Russian President Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” against Ukraine in an early-morning TV address on February 24. Over a month later, beyond inflicting massive suffering and damage, few of Putin’s initial objectives in Ukraine have been accomplished, from defeating the Ukrainian Armed Forces... MORE

Russia’s decision to severely reduce natural gas supplies to Europe before the winter has sent prices skyrocketing, causing the most serious energy crisis in decades. In fact, Europe has never seen such high gas prices. Benchmark wholesale European gas prices have rocketed upward by more... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. *To read Part Three, please click here. *To read Part Four, please click here. Romania’s proposals, seconded by ten European Union member states, regarding the protracted conflicts in the Black Sea... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. *To read Part Three, please click here. The European Union has a 30-year handicap to overcome in tackling the Russia-orchestrated conflicts in the wider Black Sea region. Midway through that interval,... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. The European Union is undertaking initial exploratory steps following Romania’s proposals to support the EU’s Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries affected by protracted (“frozen”) conflicts (see Parts One and Two in EDM,... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. The European Union has yet to develop a policy regarding the protracted (“frozen”) conflicts in the wider Black Sea region. Russia is both a belligerent and an arbiter in these conflicts, negating the sovereignty and territorial integrity of... MORE

Romania’s minister of foreign affairs, Bogdan Aurescu, is spearheading an initiative within the European Union to involve the EU in the management and eventual resolution of the protracted conflicts in the wider Black Sea region. Ten other EU member states (Portugal, Sweden and eight Central-Eastern... MORE

The heads of state and government of the North Atlantic Organization’s (NATO) 30 member countries held a summit at the Alliance’s Brussels headquarters on June 14. NATO summits usually take two days. This year’s vast agenda—reflected in an unusually long communiqué—clearly would have needed the... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. Post-Communist Romania’s first national warship-building program—a multi-role corvette— resides in legal limbo since being launched in November 2016, with none of the four planned vessels having been laid yet. After an initial attempt by the authorities to directly... MORE

In November 2016, the Romanian government decided to begin the first national warship-building program since the fall of Communism in 1989. More than four years have passed since this decision was been made, but no ships have been laid yet. The program for building four... MORE