Sweden will raise the issue of possible sabotage that led to gas leaks from Nord Stream 1 and 2 in the Baltic Sea at the informal EU summit in Prague next week, the government declared on Thursday. Four leaks from the Nord Stream pipelines have so far been detected in …

Slovakia’s largest oil refiner Slovnaft will keep selling Russian oil on the domestic market even after its exemption under the EU embargo on Russian crude oil runs out at the end of 2023, the company’s CEO Marek Senkovič said. Unlike other EU countries, Slovakia, like Hungary, will be able to …

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi calls recent protests “sedition,” and police arrest a former president’s daughter. At a cabinet meeting today, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi blamed “enemy” countries for provoking protests. “The enemy’s efforts at sedition in the country is a result of the fear they have of the system’s power …

The Biden administration on Thursday blacklisted entities in China, Hong Kong, Iran, India and the United Arab Emirates over their alleged involvement in Iran’s petrochemical trade. The United States announced fresh sanctions Thursday on an international network of companies it says are involved in the sale of Iranian petroleum and …

As Russian President Vladimir Putin launches a new phase in his war in Ukraine, attempting to mobilize three hundred thousand more troops and issuing new nuclear threats, Washington faces pivotal choices as well. At an Atlantic Council Front Page event on Monday, following reports of the Biden administration’s back-channel warnings …

Faced with a crisis that’s sending eurozone inflation to record highs, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde struck a decisive tone Wednesday during the Atlantic Council and Atlantik-Brücke’s Frankfurt Forum on US-European GeoEconomics—pledging to bring prices under control through consistent and deliberate policy. “We will do what we have …

Long a controversial figure both at home and abroad over her party’s direct lineage from Italy’s neo-fascist movement, Giorgia Meloni is now expected to become the country’s newest prime minister after her party secured the most votes in Sunday’s election. Her controversial views on migration, erstwhile fascination with Russian President …

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to mobilize hundreds of thousands of Russian reserves this month will almost certainly exacerbate internal divisions within Russia by highlighting his regime’s poor military-personnel policies. This should prompt Ukraine and its Western allies to prepare for an onslaught of poorly trained, disjointed troops. Unlike the …

An Embattled Regime Faces Mass Protests—and an Ailing Supreme Leader Early this month, the Iranian rumor mill cranked into overdrive amid reports that Iran’s 83-year-old supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who survived prostate cancer surgery in 2014, was again gravely ill. On September 16, the New York Times reported that …

Venäjän Ukrainassa aloittama hyökkäyssota saavutti alkuviikosta uuden ulottuvuuden, kun Itämeren pohjassa kulkevat kaasuputket alkoivat yksi toisensa perään vuotaa. Nopeasti kävi ilmi, että vuodon syynä olivat räjähdykset. Ja välittömästi asiantuntijat olivat vakuuttuneita siitä, että räjähdykset oli aiheutettu tahallisesti. Kyseessä oli siis sabotaasi. Vuodot tapahtuivat Tanskan ja Ruotsin talousalueella, ja sikäläiset viranomaiset …