On July 6, Albanian President Bayram Begai visited Azerbaijan and engaged in discussions with his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on bilateral political relations, joint activities in international organizations, trade, economic matters and investment opportunities (Kaspi.az; Report.az, July 8). These talks underlined Baku’s increased attention to... MORE

On August 13, a warship of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet executed a board-and-search operation of a Turkish freighter that was passing through Bulgaria’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) en route to Ukraine to load grain. The Russian crew fired warning shots from automatic weapons to intimidate... MORE

*Read Part One. *Read Part Two. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) summit in Vilnius on July 11 and 12 upgraded the old NATO-Ukraine Commission to a NATO-Ukraine Council, which allows Ukraine to call for consultations during crisis situations (see EDM, July 13, 17, 19).... MORE

On July 17, Russia unilaterally suspended the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (“grain deal”), the year-old arrangement that has allowed Ukraine to export grain—albeit under Russian-imposed conditions—from the three ports in and near Odesa. The Kremlin and its navy had (until now) only... MORE

*Read Part One. *Read Part Two. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has conclusively won the Baltic Sea; however, it risks losing the Black Sea in terms of naval posturing and discretionary air access. NATO’s summit, on July 11 and 12 in Vilnius, marked the... MORE

“Azerbaijan has proven to be a reliable partner of NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization],” declared President Ilham Aliyev in December 2021 during his visit to NATO Headquarters in Brussels. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed this statement by referring to Azerbaijan as “a valued partner.” Stoltenberg... MORE

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

Tensions in the Balkans are escalating again as Serbian security forces have allegedly kidnapped three Kosovo police officers inside the territory of Kosovo. Prime Minister Albin Kurti called the entry of Serbian forces into Kosovo territory an aggression aimed at destabilization (Koha.net, June 14). The... 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

Since the end of December 2022, all clients of Georgian banks, both Georgians themselves and foreigners, have received messages with a formidable warning that, if their deposits and accounts are used to violate Western financial sanctions against Russia, these accounts will be blocked without any... MORE