In an October 2017 interview on Lenta.ru, a mainstream Russian online news portal, prominent historian Sergei Volkov was pointedly asked, “Why is it that neighbors and allies of Russia continue to build their state ideologies on anti-Russian rhetoric?” He responded, “That is because all these... MORE

With its “wife abandonment syndrome” (see EDM, December 5, 2016) fostered by the geopolitical reorientation of former satellites, Russia is prone to suspect latent infidelity on the part of Belarus, too. These suspicions regularly come out on Russian TV talk shows; and certain media outlets,... MORE

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) annual ministerial conference, held on December 7–8, in Vienna, exposed yet again the 57-member international organization’s incapacity to hold its own against Russia. The latter used its veto power as a member to block any and... MORE

Azerbaijan’s Defense Minister Zakir Hasanov visited Belarus, on October 9–10, and toured local defense-industry enterprises to review modern military equipment that could help boost the capabilities of the Azerbaijani army (Mod.gov.az, October 8, 10). The Ministry of Defense released photos of Hasanov standing in front... MORE

Following a turbulent chain of events, Mikheil Saakashvili, the former president of Georgia and the opposition activist leader of the Ukrainian Rukh Novykh Syl, last week found himself under house arrest in his Kyiv apartment. But today, on December 11, in yet another plot twist,... MORE

Last month, at the Halifax Security Forum, Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz, known for his strong anti-Russia stance, restated his claim that Russia and Belarus’ joint strategic exercise Zapad 2017 was a preparation for an offensive against the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (naTemat.pl, November... MORE

As 2017 draws to a close, Romania is doubling down on its defense posture. Through a series of transformative policies and military acquisitions, Bucharest is trying to meet the Russian challenge in the Black Sea and implement the decisions of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s... MORE

Belarus openly admits to pursuing a multi-directional foreign policy. And Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei has made multiple statements about the difficulties of balancing between East and West under growing tensions and belligerent rhetoric from both sides (see, for example, Belta, June 2). But if Belarus’s... MORE

A Russian court in occupied Sevastopol sentenced Ukrainian former military expert Dmitry Shtyblykov, on November 16, to five years imprisonment in a strict penal colony (Regnum, November 16). Shtyblykov worked at the think tank Nomos, which, prior to the illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014,... MORE

Armenia and the European Union signed a Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) at the fifth Eastern Partnership summit in Brussels, on November 24 (Armradio.am, Eeas.europa.eu, November 24). CEPA, which took nearly two years of consultations and negotiations to come to fruition, replaces the Association... MORE