Central Europe

Spiegel: NATO Unprepared If Russia Moved into Baltic Members

By Deutsche Welle

According to the German magazine Spiegel, NATO is examining scenarios in the event of a Russian military move in Eastern Europe. Alarm bells are already ringing in eastern states, and NATO is keen to show it could cope.

NATO Launches Multinational Military Exercise to Defend Estonia

By NATO

NATO launched a large-scale exercise “Steadfast Javelin 1” in Estonia on Friday (16 May 2014) which will test Allied forces on their ability to work together as well as maintaining NATO’s readiness and combat effectiveness.

Polish Prime Minister Says NATO Needs Larger Presence in Eastern Allies

By Reuters

“If there is no readiness for a greater NATO presence in bordering countries of the European Union, it will mean NATO solidarity is only declarative,” [Polish Prime Minister Donald] Tusk said at a security conference in the Slovak capital.

Czech Republic Wary of Permanently Hosting NATO Troops

By Robert Muller, Reuters

The Czech Republic does not favor hosting foreign NATO troops as part of the alliance’s plans to boost its eastern wing over the Ukraine crisis, its Defense minister said, in sharp contrast to some of its regional peers.

Canadian Troops in Poland for Multinational Exercise

By CBC News

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says Canada will send soldiers to Poland to take part in NATO exercises amid growing concerns about Russian aggression toward Ukraine.

Defining a Strategy for Europe’s East

This special panel on Defining a Strategy for Europe’s East included national leaders from Lithuania, which hosted the last EU summit on the Eastern Partnership, and from Latvia, which will host the next Eastern Partnership summit in 2015.

France Sending Four Rafale Fighter Jets to Poland

By Michel Rose, Reuters

France will send four Rafale fighter jets to Poland next week as part of a show of NATO commitment to Central Europe and the Baltic states

Canada Sending Six Fighter Jets for NATO Operation in Eastern Europe

By Hannah Thibedeau, CBC News

Canada is sending six CF-18s and military personnel to assist NATO in operations in Eastern Europe.

The End of the Peace Dividend and the Future of Transatlantic Relations

The era of peace in Europe that has lasted 25 years is drawing to an end, according to Poland’s Minister of National Defense Tomasz Siemoniak. In a public speech at the Atlantic Council, Minister Siemoniak discussed the importance of NATO’s ability to react to the ongoing crisis on its eastern flank as the threat from […]

Waiting for the Great Gas Cutoff

By John Roberts

Russia-Ukraine Crisis Is Now Unlikely to Let Russian Gas Keep Flowing Smoothly to Europe  European countries from Germany and Poland to Italy and Turkey now need to ensure they have emergency plans in place to deal with a possible cut-off of Russian gas supplies. At risk are the roughly one-fifth of their supplies delivered via […]