The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote this week on a bill sponsored by Senator Ted Cruz (Republican-Texas) to slap sanctions on the operators of the Nord Stream 2 natural-gas pipeline in Europe. Cruz struck a deal with Democrats last month to get a vote on the sanctions bill by …

U.S.-RUSSIA U.S., European, and Russian officials embarked on a series of diplomatic meetings with Russian officials this week in Geneva, Brussels and Vienna. The meetings follow months of mounting fears of a Russian offensive against Ukraine and Moscow’s demand for negotiations with the U.S. on halting, and in some ways …

If 2021 was a test of the Czech Republic’s resilience to populism in a time of pandemic, this year will offer all parties on both sides of the divide a chance to gather their forces. Sandwiched between last October’s parliamentary election and a presidential vote due to take place in …

The rising superpower may confront some checks from its rivals in the Western Balkans this year – though probably not enough to significantly curb its regional ambitions. The second year of the COVID pandemic has deeply transformed global relations. Major world powers underwent significant political and economic changes while learning …

Corruption revelations, one of the worst COVID-19 death rates in the world, open warfare with the EU: no serious scandal has put much of a dent in the poll numbers of Poland’s ruling PiS party. Will anything happen in 2022 to alter that?As 2021 closed, the popularity of Poland’s ruling …

The Croatian government offered promises of renewal after the Petrinja earthquake but one year on, its actions have fallen short. BIRN uncovers how Petrinja was abandoned by the state, long before it was hit by an earthquake.The cafe in central Petrinja is crowded and buzzing with Saturday afternoon regulars. Outside …

North Macedonia starts 2022 with a new PM and largely refreshed cabinet that will have no time to spare, as both the government and the country’s stalled EU process are in a precarious, volatile state.It was a tough 2021 for North Macedonia. On top of the ongoing health, economic and …

In 2021 China was, and in 2022 again will be, dominated by the domestic economy, relations with the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic and President Xi Jinping. Despite spectacular bounce-back growth in the first half of the year, China’s economy had slowed dramatically by year’s end. Worries centred on the …

A forum based on Future Minerals is a discerning and defining choice for the region that aligns fully with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 as it transitions from a global leader in energy based on fossil fuels to a global leader in energy based on renewables. The shift to renewable energy …

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his senior aides have repeatedly claimed that Western powers broke promises they made not to expand NATO as the Soviet Union collapsed. In his annual end-of-year press conference in Moscow in December, Putin accused NATO of deceiving Russia by giving assurances in the 1990s that …