... European pro-sovereignty forces ahead of the polls.
Another topic of extremely high relevance to Rome is energy cooperation with Russia, which supplies 40% of all gas consumed in Italy. Gazprom's 2018 exports to Italy
exceeded
the volume supplied to Turkey and ranked only second to deliveries to Germany. The possibility of extending the TurkStream pipeline to Italy via the Balkans will most certainly be discussed in 2019, which could provoke a new confrontation with Brussels, which seeks to reduce ...
... Egypt that was historically considered the leader in the Middle East but has now encountered fierce competition on the part of the countries that could not claim any role except for holding money or being a sponsor 30-40 years ago. Finally, there is Turkey that could in theory form an alliance with Saudi Arabia. Saudi money has always been welcomed by Turkey that is pleased to receive it. Moreover, Turkey is even helping Saudi Arabia train its armed forces. However, for now it is hard to imagine ...
The aftermaths of the latest Astana Summit
The last meeting within the framework of the "Astana Triangle" revealed, yet again, significant differences between Russia and Iran on the one hand, and Turkey on the other. But unlike the September „no-deal” summit in Tehran, the discussion in Sochi was based specifically on the governing terms of a detailed Memorandum on Stabilisation of the Situation in Idlib. According to the document, Ankara ...
... an international conference “Perceptions on the EU Western Balkans Strategy” in the framework of “Vienna Security Dialogues — 2019” program.
The conference was attended by experts and diplomats from the region, other European countries, and Turkey. The event discussed the results of the implementation of the Balkan strategy of Brussels, Russia’s and Turkey’s priorities in the region, the prospects for multilateral cooperation in resolving the issues in the region.
Russia was represented ...
... efforts on both sides to coordinate their respective actions in Idlib, it is becoming increasingly difficult for the Kremlin to resist pressures coming from Damascus, which insists on launching a large-scale operation there. The apparent trigger would be Turkey’s inability to meet the commitments it made in September regarding Idlib and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham’s growing ability to control most of the “de-escalation zone”. A major operation would entail an outflow of refugees fleeing to Turkey and ...
It is becoming increasingly more difficult for Moscow to retain its position as an honest, if not completely independent, broker
On February 14, the leaders of Russia, Turkey and Iran will meet in Sochi to discuss Syria and hold separate bilateral meetings. Recently, new developments have emerged that could prove dangerous if each state pursues its own hidden agenda. The three states depend on the Astana format for ...
... Presence in Southeast Europe and Russia’s New Strategy
The United States is pushing forward only those decisions that assure their influence on the pan-European processes as well as strengthen their positions in the global confrontation. Russia, China, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, which are accumulating more and more influence in the region, taken separately, are not so powerful. In any case, they are simply not able to offer any alternative to the “European choice”. However, they have never even planned ...
... president addressed to the two Balkan presidents: it contained an invitation "to visit the White House and celebrate the historic agreement together." Active US involvement could reduce the influence in the Balkans not only of the EU, but also of Turkey and Russia. It will lead to the establishment of the one and only dominant force in the region. In addition, such changes in the format of the process could also snatch the negotiations from under both the UN and the EU while weakening the credibility ...
... Euro-Atlantic region is not entirely correct, since over recent years, the economic, political and ideological influence of other important actors in the region, including new ones, has grown significantly. These actors are primarily China, but also Turkey and several Middle Eastern states.
The presence of many actors with diverging interests in the fragmented post-conflict Balkan space demonstrates that the situation in the region would be more properly assessed not as part of the "Russia–West" ...
... House." Rice laments that, "We are walking away from our British and French allies," and Trump's action "does more to undermine American national security than any foreign adversary," stating that the beneficiaries are Iran, Turkey, Russia and China. In addition to coordinating regime change coups in Libya and Ukraine during her years on the Obama national security team — which added significantly to the tensions between the U.S. and Russia — Rice was involved in the ...
