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Latest Articles about Europe's East
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Northern Ukraine’s Vulnerable Sumy Oblast: Covert Russian Links and Cossack Threats
With Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings taking a massive hit as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic, resulting economic crisis and his government’s bungled response, the Kremlin is nonetheless going forward with holding a popular vote on new constitutional amendments that will effectively... MORE
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Pro-Russian Disinformation Operations in Kherson: A New-Old Challenge for Ukraine’s National Security
On June 5, Serhiy Nayev, the commander of the Operational Command East of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, reported that the military and law enforcement agencies have strengthened the protection of critical infrastructure in the Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts to meet a possible Russian invasion. Primarily,... MORE
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Sales and Purchases in Moldova’s Parliamentary Marketplace
Moldova is experiencing a phenomenon that deserves to be termed Plahotniucism without Plahotniuc; at least not up front. From distant safe havens, the fugitive former ruler Vladimir Plahotniuc and his fellow-billionaire Ilan Shor are widely believed, with a high degree of plausibility, to be financing... MORE
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Ukraine-NATO: Politicians Struggle, While Military Acts
Relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have long been complicated, sometimes even uncertain. From hopes for membership after the Bucharest Summit in April 2008, to effectively declaring Ukraine neutral during Viktor Yanukovych’s presidency; from the reactivation of a Euro-Atlantic integration course... MORE
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The Political Situation Grows Tense in Minsk
Perhaps never has the flow of events in Minsk been as dynamic and captivating as at present. Moreover, available sources of information have dramatically diversified as online social networks and Telegram channels gained prominence to supplement traditional media outlets. As a case in point: On... MORE
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Kyiv Raising the Level, Accelerating the Pace of the Minsk Process (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. Kyiv has raised its delegation to the Minsk Contact Group from a semi-official level to a full-fledged, senior-level governmental and parliamentary delegation. Kyiv hopes that Moscow will reciprocate in order to accelerate the negotiations and do so,... MORE
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Kyiv Raising the Level, Accelerating the Pace of the Minsk Process (Part One)
Kyiv is adding Ukrainian citizens from the Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine’s east as members of Kyiv’s delegation to the Minsk Contact Group (see EDM, June 15, 17). But this is only one aspect of the delegation’s thorough overhaul. At the same time, Kyiv has turned... MORE
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Ukraine Designates Legitimate Representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Minsk Process (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. Pro-Ukraine personalities, forcibly displaced from the Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk, participated in the Minsk Contact Group’s extended video-conference session on June 9–15, as invited members of Ukraine’s delegation. This innovative arrangement looks set to continue for the... MORE
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Is Belarus’s Presidential Campaign Running Aground?
The electoral campaign in Belarus is developing like the plot of a mystery novel. Two obstacles seem to stand in the way of its impartial description: the sheer number of new developments and groupthink. The former makes it difficult to see the forest for the... MORE
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Ukraine Designates Legitimate Representatives of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Minsk Process (Part One)
Kyiv has appointed pro-Ukraine refugees from the Russian-occupied Donetsk and Luhansk to represent those territories in the Minsk Contact Group, the forum that negotiates the implementation of the Minsk “agreements.” For the first time in almost six years, pro-Ukraine delegates, acting on behalf of those... MORE