Eurasia

Russian Rumour-Mongering Causes Fear of War in Transnistria

Russian television stations and Moscow’s local mouthpieces have been promoting unsubstantiated theories about an imminent attack on Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria from neighbouring Ukraine. Fears have grown in recent days in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria about a possible military attack, after pro-Russian television stations, the dominant media force …

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Albania Must up its Game to Meet Growing Cybersecurity Challenges

Albanians face the dual challenge of safeguarding themselves from foreign cyber-attacks – while worrying about the potential misuse of their personal data by their own government and political parties.As local elections approach in Albania, the debate surrounding the use of IT tools by political parties for collecting and utilizing citizens’ …

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Visegrad Group: No Rekindling the Romance

The once-vaunted unity of the V4 has been shattered by the war in Ukraine and Poland and Hungary’s diametrically opposed views on it. 2023 holds out little hope of a rapprochement. Central Europe’s regional grouping of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia was formed originally to coordinate positions before EU accession, …

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Poverty In the Region: One Direction

The war in Ukraine has stoked inflation and increased the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion throughout Europe. With food and energy prices remaining high in 2023, experts expect more people to fall below the poverty line. At the end of 2021, 95.4 million people in …

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At the Brink of War in the Pacific? The Nightmare of Great Power Rivalry Over Taiwan

While the world has been distracted, even amused, by the diplomatic tussle around China’s recent high-altitude balloon flights across North America, there are signs that Beijing and Washington are preparing for something so much more serious: armed conflict over Taiwan. Reviewing recent developments in the Asia-Pacific region raises a tried-and-true …

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Why Biden Snubbed China’s Ukraine Peace Plan

There’s something irrational about President Biden’s knee-jerk dismissal of China’s 12-point peace proposal titled “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis.” “Not rational” is how Biden described the plan that calls for de-escalation toward a ceasefire, respect for national sovereignty, establishment of humanitarian corridors and resumption of …

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Trapped in Putin’s Embrace: Erdogan’s Russian Dilemma

The catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey earlier this month has put mounting pressure on embattled Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of key presidential and parliamentary elections due to be held on May 14. It has also served to spotlight Erdogan’s problematically close ties with Moscow. As Erdogan is one …

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‘War Has a Cost’: The Journalists Tallying Russia’s Dead Soldiers

The lists of Russia’s war dead may be hundreds and thousands of names long but some casualties stand out to the journalists who painstakingly compile them. Olga Ivshina, a senior reporter at the BBC Russian Service, can instantly recall Mikhail Shuvalov, a retired power plant worker who volunteered to fight …

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Blinken Meets Lavrov at G20 Riven by Ukraine Divisions

The United States and Russia met in their highest face-to-face contact since the invasion of Ukraine last year on the sidelines of a G20 meeting that ended in disarray due to divisions over the conflict. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov spoke briefly at …

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Moscow Says Clashed with ‘Ukrainian Saboteurs’ in Russian Border Region

Moscow claimed that a group of Ukrainian saboteurs crossed into Russia and opened fire on civilians on Thursday, an allegation denied by Kyiv as a “deliberate provocation.” While Russia claims its regions bordering Ukraine are routinely shelled by Ukrainian forces, the alleged incursion, if confirmed, would be a rare instance …

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