
Latest Articles about Central Europe

COVID-19 Increases Importance of Middle Corridor
Following the large coronavirus outbreak in Iran, neighboring countries quickly closed their borders with the Islamic Republic. More than a thousand Turkish trucks carrying goods to Central Asia found themselves stuck at checkpoints due to the closure of the Iran-Turkey and Iran-Turkmenistan borders (Daily Sabah,... MORE

Hot Issue – They’re Gonna Need A Bigger Boat: The Curious Voyage of the Akademik Cherskiy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Since its announcement in 2015, Russia’s proposed Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline has remained the infrastructure project posing the largest single threat to the energy and national security of the European Union and Ukraine. The year 2019 witnessed the culmination of years... MORE

Entering Buildings Through Back Doors: The Case of Belarus Policy
Following the forcible Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, the value of boosting Belarus’s sovereignty began to outweigh the value of democracy promotion as the sole and unwavering basis of the West’s policies toward this East European country since 1995. This overturn in value preferences,... MORE

Plans for Waterway From Baltic to Black Sea via Ukraine, Belarus and Poland Advance
During the Middle Ages, the waterways linking the Baltic and the Black seas were a far more important trade corridor than any land routes linking Europe with what was to become Russia. Twenty years ago, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, the European Union... MORE

Russian-Ukrainian Gas Transit Deal: A Collapse of Putin’s Gas Strategy or a Temporary Retreat? (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. Kyiv and Moscow finalized a bilateral deal to transport Russian natural gas to Europe through Ukrainian territory (see Part One in EDM, January 22). Although the new five-year agreement, signed on December 30, 2019, represented a compromise... MORE

Moscow Reacts Warily to NATO’s Largest Military Exercise in 25 Years
Russia’s political-military leadership frequently criticizes the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for its enlargement and for staging military exercises close to Russian borders. This pattern has intensified since Russia’s intervention in Ukraine in 2014 and the subsequent downturn in its relations with the United States... MORE

Making Foreign Companies Serve China: Outsourcing Propaganda to Local Entities in the Czech Republic
Introduction The fast build-up and equally sudden decline of Chinese influence in the Czech Republic offers an interesting case study of vulnerability and resilience in the newly democratic small states targeted by the united front operations of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). [1] Recent revelations... MORE

Europe Ensnared in a Web of Russian Spies
On December 4, the French newspaper Le Monde published a report arguing that at least 15 Russian spies allegedly belonging to “Unit 29155” of the Main Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (GRU) have been using the Haute-Savoie... MORE

The Trust Lives: Moscow’s Alternative Ethnic Organizations Again Mislead West
Last week, October 28, Czech President Miloš Zeman welcomed a delegation of representatives of a pro-Russian organization of Crimean Tatars. During the meeting, he reportedly declared that Crimea is part of Russia (Radio Prague, October 31)—exactly what Moscow wants to hear. The Czech president’s spokesperson... MORE

Turkic Council, Non-Aligned Movement Summits Illuminate Azerbaijan’s Foreign Policy Strategy and Priorities
This past month, Azerbaijan hosted two large inter-governmental gatherings: the 7thSummit of the Cooperation Council of the Turkic-Speaking States (Turkic Council), on October 15, and the 18th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), on October 25 (Turkkon.org, October 15; Turksoy.org, October 16; Azernews.az, October 25).... MORE