Italy has experienced its own “Russiagate”: this summer, news emerged that individuals associated with Italian Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini allegedly tried to obtain financial support from Russia for his League party (Corriere.it, July 26). Links between the Italian nationalist formation and... MORE

On December 29, 2018, the head of the occupying government in Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, proposed to transport Ukrainian offshore oil and natural gas drilling rigs (“nationalized” by Russia after the Crimean annexation) from the Black Sea to the Syrian coastal shelf (UAWire, December 30, 2018).... MORE

Introduction In March 2019, Italy and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) signed a broad and comprehensive, albeit not legally binding, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for Italy to join the Chinese-led Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This has triggered a significant debate—in Brussels as well... MORE

The first three months of 2019 already saw a series of positive developments in the normalization of relations between Belarus and the European Union. Yet, the process remains not only slow, but also contradictory. This is one of the conclusions that came out of a... MORE

New natural gas discoveries in the Eastern Mediterranean might be a boon for the European Union’s efforts to move away from dependence on Russian energy supplies. In the current complex energy game between Europe and Russia, Italy could play an important role as an entry... MORE

Russia’s Gazprom has completed the underwater portion of the TurkStream pipeline, which will be able to carry 15.75 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas a year under the Black Sea, through Turkey, and on to Europe. At a ceremony marking the occasion, Presidents Recep... MORE

The United States’ Federal Register published the “Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations” on November 5, re-imposing US sanctions on Iran (Federalregister.gov, November 5). This expected action by Washington had raised concerns in Baku about the potential implications of renewed Iran sanctions on Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz-II... MORE

Italy and Russia signed 13 deals worth $1.7 billion during last month’s (October 23–24) visit to Moscow by Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (TASS, La Stampa, October 24). He and Russian President Vladimir Putin emphasized that the two countries enjoyed solid trade and investment relations,... MORE

Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who also holds the position of Italy’s minister of the interior, met with his Russian counterpart, Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev, and two members of the Russian Security Council, in July 2018 (Il Foglio, July 18; Corriere della Sera, July... MORE

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