The Commission and EU High Rep have unveiled for the first time a Joint Communication on a European Space Strategy for Security and Defence. Space systems and services in the European Union are,they say, “crucial” for the functioning of society and economy, as well as for security and defence. As such, the EU has identified…
Photo by Egor Lyfar on Unsplash Today marks the anniversary of Russia’s genocidal invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s aggression against Ukraine began in 2014 with the seizure of Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in Donbas. Before the full-scale invasion last year, Ukraine tried to stop the fighting in Donbas and restore its sovereignty peacefully. Volodymyr Zelenskyy won the…
This morning Monday 20 February, U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Kyiv without any announcements or warnings. In the morning, several important highways were blocked in the capital, and the city was gridlocked for a couple of hours. Kyiv residents tried to understand the cause of the traffic jams for a long time, until around…
Photo by Nati Melnychuk on Unsplash One year into the war in Ukraine, 61% of Europeans believe that the country will prevail, says a new survey. Published on Thursday, it says Germans, however, are not quite so optimistic, although a 55% majority believes in a Ukrainian victory. These are the main findings of the EU-wide survey conducted by…
Ahead of the summit between the European Union and Ukraine, EU Member States adopted assistance measures under the European Peace Facility (EPF) that provide further military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These consist of a seventh package worth €500 million, and a new €45 million assistance measure supporting the training efforts of the European Union Military Assistance Mission…
Photo by Dustin Humes on Unsplash Germany’s slowness in authorising the supply of Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine was bad news for Ukraine, European security and Germany itself. But other Western leaders should not be too smug, writes Ian Bond. Just days after Russia launched its full-scale assault on Ukraine in February 2022, Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz described it as…
Centre right members in the European Parliament say they want to strengthen European defence capability. They say they want to increase investments in the defence sector, swiftly revise the EU budget to provide necessary funds for the EU’s defence policy, joint procurements and the development of military capabilities. MEPs claim it is imperative that the decision-making process is improved and accelerated, in…
Photo by Troy T on Unsplash Medvedev has warned the West not to prevent Russia from destroying Ukraine. Russia has always used blackmail as one of its key methods of information influence. Currently, the Russian army is in a strategic impasse: the winter campaign has not brought any significant results at the front, and losses in the Russian…
Photo by Orxan Musayev on Unsplash The opening of a new Azeri Embassy in Israel has been hailed as a significant step in advancing the cooperation between the two countries and constitutes a natural continuation of the centuries-old friendship between the Azeri and Jewish nations. 30 ministers and members of the Israeli Knesset wrote an open letter of…
Photo by Jorgen Hendriksen on Unsplash Russia’s “war of aggression” against Ukraine continues to threaten the stability and security of Europe, says a leading Brussels-based think tank. The conflict, says the European Policy Centre will “add to the challenge for many who are struggling to afford energy and food this winter.” But one thing is “certain”, it says,…
