HomeEurope & Eurasia
Europe & Eurasia
Afghanistan
How Erdogan will “manage” the Afghan refugee crisis
Images of Afghan refugees scrambling to escape Kabul following the Taliban’s seizure of power will haunt the international community for decades. According to the...
Afghanistan
Mikheil Saakashvili – The post-Soviet space’s once and future buffoon
It isn't every day you find yourself talking to a major figure of recent history, especially not one who has staged both a successful...
Archive
Russia’s hand in Nord Stream 2 could be nightmare alley for EU
The European Union needs to boost energy security and provide alternatives and others, Justin Urquhart Stewart, co-founder of UK Regional Investment Platform Regionally, told...
Archive
CATF calls for EU wide solution to methane problem in Romania
Clean Air Task Force (CATF), an international climate advocacy NGO, and 2Celcius, a Romanian NGO, filmed significant and previously undocumented methane emissions from oil...
Analysis
An EU diplomatic ‘bâdgir’ in Vienna: The Iran nuclear deal 2.0
When things get hot, you look to cool them down. Persian culture is too familiar with heat with scorching Middle East temperatures. One of...
Analysis
The EU’s plans for stabilizing Libya via democratic elections alone are set to fail
The European Union has for years invested its diplomatic efforts, as well as millions of Euros, into bringing a sense of security to Libya,...
Belarus
Will Putin take over Belarus in September?
After the popular unrest against the rigged elections in Belarus in August 2020, the number of refugees, including political asylum seekers, increased significantly. Belarusians...
Germany
Poland and Israel enter into an era of colder relations
A serious conflict has broken out between Poland and Israel. Last weekend, Poland's President Andrzej Duda signed a new law that makes it more...
Archive
The end of the internal combustion engine
With the EU’s Fit for 55 legislation package, the internal combustion engine is set to disappear: From 2035, all new registered vehicles in Europe...
Archive
Oil prices fall on signals Fed will start tapering stimulus measures
Oil prices fell to three-month lows this week due to the signal from the Federal Reserve that it will start tapering stimulus measures and...
Afghanistan
The EU is nothing but a feckless spectator in the unfolding Afghan crisis
The surprising speed by which the Taliban seized control, with relative ease, of the whole of Afghanistan is a major geopolitical debacle for the...
Archive
Romania’s renewable energy market on the rise
Romania is about to scale up the deployment of renewable projects to achieve its 30.7 % target for 2030, about 6 GW of new...
Afghanistan
A monster miracle from a cave
In the history of sport, there have been many unforgettable victories. True testaments of teams achieving the unthinkable. The 1980 Winter Olympics men’s hockey...
Analysis
How Europe risks scoring an own goal on nuclear energy
On July 14, the European Commission took up an extensive policy initiative designed to bring the European Union’s net greenhouse gas emissions down by...
Afghanistan
Russia and China poised to gain influence in Afghanistan
Amidst the chaotic scenes that ushered in the Taliban’s take over of the Afghan capital Kabul, coupled with the West's harried exodus from the...
Archive
Uzbekistan plans 10 major projects to boost energy security
Uzbekistan’s Ministry of Energy announced on August 17 an update on the ten largest projects in the country’s energy sector, which cover milestones achieved...
Afghanistan
The legacy of failure in Afghanistan starts in 1979, not 2001
A decade ago, John Lamberton Harper, a professor of US Foreign Policy and European Studies at Johns Hopkins in Bologna, Italy published an indispensable...
Afghanistan
US Balkan allies to host Afghan refugee processing operations
Even before the Taliban had completed its occupation of Kabul, American allies Albania and Kosovo told Washington that they would serve as transit countries...
Africa
As UN issues stark climate warning, wildfires spread across Med region
The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has issued a stark warning, noting that Climate change is widespread, rapid and intensifying. The report,...
Africa
Italy’s ENI starts production of the Cuica field offshore Angola
Italian energy major ENI said on August 13 the company started production of the Cuica Field, in Block 15/06 of the Angolan deep offshore,...
Archive
Siemens Gamesa to double offshore blade facility in UK
Offshore wind industry major Siemens Gamesa said on August 9 it will expand its successful offshore blade factory in Hull, England by 41,600 square...
Archive
EU to register ‘ReturnthePlastics’ initiative on plastic bottle recycling
The European Commission said on August 13 it decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative entitled ‘ReturnthePlastics: A Citizen's Initiative to implement an EU-wide...
Analysis
Transcending xenophobia in Ukraine’s courts
The latest court session regarding the dispute between TIU Canada and companies controlled by the oligarch, Igor Kolomoisky, seemed to give a slight glimmer...
Analysis
How can Ukraine vanquish Russia on the theocracy chessboard?
Granting Autocephaly to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in 2019 not only had a strong impact on Ukrainian society's rethinking of traditional religious symbols -...
Afghanistan
A viable – and perhaps the only – path to lasting peace in Afghanistan
As each day goes by, the Taliban’s forces edge closer to controlling all of Afghanistan. In the first week of August, the Taliban swept...
Archive
Uzbekistan to increase its 2030 renewables targets
Uzbekistan’s Energy Ministry said on August 10 a significant share of power generation is to be assigned to solar and wind renewable power sources.“We...
Archive
Learning from COVID to tackle the tobacco epidemic
For the better part of two years, the attention of policymakers and health experts across Europe and North America has been focused on the...
Albania
Bulgaria begins slide toward new elections
The Bulgarian political world was shocked into action on August 10 when the party that won the country’s July 11 elections, There is Such...
Archive
Ukraine’s Naftogaz seeks investors to boost energy security
Ukraine’s national joint stock oil and gas company Naftogaz said on August 6 it initiates the Ukraine Gas Investment Congress (UGIC) in order to...
Archive
Enel Green Power Italia and ship builder Fincantieri ink green hydrogen deal
Enel Green Power Italia and ship builder Fincantieri signed a Memorandum of Understanding on August 5 to develop solutions for the production, supply, management...
Analysis
The status of Crimea is far more complicated than the Western media admits
“If there were a moral to be drawn from the Crimean War which might apply to the present it would be this: in a...
Analysis
Is the EU learning any lessons from the pandemic?
The European Union - a powerful force for good or a self-serving bureaucratic oligarchy? Whatever your view, the EU is certainly a catalyst for...
Archive
Poland continues quest to delay the start of Nord Stream 2
Polish state-owned gas company PGNiG said on August 2 it expects to be granted participation in certification proceedings concerning the controversial Nord Stream 2...
Analysis
How the Austrians and their Chancellor charmed the Arabs
In late July, the Austrian capital of Vienna hosted a special guest. It was none other than the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. The...
Archive
Russia’s Covid rate drops as Central Asia faces new pandemic challenges
The worst of the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic appears to be over, especially in Moscow, where new infections and hospitalizations are well below...
Archive
EU backs financing for greener homes and businesses in North Macedonia
In order to boost investments in high-performance green technologies, materials and solutions in privately owned residential dwellings and buildings in North Macedonia, the European...
Archive
Lithuania to renovate private residential buildings and cut emissions with EU help
In an effort to improve the energy use in Lithuania, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) said on August 4 the Bank...
Archive
Eriell focuses on Uzbekistan and Russia, eyes Gulf region
Eriell, an international oilfield services group, presented on July 29 information on production indicators achieved in the first half of 2021 and upcoming projects.Despite...
Afghanistan
Afghanistan and the Great Powers
Can Afghanistan's never-ending internal conflict be resolved by the efforts of great and regional powers that have numerous conflicting strategic and global goals? Is...
Archive
EU cybersecurity agency says hackers target supplier’s code
Mapping on emerging supply chain attacks, the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity warned on July 29 that 66% of attacks focus on the supplier’s...
Archive
EU plans climate-proof future infrastructure projects
The European Commission published on July 29 new technical guidance that will help mainstream climate considerations in future investment and development of infrastructure projects...
Archive
Ice station Arctic: Rosatom weighs underwater impact for nuke facilities
Russia’s state atomic corporation Rosatom and Moscow State University’s Marine Research Centre have signed a cooperation agreement, aiming to make possible pilot projects for...
Archive
EU warns Turkish exporters of potential steep extra costs under new carbon rules
Turkish exporters of energy-intensive products such as cement, steel and aluminium could face steep additional costs when legislative proposals tabled by the EU Green...
Archive
EU invests €122 million in low-carbon projects
The European Commission said on July 27 the EU is investing €118 million into 32 small innovative projects located in 14 EU Member States,...
Afghanistan
France has a generals problem: Why there’s a fray in civilian-military relations
The sensitive question of civilian control of the armed forces is one which Western democracies like the United States and France must continue to...
Archive
French scheme to support electricity production from renewables gets EU nod
A French aid scheme to support renewable electricity production complies with EU State aid rules, the European Commission’s antitrust chief said on July 27,...
Archive
EU to counter cyber threats
Europe needs to be the driving force in securing infrastructure of core services against hybrid attacks, including ransomware, and work with NATO to build...
Africa
Italy’s ENI and Kenya’s government to promote decarbonization
Italian energy major ENI and Kenya’s Ministry of Petroleum and Mining signed on July 21 a Memorandum of Understanding to promote the decarbonization process...
Archive
Ukraine to boost low-carbon hydrogen development with EU help
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Gas Transmission System Operator of Ukraine (GTSOU) signed an agreement on July 23 to...
Archive
Germany bypasses EU, makes Nord Stream 2 deal with US
An agreement reached between Washington and Berlin this week effectively removed a threat of sanctions against the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from...
Must read