On May 25, the Council of the European Union ultimately renewed the temporary agreement for the bloc’s trade liberalization with Ukraine for another year (Consilium.europa.eu, May 25). The decision, which came into force on June 6, was not, however, easy to achieve as the EU’s... MORE

On May 9, the European Parliament, with 537 votes, overwhelmingly approved the European Commission’s (EC) proposal to suspend import duties, anti-dumping duties and safeguards on Ukrainian exports to the European Union for another year (Europarl.europa.eu, May 9). The liberalization of trade, which previously was unanimously... MORE

On April 13, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid an official visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. While there, Aliyev met with his counterparts, the members of the Bosnian tripartite presidency, Željka Cvijanović, Denis Bećirović and Željko Komšić (Azertac, April 13). Despite the shortness of the visit—Aliyev departed... MORE

The Bulgarian parliamentary elections on April 2 produced another fragmented parliament, split between six parties with none having a majority. Negotiations to form a government broke down the next day, when the runner-up, reformist “Change Continues” (PP) party announced that it would not participate in... MORE

The prolonged political instability in Bulgaria will continue to impact critical energy security decisions and maintain the country’s status as Russia’s best client in Europe. Bulgaria, currently the third-largest buyer of Russian oil in the world, is heading for another round of general elections on... MORE

Iranian military activity in Europe’s neighborhood is not limited to supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine. Transforming itself from a net arms importer into a burgeoning arms exporter, Tehran is engaged in opportunistic behavior across conflict zones, ranging from Ukraine to tense, fragile regions, like the... MORE

Introduction: Turkey as a ‘Dronized’ Military Power on Russia’s Doorstep Geopolitically, Turkey is a game-changer. Without Turkey being a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the transatlantic Alliance would have had a truly different “mapping” of its surrounding environment. Such a “different mapping”... MORE

On July 18, the European Commission signed the new Memorandum of Understanding on a Strategic Partnership in the Field of Energy with Azerbaijan to increase imports of Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe by at least 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) annually by 2027 (Ec.europa.eu, July 18). “Today... MORE

Bulgaria is heading for new parliamentary elections once again, for the fourth time in 16 months. Kiril Petkov’s centrist government collapsed on June 22, after only seven months in office, when the opposition united around a no-confidence vote in parliament. Earlier, one partner, the There... MORE

Russia’s war on Ukraine has prompted the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union to examine current security vulnerabilities in Europe and find a way to address them. One of the major areas of focus has been the Balkans, and three outstanding security... MORE