Tagged Russia

On the evening of 31st March 2019, Volodymir Zelenskiy, former comedian, emerged as victorious in the first round of the Ukrainian presidential election with 30% of the vote. Petro Poroshenko, the incumbe... Be More Curious...

Should we expect a Russian disinformation campaign during the 2019 European elections?

Natalia Liagka

09/04/2019

Disinformation is understood as a verifiably false or misleading information that is created, presented and disseminated for economic gain or to intentionally deceive the public, and maybe cause public ... Be More Curious...

State of war in the upcoming Ukrainian elections

23/03/2019

Publications, Western Balkans

*Edited by Carey Bennington For as long as they have existed, armed conflicts have simply served as pretexts to mask the hidden interests of an adversary camp or with the intention of escalation that could provide a territorial conquest. When Russia’s... Be More Curious...

Kosovo and the EU: The Need for Visa Liberalisation is Growing

Alejandra Finotto

09/03/2019

Just last year, Kosovo was celebrating its 10th anniversary of Independence, which it declared on February 2008 unilaterally from Serbia. Despite having a past marked by conflict, especially given the 1... Be More Curious...

POLICY PAPER – European Populism Feels at Home in Moscow: the Italian Case

05/02/2019

With the recent rise of tensions in the Azov Sea, Russia-EU relations seem to have reached a new low after the Salisbury attack. However, some European political parties, and notably the so-called populis... Be More Curious...

A challenge for New Year: who will buy the Leviathan gas?

20/01/2019

Israel

The days when treasures seekers were looking for gold are not entirely left behind. If at the beginning of modern epoch, the fighting was for the fields of gold, in our post-modern world is for the fields of gas. Oil and gas are primary sources on ener... Be More Curious...

An independent Ukraine Orthodox Church: why now?

15/01/2019

Beyond Europe, Publications

In Ukraine, this year’s celebrations for the Orthodox Christmas on January 7 assumed a whole new meaning, as the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has now gained its religious independence - or autocephaly - fr... Be More Curious...

OPINION — Beware of Russia’s bilateral cyber world order

Marta Barandiy

07/12/2018

This piece, which was first published on Euromaindanpress, was co-authored by Marta Barandiy and Katria Tomko. Russia, the United States, France, and China held secret talks on cybersecurity in Pari... Be More Curious...

COMMENTARY — No option left? In the Azov Sea, the EU is all Talk and No Action

04/12/2018

On November 25, Russian border patrol boats seized three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Azov Sea — two artillery boats and a tugboat — as they were attempting to pass through the Kerch Strait and used weapons to force them to stop. Twenty-four Ukrainia... Be More Curious...

OPINION — How Russia may be isolated on energy trade

02/12/2018

After the division of Russian empire in the end of First World War, a new concept has appeared in the political field. Intermarium was the answer of newly independent states at the Eastern imperialism. ... Be More Curious...

POLICY BRIEF — “Elections” in Donbas: more European involvement needed to change the status quo

25/11/2018

On November 11, so-called “elections” were held in the occupied territories of Donetsk (DNR) and Luhansk (LNR), in the Eastern area of Ukraine commonly referred to as Donbas. The two self-proclaimed... Be More Curious...

Russia Still Angry about Spanish Missile

Joseph Hammond

12/11/2018

RRussian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that a NATO air patrol in Estonia came close to firing a missile sparking World War III. “A Spanish fighter recently accidentally fired an air-to-air missile in Estonia,” he told TASS the Russian news age... Be More Curious...

Monday Talk with Gabi Zimmer

Elisa Telesca

15/10/2018

Monday Talks

As Part of our Monday Talks series, we have conducted an interview with Gabi Zimmer, Chair of Conferederal Group of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left, to discuss about Brexit, the upcomin... Be More Curious...

Macedonia referendum result – everyone rejoices, none is satisfied

Sergio Caliva

05/10/2018

Western Balkans

Last Sunday, on the 30thof September, Skopje held the most important vote in its recent national history, after the independence which took place in 1991. This time the aim was to settle the three decad... Be More Curious...

Chernobyl 2.0 –The Crimean ecological disaster

Sergio Caliva

30/09/2018

Overnight into the August 24, the Ukraine’s independence day, an ecological disaster in the city of Armyansk in the northern part of the temporary occupied Crimea occurred, close to the administrative border with the Ukraine province of Kherson. Th... Be More Curious...

Pension reform: Will Russians have the chance to retire?

17/09/2018

Last weekend saw the violent reaction of the Russian police over protests against the pension reform that has been proposed by the government. However, those protests were not the first one to show oppo... Be More Curious...

Looking Globally – Europe with Hard Power

31/08/2018

There have been a few moments in the last century of Modern Europe’s history that shaped the structure of the continent for the next decades. Without any doubt, World War One and World War Two have trul... Be More Curious...

Four countries, one threat

22/08/2018

On the chessboard of the world, every pawn seems to be an important pawn. Especially when the stake of the game is the expansion of the political power by gaining of the old sphere of influence and the new ones. In February-March 2014, Peninsula Crimea... Be More Curious...

Can Russia gain from a failing Iran deal?

14/08/2018

This article was first published by Bear Market Brief. It is no secret that Trump’s sudden decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal has left Tehran in a difficult situation. Emerging from a period of ... Be More Curious...

2019 Ukrainian elections, what to expect from Russia

14/08/2018

The Ukrainian presidential and parliamentary elections that are scheduled respectively in March and October 2019 are to draw our attention, especially taking into account the numerous Russian interferen... Be More Curious...

Can cyber attacks cause a major war?

Valeria Mingardi

30/07/2018

In the last two decades, the world has seen a rapid digitalization of services, both in civil society and state functions, thanks to the Internet and to the world wide web. As much as this is considered a positive evolution in terms of connectivity, this s... Be More Curious...

Monday Talk with Pierre Vimont on Transatlantic Relations

30/07/2018

Monday Talks

Following the NATO Summit (July 11-12) and the Trump-Putin Summit in Helsinki (July 16), we discussed with Mr Vimont, who is former Executive Secretary General of the European External Action Service an... Be More Curious...

Can the World Cup become a vehicle for promoting human rights?

Alessio Tardivo

20/07/2018

During the lead up to the World Cup tournament that ended this past Sunday, both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International noted significant human rights abuses on the part of host country Russia. Wh... Be More Curious...

Poland’s dilemma: Euro-scepticism and US cooperation

06/07/2018

As Poland is more and more on the conservative side and becoming a tenacious partner in European discussions, it seems, however, that it is open to a deeper cooperation with the United States. Since 2015 and the coming into power of the nationalist-cons... Be More Curious...

The Putin club is growing but who will benefit more?

Alessio Tardivo

21/06/2018

In recent days, Angela Merkel’s visit in Sochi to meet President Vladimir Putin, followed by Emmanuel Macron’s flight to St. Pietersburg to meet the former KGB lieutenant recently elected President for the ... Be More Curious...

Mitya Maker: Medvedev’s New Cabinet

25/05/2018

This insight was first published by Bear Market Brief. President Putin met with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday to discuss the structure of the new government. While the full list of Ministers is y... Be More Curious...

Putin IV: Stagnation at Home, Action Abroad?

Toni Michel

23/05/2018

Following his re-election on 18 March, Russia’s old and new president Vladimir Putin was inaugurated in the Kremlin on 07 May. Both the dates of the election and the inauguration were deliberately chosen to closely connect the figure of Putin to widely pop... Be More Curious...

President Erdogan’s juggling act

Robert Ellis

17/05/2018

Beyond Europe, Turkey

At Tuesday’s press conference with Turkey’s President Erdogan, the best Theresa May could muster in the form of condemnation of Turkey’s human rights abuses was a pious reminder: “I have underlined to Presi... Be More Curious...

Zapret a manger: Russia’s elites face growing sanctions pressure

15/04/2018

‘zapret’ (запрет) is the Russian word for ‘ban’. There is much to unpack in the US Treasury Department’s latest sanctions expansion, announced on 6 April. Seven Russians explicitly labeled oligarchs by Tre... Be More Curious...

Baltic States: missed opportunities in global politics

07/04/2018

We are living in the world where the facts "who makes" and "where it is made" are much more important than "what for" issue. Nowadays the world political scene is divided between superpowers supported by their allies. In order to punish each other for having o... Be More Curious...

Is Vladimir Putin the new archaic face of Europe’s enemy?

Richard Senneville

28/03/2018

Lotus Coffman, the fifth president of the University of Minnesota, said: "The chief support of an autocracy is a standing army. The chief support of a democracy is an educated people". And Oliver Wendell Ho... Be More Curious...

Why 1.5 million Syrians are wanted by the Assad regime?

Ruslan Trad

27/03/2018

These days data from the Syrian regime leaked out, including lists of people wanted by the authorities. Names count over one million, including mine. The lists include the names of the particular person,... Be More Curious...

What to expect from Putin’s Russia for six more years ahead?

Julien Hoez

21/03/2018

In the days following Vladimir Putin’s “electoral victory”, we have seen the usual mix of indignation, humor and derision aimed at the deplorable situation within the Russian Federation. People laugh at Russia, they mock Putin, they create memes and they t... Be More Curious...

Putin Wins, Russia Loses — Six difficult years ahead

Anita Porta

19/03/2018

The results of yesterday’s voting for Russian Presidential elections hardly came as a surprise for anybody. Former President Vladimir Putin was re-elected to his fourth term with an overwhelming majority, m... Be More Curious...

Influential Czech MEP shares his take on the Current EU-Russia Relations

Jiri Mastalka

07/03/2018

All opinions in this column reflect view of the autor(s), not of Vocal Europe. Current relations between the EU and Russia have been frozen for a long time. Some people say it is due to the „Crimea annex... Be More Curious...

An Authoritarian’s Guide to Building a Regime and Surviving a Colour Revolution

Toni Michel

06/03/2018

All opinions in this column reflect view of the autor(s), not of Vocal Europe. “For those of us climbing to the top of the food chain, there can be no mercy. There is but one rule: hunt or be hunted.” You, Mr President, have been a hunter for a... Be More Curious...

CAATSA and the Russian pipelines: how hard the bill can hit them?

Madalina Sisu Vicari

27/02/2018

The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA) bill, passed by the U.S. Congress with full bi-partisan support, and enacted on August 2, 2017, sparked stormy reactions of some EU Member... Be More Curious...

Colors of Islamic Iran

Georgi E. Asatryan

21/02/2018

Thirty-nine years ago, the Islamic Republic of Iran appeared on the political map of the world. And what is modern Iran? Will the President of the United States Donald Tump start war with Tehran? And why, d... Be More Curious...

The Battle of Murmansk: A tale of corporate conflict in Russia’s Arctic

16/02/2018

Apadlock stuck on a railroad switch was enough to block Murmansk’s oil terminal for about seven hours, one of the latest episodes of a bizarre corporate conflict in one of the world’s northernmost cities. Accounts by local media of the incident paint a pict... Be More Curious...

Long way to common European Security and Defence

13/02/2018

On 14-15 February, 2018 NATO Defence Ministers will meet in Brussels again to discuss the main threats the world faces nowadays. NATO consists of 29 member states but 22 of them are simultaneously the EU member... Be More Curious...

If Erdoğan has a boss, it must be Doğu Perinçek

Leonardo Veneziani

11/02/2018

Beyond Europe, Turkey

No doubt that there is a new and strange alliance in Turkey’s current political landscape. However, to understand the full awkwardness of this co-operation, one needs to take a few steps back in time to the... Be More Curious...

In the EU, Syrian embassies have built a strong network to stifle opposition views

Ruslan Trad

30/01/2018

All opinions in this column reflect view of the autor(s), not of Vocal Europe The man looked at me and answered with a slight smile; "The Syrian Embassy in Sofia is very strong at the moment. They have the support of nationalists and the Russian embassy.... Be More Curious...

CAATSA Out of the Bag: Russia’s Arms Exports Under Threat

Madalina Sisu Vicari

23/01/2018

*This article was co-authored by Madalina Sisu Vicari and Nick Trickett Russia’s exports amounted to in 2016 $285 billion, led by the following sectors:: hydrocarbons ($176 billion, accounting for 62%), meta... Be More Curious...

The Baltic States and the gained dependence

18/01/2018

Future of Europe is still uncertain. Though security is the real priority for all countries, each of them understands the process of achieving security by its own. Lithuanian and Latvian authorities increased p... Be More Curious...

The 3G of Armenian-Russian Relations: Guns, Gas and Goods

Richard Giragosian

16/01/2018

Beyond Europe, Inside Europe, Russia

Of the various states of the former Soviet Union, Armenia has long been seen as the most loyal, and perhaps most subservient, to Russia. For Russia, its leverage over Armenia has depended on a “3G” approach, consisting of a combination of guns and discoun... Be More Curious...

The Korean Crisis: Give Peace a Chance Through Economy

Matteo Lanfredi

16/01/2018

Tuesday 9 January, in the village of Panmunjom, after more than two years North Korea held talks with South Korea. Pyongyang announced that a North Korean delegation will join the 2018 Winter Olympics, organize... Be More Curious...

Building Blocs: Why Moscow is pursuing its apartment renovation program

02/01/2018