Eastern Europe

Frozen Conflict in Moldova’s Transnistria: A Fitting Analogy to Ukraine’s Hybrid War?

By Sergiy Gerasymchuk

History is a great teacher, so it’s no surprise that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea and his subsequent Kremlin speech justifying it brought back memories of the Nazi annexation of Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland in 1938. Parallels between Hitler and Putin abound, as do their motivations and the eventual global impact of the two […]

A View from Tbilisi: Are the Euro-Atlantic Partners Ready to Accept Russia’s Notion of a ‘Near Abroad’?

By Tedo Japaridze

NATO summits are filled with Georgian expectations. The Warsaw Summit in July of 2016 is no exception. Since the Bucharest Summit (2008), Georgia’s engagement with NATO has seemed to gravitate around the theme of a Membership Action Plan (MAP) as a prelude to NATO membership. The discussion itself is perhaps too focused on Georgia, when […]

NATO Opens Joint Training and Evaluation Center in Georgia

By Jens Stoltenberg, NATO

Today marks an important moment in the NATO-Georgia relationship.

Things Are Looking Up for Ukraine: Debt Deal Reached

By Anders Åslund

Today Ukraine received great news. Private owners of $19 billion of Ukraine’s Eurobonds have agreed to a substantial debt restructuring that will give Ukraine much-needed relief. The high bond yields have been sharply reduced, the bonds’ maturities have been prolonged, and the face value of the bonds has been reduced by 20 percent. According to […]

Infographic: Data Disproves Russian Lies about NATO Military Expansion

By Jorge Benitez and Lucas Della Ventura

Russian leaders have been promoting the myth of NATO military expansion as part of their justification for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.

Reform Agenda in Kyiv on Slow Burn, But in Odesa, Saakashvili Already Delivers

By Kateryna Smagliy

“I come away from this visit to Odesa with a sense of optimism,” wrote US Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt after his recent trip there. After I posted Pyatt’s article to my Facebook page in an attempt to diminish the growing fatigue of fellow Ukrainians over the mixed results of the new government’s reforms, angry reactions followed. […]

Georgia Needs a Shorter Path for Membership in NATO, not a MAP

By Mamuka Tsereteli

The Warsaw summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has a chance to become another milestone in the history of the organization, if the alliance chooses to take the next step forward towards further enlargement. There are several aspirant countries expecting bold decisions. Georgia is one of them. The Georgian government is taking a […]

Russian Disinformation Alienates the West from Russian Periphery

By James J. Coyle

The Russian Army has released a photo of a Ukrainian tank decorated with a swastika, yet the original Reuters photograph shows no such emblem. Russia also released a photo of a Ukrainian soldier covered in Nazi tattoos, but that picture was actually taken in 2005, inside a Russian prison. Europe is revolted by any reminders […]

Poland’s Sikorski Urges Tougher NATO Stance Against Russia

Two days after resigning as the Speaker of Poland’s Parliament following an eavesdropping scandal, veteran Polish politician Radosław Sikorski said his country and the United States must jointly stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s provocations in Ukraine. Speaking June 12 at the Atlantic Council’s Wrocław Global Forum 2015, Sikorski thanked the US government for […]

With World Focused on Ukraine, Russia Makes Moves on Georgia

By Ashish Kumar Sen

Georgian official draws parallels between Putin’s treaties with breakaway provinces and annexation of Crimea While the world focuses its attention on the Ukraine crisis, Russia has been quietly grabbing territory from another neighbor—Georgia. The Kremlin’s aggression against Ukraine is just the latest provocation by Russia in its neighborhood, Georgia’s Foreign Minister, Tamar Beruchashvili, reminded an […]