Photo by Edoardo Ceriani on Unsplash Putin has consistently prepared for war with the West, which he considers a response to Russia’s “historic humiliation” – the collapse of the USSR. After the end of the Second Chechen War, Russia immediately began to accumulate military resources for territorial expansion in the post-Soviet space, no country within which the Kremlin…
Defence
European Defence Fund
Photo by Stephanie LeBlanc on Unsplash The EU’s €90 million preparatory action on defence research (PADR) was only partially useful in priming the EU for significantly ramping up its defence spending and paving the way for the €8 billion European Defence Fund (EDF), according to a report by the European Court of Auditors. Projects funded under the PADR…
Unprovoked Military Aggression by Armenia
Photo by Orkhan Farmanli on Unsplash Accordng to the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Azerbaijan, on 11 April units of the Armed Forces of Armenia fired on the Azerbaijan Army’s defensive positions stationed in the Lachin district. As a result of this unprovoked assault, several servicemen of the Azerbaijan Army were killed or injured. The Armenian…
EU China Relations
Photo by Yu Kato on Unsplash A senior MEP says that China supplying weapons to Moscow “would be a slap in Europe’s face.” Reinhard Bütikofer was speaking as Emmanuel Macron and Ursula von der Leyen met Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday. The two leaders sent a message of unity – even as China is said by some…
Sovereignty Does Not Bring Control
Photo by Lucas Marcomini on Unsplash Finland shares a lengthy and vulnerable border of 1,340 km with Russia. As the only non-NATO EU member with any such frontier it has long been wary of its larger neighbour. This wariness is not just because of present behaviour but because of the past: in 1939 the USSR…
Russian Mercenaries
Photo by Dylan Hunter on Unsplash The EU needs to respond immediately to the hybrid threat from Russia: Putin is training professional killers and criminals to destabilise Europe For years, Russia has been building an agent network among national diasporas in various EU countries. It has exploited the freedom of speech in democratic European countries, organising and holding…
Russian fighters flood European countries
Photo by Ying Ge on Unsplash Russia is deliberately introducing mercenaries, experienced in combat operations and committing terrorist attacks into Europe. The militants of the Wagner Group, notorious for their involvement in wars and conflicts around the world, occupy the palm of precedence. In particular, it is alarming that there is a sharp decline in the number of…
Russia’s Sympathisers in Europe are an Incentive for Vladimir Putin to Continue his War
Photo by Ahmed Zalabany on Unsplash Vladimir Putin has been planning the annexation of Ukrainian territory for years; long before the full-scale offensive he was preparing the ground to enable him to carry out his criminal actions as quickly as possible. It is for this reason that Russian money has been spent on creating a loyal environment in…
Russia’s goal is to provoke a global famine
Russia has traditionally used food crisis as a weapon, and this is not the first time it has blackmailed the world community with the threat of famine. Failures on the battlefield in Ukraine have set a new goal for Vladimir Putin – to provoke a global famine and another wave of migration, which is why…
Rethinking and Rearmament as a Result of the Russian Threat
Photo by Artem Nedzelskiy on Unsplash The full-scale war in Ukraine, unleashed by Putin, has been going on for more than a year now, multiplying the pain and suffering of Ukrainians every day, millions of whom have been forced to flee their homes to escape the horrors of war, and thousands have been killed by Russian occupiers. But…