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Latest Articles about Europe
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Russia’s Unending Balkan Intrigues
Historically, Russia has treated the Balkans as an area solidly within its sphere of vital interests, and that is still the case today. While individual Balkan countries are not especially important geostrategic players in Europe, their location imparts to them a greater, even possibly exaggerated,... MORE
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Bringing Belarus Back in From the Cold (Part One)
At the European Union’s Eastern Partnership summit in Riga (May 21–22), the EU’s neighborhood and enlargement policies came to a grinding halt. To some extent this is an effect of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the centerpiece country of the EU’s Eastern Partnership. But, irrespective of... MORE
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Moscow-Backed Terrorism Likely to Spread Across Ukraine
All eyes are currently on the actions of Moscow-supported units in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. Speculations abound as to when and where these forces will attack next and whether the Ukrainian military will be able to hold back or even repulse them. But an even... MORE
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Moscow Announces the Creation of Rapid Reaction Forces—Again
Russia’s top brass re-announced the creation of rapid reaction forces, with overall numbers of up to 70,000, based upon the existing elite Airborne Forces (Vozdushno Desantnye Voyska—VDV). The idea of creating such a capability is hardly new, but the timing of its latest incarnation is... MORE
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Aborted Offensive in Donbas on Eve of G7 Summit
It was hardly surprising that the fragile ceasefire in eastern Ukraine was broken last week by an exchange of artillery and tank fire after weeks of deployment of Russian troops and heavy weapons in the war zone. What was unexpected, however, was the direction of... MORE
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Ukrainian Government Enlists Georgian Talent
President Petro Poroshenko and the government of Arseniy Yatsenyuk have invited a significant number of foreign experts to take up government posts and design the reforms in Ukraine. Appointing and naturalizing foreign officials to such an extent is unprecedented in the post-communist, post-Soviet countries of... MORE
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Taking Stock: Implications of the Riga Summit for the South Caucasus
Prior to its start, the European Union’s May 21–22 Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit in Riga was widely anticipated, given that the previous summit in Vilnius had been overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and newly evident Russian expansionism. Russia’s aggressive policies caused concerns in those... MORE
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Mikheil Saakashvili Appointed Governor of Ukraine’s Odesa Province (Part Two)
To read Part One, please click here. For all their personal friendship, President Petro Poroshenko’s appointment of Mikheil Saakashvili as governor of Odesa province in Ukraine is the ultimate merit-based appointment. In Georgia, Saakashvili had presided over the boldest and most successful reform programs of... MORE
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The Ceasefire in Ukraine Is Crumbling as Russia Again Accuses Kyiv of Shooting Down Flight MH17
The fragile ceasefire in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine seems to be unwinding, and both sides accuse each other of being the aggressor. This week (June 3), the worst fighting was in Maryinka, west of Donetsk. The Russia-backed rebels insist they are defending their... MORE
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Ukraine Fails to Make Shale Gas Breakthrough
Ukraine’s hopes to cut its dependence on gas imports from Russia through shale gas development have been dashed. The two multinationals that won government tenders to develop non-traditional gas deposits in Ukraine, Chevron and Shell, stopped their works last year, and there is no clarity... MORE