Moldova’s Transnistrian territory is the scene of one of the last remaining “frozen conflict” in the contested space between the collective West and Russia. By the same token, it provides the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) with one of its last remaining... MORE

Russia has practically turned the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) into a hostage, ruthlessly instrumentalizing the organization’s consensus rules. The OSCE’s year-end, ministerial-level meeting, held in Skopje on November 29 and 30, highlighted Russia’s stranglehold over the OSCE as never before (see... MORE

Russia forced what it calls “the collective West” into significant concessions for this year’s Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) annual meeting of foreign ministers. Using its statutory veto and blocking powers, Moscow forced the organization to replace Estonia with Malta to chair... MORE

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is holding its annual meeting at the level of foreign ministers from November 30 to December 1 in North Macedonia, the organization’s chair for 2023. Several Western governments—including those in Washington, Berlin, and Paris—are coming to the... MORE

The West’s inadequate arming of Ukraine predetermined costly failures for Kyiv’s counteroffensive. The effort to dislodge Russian forces from their entrenched positions in southeastern Ukraine has become a difficult endeavor both militarily and politically (Euromaidan Press, November 6). Kyiv felt obligated to meet unrealistic expectations... MORE

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has ended a debate that he himself had helped spark. Zelenskyy told the nation on November 6 that Ukraine cannot hold elections while fighting a war for survival: “This is a time for cohesion, not division and wrangling. … Not for... MORE

*Read Part One. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s speech to the Security Council on October 30 marks a further step toward positioning Russia at the forefront of anti-Western forces more globally (Kremlin.ru, October 30). In the Hamas-Israel war, the Kremlin is taking the side of Hamas... MORE

Addressing an expanded session of the Russian Security Council on October 30, President Vladimir Putin outlined a new concept for the struggle against the West (Kremlin.ru, October 30). Putin is seeking to enlist the Global South (not his term) into this struggle alongside Russia. The... MORE

*Read Part One. Earlier this year, Moldovan President Maia Sandu initiated a national pedagogical effort to convince a skeptical populace to take national security and defense seriously and accept higher budget expenditures for this sector (see Part One, October 13). The new National Security Strategy,... MORE

On October 11, President Maia Sandu unveiled Moldova’s new National Security Strategy, an inter-agency product of the country’s Supreme Security Council and other relevant government institutions. The document assesses Russia’s agenda in the region as posing direct threats to Moldova’s aspirations to join the European... MORE