Germany

New Russian Immigration to the EU: The Case of the Baltic States, Finland, Germany & Poland

The political atmosphere in Russia, as well as the September 2022 mobilisation call for military service, made thousands of Russians leave their home country. Although a vast majority of them have settled in post-Soviet countries, a noticeable portion has also taken up residence in EU countries. A recent couple of years have seen significant expert interest in new Russian immigration, so there is no shortage of publications on the phenomenon. However, many of these analyses suffer from substantial flaws.

Read more

High Readiness Conscription – Case Studies from Today and the Cold War

Following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, several European states re-introduced conscription while others took steps to increase the effectiveness of existing conscription arrangements.  Compulsory military service, often regarded as an anachronism in the post-Cold War period, has thus re-emerged as a means to ensure that relatively large wartime force structures can be generated at low cost and, in some cases, to provide personnel to standing units.

Read more

Developing Nuclear Energy in Estonia: An Amplifier of Strategic Partnership with the United States?

Estonia’s climate neutrality commitments and its simultaneous pursuit of national security mean that it will need to develop and cultivate new zero- or low-carbon, affordable, secure and safe domestic sources of energy. Nuclear energy is increasingly regarded as one of the critical ingredients of successful transition to climate-neutral energy system and as a viable part of the future decarbonised mix of energy supply. Therefore, Estonia is officially considering the possibility to adopt nuclear energy generated by new-design Small Modular Reactors (SMR).

Read more
Scanpix / AFP

The First Line of Defence

Russia’s war in Ukraine, Germany’s Zeitenwende, Finland and Sweden’s likely accession to NATO, and Denmark’s opting into the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy have produced fundamental shifts in the Baltic region.

Read more