Europe & Eurasia

Russia Upgrades Spying on NATO Countries

By Jorge Benitez

The Russian news service Interfax announced today that Moscow has expelled two Czech diplomats in an apparent tit-for-tat for yesterday’s reported expulsion of two Russian diplomats by the Czech Republic.

New Chapter of Russian Spy Cases Against NATO and its Members.

The Russian news service Interfax announced today that Moscow has expelled two Czech diplomats in an apparent tit-for-tat for yesterday’s reported expulsion of two Russian diplomats by the Czech Republic. A Russian official argued that, “this unfriendly act by the Czech side, which declared two of our diplomats ‘persona non grata’, could not be left […]

Russian diplomat: Georgia’s, Ukraine’s NATO membership no longer on agenda

By the Kyiv Post

From the Kyiv Post: “Russia and NATO bear common responsibility for security on the Euro-Atlantic area. The fact that the theme of these two countries’ membership of NATO is no longer on the political agenda is above all a victory of common sense,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko said in an interview with Interfax. […]

Combined NATO-EU Operation Foils Piracy Attack

By NATO

From NATO: Dramatic events in the Gulf of Aden last night demonstrated the level of co-operation that now exists between the international counter piracy forces in that region. Following an approach by pirates, the Turkish flagged merchant vessel ELGIZ NUR CEBI issued a distress call. The rapid, determined and coordinated response by both NATO and […]

German Terrorists Wanted to Kill Americans

By James Joyner

A foiled German terrorist plot against airports, military bases and off duty hangouts of American soldiers was motivated by Islamist zeal and hatred of American foreign policy, the group’s leader has revealed. Their intent was to kill as many Americans as possible to punish us for an alleged “war against Islam.”

Sailing to Byzantium

By victorhanson.com

From victorhanson.com: The “Turkish Question” — is it West or East, should it be in the E.U., is it a reliable NATO partner? — is hardly a question anymore. Istanbul is Western, its citizens Western in appearance, a liberality prevalent in commerce and discourse. And yet a 100 miles away in the interior, the traditional […]

The fog of war: Unravelling the Ossetia conflict, one year later

By the Economist

From the Economist: From another point of view, the EU and NATO reaped the harvest of their neglect of Georgia in previous months. The agreed sanctions after the fighting stopped were feeble. Suspending the NATO-Russia council, or the putative Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the EU and Russia, was not even turning a cold shoulder […]

Moscow Signals Widening Rift With Ukraine

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: The Russian president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, assailed his Ukrainian counterpart on Tuesday, blaming him for anti-Russian policies that he said have brought relations between the two countries to “unprecedented lows.” In a letter to President Viktor A. Yushchenko of Ukraine, Mr. Medvedev announced that Russia would not dispatch its new […]

Nabucco No Guarantee of EU Energy Security

By Alexandros Petersen

Last month’s euphoria over the European Union’s agreement with Turkey on the Nabucco gas pipeline was perhaps a little premature—Brussels still has a long way to go to reduce its energy dependence from Russia.

Weak Russia, Dangerous Russia

By Donald Bandler and Jakub Kulhanek

The reaction from the American defense establishment to news that Russian submarines have been operating off the U.S. coast has been fairly nonchalant, bordering on smug. The submarine operation is widely seen as a rather feeble show of strength by the Russian military after a series of embarrassments over botched missile tests and undistinguished conduct […]