Latest Articles about Europe
Hungary Seeks to Block Ukraine From Euro-Atlantic Integration Over Controversial Language Issue
On July 12, during the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) summit in Brussels, Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó stated that his country would not support Ukraine’s bid for NATO membership, because “Kyiv has not changed its policies toward national minorities.” He... MORE
Georgia Remains on Path to NATO
Four years ago, then–United States President Barack Obama famously stated that Georgia is not presently on the path to membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (Civil Georgia, March 27, 2014). Nevertheless, Tbilisi persisted in its efforts to maintain ever-closer relations with the transatlantic... MORE
Trump’s Bombast in Brussels and London Will Not Help Putin in Helsinki
The culmination of United States President Donald Trump’s European tour occurs today (July 16), in Helsinki, at the anxiously anticipated but far-from-perfectly prepared meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump comes to the rendezvous carrying the baggage of old problems and new controversies (see EDM,... MORE
‘Terrorist Intent’: How Finland’s Justice System Struggles to Tackle Terrorism Offenders
On August 18, 2017, 22-year-old Abderrahman Bouanane, a Moroccan citizen, attacked pedestrians in the center of Turku, Finland's third largest city, armed with a knife. The incident was Finland’s first jihadist-inspired terrorist attack, and it might have received more coverage internationally had it not been... MORE
Sofia Is Helping Moscow Bypass Ukrainian Gas Transit
German support for Russia’s plans to double the capacity of the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea has, in turn, encouraged Bulgaria’s aspirations to develop a regional gas hub with Russian help. Sofia has been seeking a similar arrangement with Gazprom to... MORE
A ‘Fantastic’ NATO Summit as a Possible Bargaining Chip in Trump’s Talks With Putin
After the end of the Cold War, both the East and the West agreed they were no longer enemies, and Russian delegations regularly visited summits of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The last such delegation attended NATO’s Chicago Summit, in 2012, though it was... MORE
Italy Eyes Central Europe to Promote Sovereigntism Inside EU
For Italy’s new and unusual ruling coalition composed of the 5 Stars Movement (5SM) and the League (previously, the Northern League), foreign policy issues remained conspicuously marginal in the two populist parties’ “contract of government” (Il Foglio, May 17). However, recent actions taken by their... MORE
Belarus Celebrates Independence While Rejecting Having to Choose Between East and West
Three implicitly interrelated events eclipsed all other developments in Belarus over the course of the past two weeks: Belarus’s Independence Day (July 3); the inauguration of the Maly Trostenets memorial (June 29); and, strangely enough, an off-the-cuff pronouncement by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka seemingly lamenting the... MORE
Slavic Brotherhood 2018: Applying the Syrian and Donbas Experience to the Balkans?
During June 18–28, Russia’s southern city of Novorossiysk (Krasnodar Krai) hosted the trilateral joint tactical military exercise Slavic Brotherhood 2018, at the Raevsky training center (Tvzvezda.ru, June 26). Observed by defense attachés from 42 countries, these drills were the largest international maneuvers of the Russian... MORE
Russia Expands Its Fleet in Sea of Azov to Some 40 Ships, Kyiv Warns
The Russian navy has boosted its presence in the Sea of Azov to approximately 40 ships, giving it the ability to control that body of water and to strike virtually at will along Ukraine’s coastline there, Vadim Skibitsky, a representative of the main intelligence directorate... MORE