Latest Articles about Europe
Lukashenka’s Marathon Press Conference in Minsk
On January 29, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka gave his regular press conference for domestic and international media (Tut.by, January 29). This time it lasted more than seven hours, during which Lukashenka consumed five cups of green tea. It was the first such event staged at... MORE
Russia’s War in Ukraine Sinks the Minsk Negotiations (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. The breakdown of the Minsk negotiations process (see Part One in EDM, February 4) had become obvious even before its final collapse on January 31. Moscow, along with the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (“DPR” and “LPR,” respectively)... MORE
Russia’s War in Ukraine Sinks the Minsk Negotiations (Part One)
Russia’s and its proxies’ military advantage (see EDM, January 22, February 3) is increasingly shaping the Minsk process of negotiations to Ukraine’s detriment. That process maintains the fiction that Russia is not a party to the conflict in Ukraine. Ukraine’s official position in Kyiv and... MORE
Russia Grinds Down Ukrainian Troops While Western Support Is Elusive
Russian and proxy forces are attacking Ukrainian positions at multiple points along the frontline since mid-January 2015, bringing to bear superior armored forces, unmatched heavy firepower and electronic warfare support. These offensive operations are mostly positional and attritional for the time being, with a distinct... MORE
Vladimir Putin’s Dirty Little War
Since Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine in February 2014, its ongoing operations center upon “plausible deniability.” With the passage of time and more and more evidence entering the public domain, however, “plausible deniability” has appeared increasingly ridiculous. The Russian political-military leadership continues to repudiate any involvement... MORE
Russian Political Warfare to Disrupt Ukraine’s Military Mobilization
A new phase of Russia’s war is ongoing since mid-January in Ukraine’s east. This phase has broken the informal “silence regime” that had taken effect since December 9, which had mainly restrained the use of heavy artillery and multiple missile launchers. It is on these... MORE
Russia Makes Haste in Severing Ties With Europe
Russia has achieved much success last week in its rush toward self-isolation, and perhaps the most demonstrative step was made in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). Sergei Naryshkin, the Chairman of the State Duma, came to Strasbourg as the head of... MORE
The Partisan Movements in Belarus During World War II (Part One)
Belarus stands out from other European countries in terms of the casualty rates it suffered during World War II: close to one-third of the entire population of Belarus perished in the war. Another distinguishing feature of Belarus is the role played by its underground partisan... MORE
Now You See It, Now You Don’t: Putin Cheating on the Armistice Line in Ukraine
Russian President Vladimir Putin is playing a cheating game with the West and Ukraine, not only hollowing out the Minsk armistice agreements (see EDM, January 22, 23, 27), but even shifting the agreed-upon demarcation line on the ground and on the map. Kyiv is alert... MORE
Minsk Ceasefire Agreements Are Dead, but the Russian Offensive Is Faltering
The Minsk ceasefire agreements, signed last September by the representatives of Russia, Ukraine, the Moscow-backed rebels and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), were designed to stop the fighting in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and create a semblance of a... MORE