A trumpet of Armageddon or a wakeup call?
We do not know now and we will probably never know for sure what exactly pushed Donald Trump to endorse the
assassination of General Qasem Soleimani
. Was it the recent mob attack on the US Embassy in Bagdad? Was it the continuous pressure on the President by many US allies in the region – from Saudi Arabia to Israel – urging the White House to take more steps to stop the growing Iranian presence in the Middle East? Was it a flood of advice from self-proclaimed...
... Estonia had to take political decisions following the geography and aspirations of most of its citizens to integrate the Euro-Atlantic society. Based on the past and the Nordic-Teutonic identity, the Government of Estonia embraced the idea of joining the European Union, NATO, and later on the Eurozone.
Both Germany and Austria (former parts of Holly Roman Empire) have recognized the Germanic background of the Estonian people when the Nordics - Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland and the ...
Macron does not want to lose his shot at the now-vacant position of foreign policy leader of Europe, including regarding Russian, which is very important for the European Union
Emmanuel Macron’s recent response to Russia’s proposed moratorium on deploying short- and intermediary-range missiles in Europe has caused an uproar. European media was quick to conclude that the French leader effectively supported ...
... have already voiced strong discontent with the U.S. sanctions. Indeed, they benefit from the project. Russia has agreed to preserve a considerable part of its gas transit via Ukraine — this has been one of the key demands to support the project. The European Union has never invited the U.S. to protect them from the NS2, though there was a heated debate inside the EU. Apparently, sanctions emerge as an instrument of towering market competition for the European gas market. Donald Trump has repeatedly ...
Brussels, Beijing, Moscow and other capitals are increasingly unhappy about the US free-wheeling
One of the major achievements of 2019 was the US Department of the Treasury’s truly monumental efforts to collect fines from foreign businesses for breaching US sanctions. Such fines have long become an irritating risk. Although big fines worth several hundred million or even several billion US dollars are still few and far between, the very fact that businesses have to be involved in US official enquiries...
Despite international security problems that overshadow Caucasus challenges, the region retains its independent significance
In late 2016, the Russian International Affairs Council published
The Evolution of the Post-Soviet Space: Past, Present and Future
, a major anthology attempting to conceptualise development trends in both domestic and foreign policies in the newly independent states that emerged after the collapse of the once-single state, the USSR. The Trans-Caucasus featured prominently...
... hosted the signing of the Agreement on Trade and Commercial and Economic Cooperation between the USSR and the European communities. This date became the point of departure for official relations between Russia as the successor state of the USSR and the European Union.
Symbolically, the Agreement was signed slightly over a month after the fall of the Berlin Wall, an event that came down in history as a landmark signifying the end of the Cold War, a period, when the continent was divided into two opposing ...
On December 13, 2019, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Helsinki, hosted a seminar on new security challenges and hybrid threats: approaches in Russia and the EU. The seminar was organized jointly by Russian International Affairs Council, Delegation of the EU to Russia, and the Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA).
On December 13, 2019, Finnish Institute of International Affairs (FIIA), Helsinki, hosted a seminar on new security challenges and hybrid threats: approaches...
On December 6, 2019, European Policy Center (EPC) in Brussels hosted a seminar on the political situation in the world and its importance for Russia and the EU foreign policy.
On December 6, 2019, European Policy Center (EPC) in Brussels hosted a seminar on the political situation in the world and its importance for Russia and the EU foreign policy.
The seminar was attended by experts from Russia and the EU, as well as representatives of the European External Action Service.
Natalia Vyakhireva...
On December 4, 2019, in Brussels, Belgium, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) organized a seminar on Syria issues and collective security in the Gulf
On December 4, 2019, in Brussels, Belgium, Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) organized a seminar on Syria issues and collective security in the Gulf. The event was attended by representatives of Russian and European expert...