Anton Shekhovtsov: Helping those ‘Azov Nazis’?
Heidi Maiberg’s discussion with Anton Shekhovtsov on (ultra-)nationalism in Ukraine and war’s influence on the European far-right milieu.
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European Union
China and Rare Earths: Risks to Supply Chain Resilience in Europe
This analysis argues that the EU and NATO’s efforts to strengthen supply chain resilience in critical raw materials are vulnerable to the People’s Republic of China’s leverage on key industry actors. It studies the case of the planned expansion of Silmet, Europe’s only rare earths processing plant, as well as the entities that control the plant and their current and historical ties to the Chinese market, the PRC party-state, the People’s Liberation Army, and China’s defence sector.
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The Migration Trap: A Southern Flank Perspective
Since the 2015 crisis, migration has become the biggest Achilles heel of the EU’s solidarity as the discrepancy in the impact of migration on the southern, northern, and central and eastern European (CEE) countries steadily challenges a common action.
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New solutions in Ida-Virumaa: Betting on integration via innovation
Estonia’s north-eastern county of Ida-Virumaa is again at the centre of the national policy debate. The new coalition agreement between the ruling parties concluded in the spring of 2023 pays greater attention to the region and institutes a new position. In particular, a special representative for Ida-Virumaa will be in charge of finding progressive solutions to the county-specific problems.
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A Second Front: EU-Ukraine Cooperation in the Internal Security Domain
A rising need to protect Ukrainian war refugees against organised crime networks, investigation of war crimes, combatting human trafficking and firearms smuggling, and enforcement of sanctions are the main concerns and cooperation priorities between the EU and Ukraine in the internal security domain.
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Jonatan Vseviov: Words Matter, Deeds Matter, but Outcomes Matter Most
There is no reason to assume that history in the 21st century will necessarily be less complicated or less bloody than it was in the 20th or 19th centuries. To cope with global competition, we have to strengthen a common front with the countries that share our worldview, both in fundamental issues but also in the coordination of everyday matters of practical politics, says Jonatan Vseviov, the secretary general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia.
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The EU’s Magnitsky Act Obsolete in the Face of Russia’s Crimes in Ukraine?
Despite the mounting evidence of the most serious of human rights violations being conducted by Russian forces on Ukrainian soil, the EU has chosen not to use its new Magnitsky Act to blacklist the perpetrators and their commanders.
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Tackling the Constraints on EU Foreign Policy towards Ukraine: From Strategic Denial to Geopolitical Awakening
The sheer size and geopolitical significance of Ukraine would have, in and of itself, required a clear and coherent policy from the European Union in the aftermath of the Cold War. However, the EU’s focus was initially on the countries that joined the EU in 2004, and on Russia.
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How Russia Went to War: The Kremlin’s Preparations for Its Aggression Against Ukraine
This report examines Russia’s preparations for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine: domestically, in Ukraine itself, in the global information domain, and in building its relationship with China.
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Baltic Defence Development: Adding Value to the Defence of the Baltic Sea Region
While Baltic security thinking has long been dominated by assessments of the risk of Russian military aggression in Europe, the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was still a shock in its brutality and scale. It has led the three Baltic states to further increase defence spending and to accelerate the building of national defence capabilities.
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