The international situation both triggered the ongoing crisis in Belarus—at least in the minds of some observers—and continues to have implications for its evolution. According to Belarusian KGB head Ivan Tertel, the August–September 2020 rallies protesting the official presidential election results were expressly sparked from... MORE

One of the most memorable stories from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was the non-start of Belarusian athlete Kristina Timanovskaya, who dared to criticize her country’s sport authorities and found herself escorted by coaches to the airport, where she managed to flee. Russian mainstream media provided... 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

Since 1991, Moscow has viewed the 125,000-strong Christian Turkic Gagauz minority in Moldova as a useful tool to limit rapprochement between Chisinau and Bucharest as well as derail any Moldovan moves toward the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). More recently, it... MORE

On July 20, Russian United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Rostec and Sukhoi officially unveiled their newest single-engine fighter, nicknamed the “Checkmate,” at the MAKS airshow (see EDM, July 22). According to UAC, the serial production of the Checkmate could be launched in 2026 (Life, June 20).... 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

On July 28, United States President Joseph Biden held a 15-minute face-to-face talk with Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who many in the West consider to be the leader of Belarusian opposition. The opposition-minded media outlets and social networks conveyed a sense of triumph. Indeed, since the August... MORE

In two battlegrounds 1,500 kilometers apart, veteran Chechen freelance fighters are being rebuked by those with whom they aligned against a common foe. In June, Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the main rebel group in the Idlib Governorate of Syria, issued a demand that the hundreds... 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

On July 20, Belarus’s President Alyaksandr Lukashenka conducted a foreign policy revision meeting. That same day, the Roundtable of Democratic Forces, a group headed by Yury Voskresensky, published a draft for a new constitution; and Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, widely seen in the West as the leader... MORE