Latest Articles about Western Europe
The Multi-Faceted Reality of Italian Foreign Fighters in Ukraine
The clumsy attempt, in mid-September, of an Italian man to allegedly join pro-Russia separatist forces in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, reignited the issue of Western “volunteers” fighting in this worn-torn country. The would-be Italian combatant for the self-styled separatist “people republics” of Donetsk and... MORE
Russian Hybrid War, Euro-Hybrid Democracy in Ukraine’s East (Part One)
Moscow has instructed the Donetsk and Luhansk “people’s republics” (DPR-LPR) to postpone the local “elections” that were scheduled for October 18 and November 1 in that Russian-controlled territory of Ukraine. Those elections would have been staged separately from Ukraine’s own local elections, which are scheduled... MORE
BRIEFS
BERLIN KNIFE ATTACK, WAVE OF ARRESTS UNDERLINES GERMAN RADICALIZATION THREAT James Brandon A known radical Islamist stabbed and wounded a policewoman in Berlin on September 17, and was subsequently shot dead (DW, September 17). The attacker, a 41-year-old ethnic Kurdish Iraqi man called Rafik Mohamad... MORE
Nord Stream Two in Ukrainian Perspective
At Russia’s initiative, the Nord Stream Two natural gas pipeline project has advanced from agreements of intent to a binding agreement; and Gazprom has formed the project consortium with several major European energy companies. Planned to connect Russia with Germany through the Baltic Sea by... MORE
Nord Stream Two: The Project’s Implications in Europe (Part Three)
*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. According to the European Union’s Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Cañete, Ukraine is a “reliable transit country,” while Nord Stream Two does not help diversify supply sources, hence “it is not a... MORE
The Gloves Come Off: The Dutch Response to Jihadists in Syria and Iraq
In December 2014, a video testament emerged in which 19-year-old Sultan Berzel, from the Netherlands’ southern city of Maastricht, called on Muslims to make hijra (a religious migration) to the self-proclaimed Islamic State group. He delivered his message in a quiet voice and with a... MORE
ENI’s Gas Discovery in Egypt Puts Pressure on Italian-Russian Energy Ties
The discovery of a world-class supergiant gas field in the waters off Egypt’s Mediterranean coast by Italian state-owned energy producer ENI is another step forward in Italy’s attempt to become an energy hub in southern Europe. Despite the silence of both the Russian government and... MORE
Nord Stream Two: The Project’s Implications in Europe (Part One)
Russia, Germany and a consortium of Western European companies have re-activated the Gazprom-led Nord Stream Two gas pipeline project. Parallel to the existing Nord Stream One pipeline on the Baltic seabed, Nord Stream Two would double the system’s total capacity to 110 billion cubic meters... MORE
Nord Stream Expansion Agreed, Wintershall Swapped to Gazprom (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. The agreement to build the Nord Stream Two gas pipeline marks a return to business as usual with the Kremlin in a political sense—that is, accepting Russia’s war against Ukraine as a given and moving past it (see... MORE
Nord Stream Expansion Agreed, Wintershall Swapped to Gazprom (Part One)
Germany is leading Western Europe’s return to business as usual with Russia in the natural gas sector, notwithstanding Russia’s war in Ukraine. On September 4, at the Vladivostok economic forum, with Russian President Vladimir Putin in attendance, two binding agreements were signed that will dramatically... MORE