FEATURED COMMENTARY & ANALYSIS

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The Europe Center promotes the transatlantic leadership and strategies required to ensure a strong Europe.

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French frigate Surcouf (F711)

NATOSource

May 29, 2014

Third NATO Ship Enters Black Sea, Russia Vows Increased Military Air Presence

By Sam LaGrone, USNI News

A French frigate entered the Black Sea on Wednesday, growing the number of NATO surface warships in the region to three, according to a ship spotting blog and Russian press reports.

France Russia

Article

May 29, 2014

A Tale of Two Countries: The European Elections, Britain and France

By Nicholas Dungan

On the surface, the European Parliament election results in France and the United Kingdom look quite similar. In both, a maverick right-wing Euroskeptic party won a comfortable quarter of the votes, polling ahead of the leading opposition party and leaving the party in power in third place. In both, gains by those nationalist protest parties […]

European Union France

Defense Industrialist

May 28, 2014

Buying Out a Ship Contract, or a Whole Shipyard?

By James Hasik

The French sale of helicopter carriers to Russia shows just how hard industrial rationalization in Europe really is. Back in March, I argued (“Did NATO rearm Russia?”) that arms sales to Moscow had been been more embarrassing than alarming, but that the occupation of Crimea meant that it was really time to stop. Most egregious, I still […]

France Russia
Ukraine election in 2012

NATOSource

May 23, 2014

UK Minister: We Should Trust Ukrainians to Make the Right Choice

By David Lidington, Guardian

Trust in the ability of people to make decisions about their own future is a fundamental tenet of democracy. On Sunday, the citizens of Ukraine go to the polls to elect a new president in one of the most important elections of their history.

Politics & Diplomacy Russia
French Chief of Defense General Pierre De Villiers

NATOSource

May 23, 2014

French Military Heads Threaten to Resign Over ‘Grave’ Defense Cuts

By Henry Samuels, Telegraph

French army, navy and air force chiefs and its joint chief-of-staff threaten to resign over military spending cuts, with Jean-Yves Le Drian, defence minister, warning they would render foreign operations impossible.

Economy & Business France
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, March 12, 2014

NATOSource

May 21, 2014

Poland Concerned Germany is Impeding NATO’s Response to Russia

By Judy Dempsey, Strategic Europe

Poland fears that Germany will not make the hard decisions required to stop Russia from acting again.

Germany NATO
BAE found malicious code in ten countries

NATOSource

May 19, 2014

Russian Cyber Campaign Continues to Penetrate NATO Ministries

By Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg View

It shouldn’t be easy to shut down a European ministry for days, depriving bureaucrats of access to e-mail and the web. Someone, however, has managed to do just that to Belgium’s foreign ministry, which had to quarantine its entire computer system last Saturday

NATO Russia
Latvian soldier participating in Steadfast Jazz exercise

NATOSource

May 19, 2014

Unprotected in the East: NATO Appears Toothless in Russia Crisis

By Spiegel

According to information SPIEGEL obtained by SPIEGEL, a draft version of a comprehensive, restricted internal NATO assessment of the situation reads: “Russia’s ability to undertake significant military action with little warning presents a wider threat to the maintenance of security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.

Germany NATO
Opening ceremony for Steadfast Jazz Exercise

NATOSource

May 19, 2014

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.

Germany NATO
Troops from nine NATO members are participating in Steadfast Javelin exercise

NATOSource

May 16, 2014

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.

France NATO

Experts