
Latest Articles about Europe

NATO Brussels Summit: Key Outcomes and Implications for Ukrainian Interests
The Ukrainian issue was widely represented at the July 11–12 North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit, held in Brussels. Notably, the final Summit Declaration (Nato.int, July 11) pointedly identified Russia’s aggressive actions, both conventional military and “hybrid” (New Type), including Russian threats and examples of... MORE

Belarus: Enforcing the Law in an Illiberal Democracy
Three sets of law enforcement actions recently administered in Belarus help to shed light on what rule of law means in this country. Thus, on July 4, Alexander Knyrovich, the CEO of SarmatThermo-Engineering, a company that makes heating network pipes, was sentenced to six years... MORE

New Georgian Government Attempts Reset With Russia While Balancing Euro-Atlantic Aspirations
Georgia’s new government, led by 36-year-old Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, apparently intends to focus on improving trade and cultural contacts with Russia under its “Freedom, Rapid Development and Prosperity” program. In more conciliatory language that Moscow has heard in many years, on July 13 Bakhtadze... MORE

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