The separatist authorities in Tiraspol are being pulled steadily into the war between Russia and Ukraine despite their best efforts not to get involved. Given its geographical proximity to Ukraine, and the high number of Ukrainian citizens living in the Transnistria, the de-facto authorities of the breakaway Moldovan region have …
Read More »Ukraine War Feeds Dreams of Hungarian Far-Right Reclaiming Lost Land
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought other historical tensions to the surface as some in Kyiv accuse neighbouring Hungary of coveting their territory. Andras Bartal has a dream. It will take decades to realise it, but, in Bartal’s vision, Hungary will take back Transcarpathia, a region or oblast in the …
Read More »Russian Gas Games with Europe Short-Sighted, says Russian Expert
Europe can find alternatives to Russian gas, but can Russia find the consumers to replace Europe?In halting gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, the Kremlin is putting “false political ideas” ahead of the interests of Gazprom and the Russian economy, Russian energy analyst Mikhail Krutikhin says. Poland, which according to …
Read More »Security Incidents In Moldova’s Transnistrian Region: Pretext For Escalation Or Smokescreen? – Analysis
Following the start of Russia’s large-scale military re-invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, concerns arose about the role that the Transnistrian region of Moldova could play in the Kremlin’s war plans. The territory has been under Russian military occupation since 1992, with Moscow’s military, security and civilian officials directing, assisting …
Read More »Russian Talk About Transnistria Underscores Putin’s Ukraine War Isn’t Just Sending Messages To Kyiv
Only the most naïve believe that Putin’s war in Ukraine is only about Ukraine, but Dmitry Ofitserov-Belsky says that new talk about extending the Russian operation into Moldova’s Transnistria underscores the fact that the Kremlin wants all non-Russian countries to draw conclusions for themselves from what is happening in Ukraine. …
Read More »Israeli police enter tense holy site as Jewish visits resume
Israeli police entered a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem to clear away Palestinian protesters on Thursday, after Jewish visits that had been paused for the Muslim holidays resumed. Recent weeks have seen several rounds of clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the third holiest site for Muslims, which is built …
Read More »What If the War in Ukraine Doesn’t End?
The Global Consequences of a Long Conflict All wars end, and their closing moments are often vivid and memorable. Take, for instance, Confederate General Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865, which brought an end to the U.S. Civil War. Or the armistice that …
Read More »The New Cold War Could Soon Heat Up
Why Russia and the West Might Escalate the Fight Over Ukraine In the ten weeks since Russia began its assault on Ukraine, tensions between Russia and Western countries have been greater than at any point since the Cuban missile crisis. U.S. President Joe Biden has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin, …
Read More »US Army in Germany resumes training Ukrainian forces, with focus on Western weaponry
A Ukrainian officer had an encouraging message for the contingent of U.S. soldiers that left a Ukrainian military base shortly before Russia launched its full-fledged invasion of the country in February. “That (Ukrainian) officer specifically stated that the biggest mistake that the Russians made was giving us eight years to …
Read More »Turkey’s inflation surges to 70%, putting Erdogan in bind
Turkey’s annual inflation jumped to a two-decade high of 69.97% in April, according to data on Thursday, fuelled by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and rising energy and commodity prices after last year’s lira crash. The surge in prices has badly strained households just over a year before presidential and parliamentary elections …
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