the EU still does not have a clear position, nor does the US who is still on the sidelines. […]
The impact of a Union-State between Russia and Belarus may not seem all that significant to Europeans at first glance. However, the secondary and tertiary effects could completely change the security dynamic on the Eastern flank of the EU – all of which are members of NATO. […]
President Trump’s constant grievance with NATO is that America’s European allies do not carry their fair share in terms of defense spending. This, however, has been a long-standing issue in the alliance and previous Presidents have also urged NATO members to up their defense spending, including President Obama and President Bush. […]