Eastern Europe

Moldovan Prime Minister: Ukraine Crisis Deepens Our Need to Join Europe

The three-month-old crisis in Ukraine, escalated last weekend by Russia’s invasion of Crimea, has steeled Ukraine’s small neighbor, Moldova, to step up its efforts to reform its economy and political system so it can integrate as quickly and well as possible with Europe, Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca told diplomats, US officials, and other policymakers […]

Transatlantic Focus is Key to Helping Moldova Join Europe

By Damon Wilson

As a Small Nation Faces Russian Pressure, Europe’s Future is on the Line Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leancă’s meetings at the White House today are a crucial sign of US support for his leadership and for Moldova’s Euro-Atlantic future, especially alongside Russia’s invasion of Moldova’s neighbor, Ukraine. In November, Moldova, alongside Georgia, signed a European […]

Putin’s Risk of Blowback From Ukraine

By Ian Brzezinski

US Should Stress to Russia the Costs it Will Pay at Home Russia’s invasion of Crimea, and the Russian parliament’s authorization for President Vladimir Putin’s to use military force throughout Ukraine, reflects Putin’s longstanding desire to reacquire territory lost through the collapse of the Soviet Union. This incursion violates a treaty Russia signed in 1994 […]

US Backs Moldova Against Russian Pressures

By New Atlanticist

Prime Minister Iurie Leancă Visits a Supportive White House The Obama administration continues its show of support for the three ex-Soviet countries that are building closer ties to the European Union against coercive pressures from Russia. Days after President Obama met Georgia’s prime minister – and as Washington works to respond to Russia’s military pressure […]

Completing Europe: Georgia’s Path to NATO

By Damon Wilson

At his first public address in Washington at the Atlantic Council this week, Georgia’s new prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, unequivocally committed Georgia to a Euro-Atlantic future that would include NATO and European Union membership. Garibashvili argued that Georgia’s democratic credentials, efforts to normalize its relations with Russia in spite of the latter’s provocations, and contribution […]