Europe - International Studies of Strategic and Geopolitics

23Sep

By ISSGNo Comments

Russia’s influence in the Balkans

By José Carlos Palma* Russia's influence in the Balkans is a complex and long-standing phenomenon. It dates back to the Ottoman Empire when Russia saw itself as the protector of Orthodox Christians in the region. Russia intervened militarily in the Balkans on numerous occasions and played a key role in the independence of several Balkan countries in the 19th century. After the Second World War, Russia established communist governments in a number of Balkan countries, including Bulgaria, Romania, and Albania. These governments were close allies of the Soviet Union and played an important role in the Cold War. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Russia's influence in the Balkans declined. However, in recent years, Russia has sought to expand its influence in the region, partic...

Geopolitical and Technocratic: EU International Actorness and Russia’s War Against Ukraine

16Mar

By ISSGNo Comments

Europe

Geopolitical and Technocratic: EU International Actorness and Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 marked the start of the largest and most brutal war at the heart of the European continent since World War II. It inevitably came as a "cold shower" for the EU and Member States' politicians, demonstrating with absolute certainty the fragility of the international and European security order. The EU responded to the invasion with unprecedented sanctions against Russia and Belarus and multi-faceted resolute support to Ukraine. The latter included the breaking of many previously existing taboos, such as the first ever use of the European Peace Facility to procure weapons for a third country at war or offering collective protection to about 8 million Ukrainian citizens and residents, fleeing the war. The war prompted EU le...

16Feb

By ISSGNo Comments

Europe

Geopolitics in the Baltic Sea Region

By Göran Swistek and Michael Paul / Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik The “Zeitenwende” in the context of critical maritime infrastructure, escalation threats and the German willingness to lead. Due to its strategic immensity and opportunities for covert action, the maritime domain has become the most prominent arena of modern-day great power rivalry. In the shadow of this confrontation and the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Baltic Sea is now the focus of geopolitical interest and conflict. An expression of this is the increase in hybrid activities, from acts of sabotage to the use of unidentified drones. For the Western states of the Baltic Sea region in particular, all of this highlights their dependence on fossil resources, critical maritime infrastructur...

Barcelona cuts ties with twin city Tel Aviv citing Israeli ‘apartheid’

9Feb

By ISSGNo Comments

Europe, Civil Society

Barcelona cuts ties with twin city Tel Aviv citing Israeli ‘apartheid’

The move from the city's mayor follows pressure from pro-Palestinian, feminist, immigrant and LGBT+ organisations. Barcelona has severed ties with twin city Tel Aviv on the grounds that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians amounts to “apartheid”. Speaking at a press conference, Ada Colau, the city’s left-wing mayor, said: “More than 100 organisations and over 4,000 citizens have demanded that we defend the human rights of Palestinians and for this reason, as mayor, I have written to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to inform him that I have suspended temporarily the institutional relationship between Barcelona and Tel Aviv”. Spain's Jewish federation said in a statement in response to the move: "It is worrying to note that the actions and legitimacy of only one city and one cou...

Germany to send Leopard 1 battle tanks to Ukraine

3Feb

By ISSGNo Comments

Europe

Germany to send Leopard 1 battle tanks to Ukraine

Berlin — The German government has issued an export licence for Leopard 1 battle tanks to Ukraine, spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said in Berlin on Friday, without giving further details. Until now, the government had only decided to approve the delivery of modern Leopard 2 battle tanks from the military stocks of the Bundeswehr. German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) had reported that manufacturers Rheinmetall and FFG wanted to refurbish dozens of Leopard 1 tanks and could supply them to Ukraine for the fight against Russia. According to other media reports, Rheinmetall has 88 Leopard 1 tanks at its disposal. However, the SZ report added that there had been problems so far with procuring ammunition. The refurbishment is expected to take many months. “Even if the decision is mad...

The UK says sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine is a potential ‘game changer’ in the war

16Jan

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Europe

The UK says sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine is a potential ‘game changer’ in the war

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed on Saturday that the UK will send Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, the BBC reported, marking the first time a Western country has sent its most powerful heavy armor to Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked the UK and said the move "will not only strengthen us on the battlefield, but also send the right signal to other partners," per the BBC. He added while the UK's support was "always strong" it was "now impenetrable". The BBC reported that it understands the initial commitment is for about a dozen tanks, which would be enough to equip a squadron, but falls well short of the hundreds of tanks that Kyiv has requested. The tank would be superior to every Russian battle tank it opposes, an expert told Insider, and some reports suggest the...

14Jan

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Europe

Europe’s Geopolitical Confusion

Those calling for a more “geopolitical” European Union rarely define exactly what that means. By Hans Kundnani There is a consensus—which has further strengthened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February—that, as the European Union finds itself increasingly threatened, it must become more “geopolitical.” But there is little clarity about what “geopolitics” means. It is used in at least five different ways: Firstly, as a straightforward synonym for international politics; secondly, in the strict, original sense focusing on the role of geography in international politics; thirdly, to refer to the strategic use of military tools (as opposed to “geo-economics”); fourthly, as a synonym for “power politics” (as opposed to rules in international politics); and fifthly, to capture a shif...

Sweden on its NATO Membership: Turkey is Asking Too Much

9Jan

By ISSGNo Comments

Europe

Sweden on its NATO Membership: Turkey is Asking Too Much

“Sweden is confident that Turkey will approve its application for NATO membership, but we cannot fulfill all Turkish demands,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Sunday, quoted by the Reuters agency. “Turkey has confirmed that we have done what we said we would do, but they also say that they want things that we cannot or do not want to give them,” the Swedish prime minister said on a conference on defense and security issues in the presence of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. In 2022, Sweden, Finland and Turkey signed a tripartite agreement aimed at removing Turkish objections to the two Scandinavian countries' bids for NATO membership, Reuters recalls. "We are convinced that Turkey will make a decision, we just don't know when," said the Swedish Prime Minister an...

Out of the shadows: Europe exposes its Russian spies

30Dec

By ISSGNo Comments

Europe, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Privacy

Out of the shadows: Europe exposes its Russian spies

Countries in Scandinavia, a current security hot spot, are more visibly cracking down on citizens involved in Russian espionage. STOCKHOLM — Two military helicopters shattered the calm of suburban Stockholm on a late November morning, swooping over a private home in the sleepy locale of Kil in a high-profile raid on a Swedish couple accused of spying for Russia. “I couldn’t believe it when I saw the police piling into their house,” a neighbor of the arrested Stockholm couple told POLITICO. “The noise of the helicopters woke up the whole street, and we just stood on our driveways watching the action.” The rattle of helicopters in the darkness was the latest sign that European nations’ high-stakes games of espionage with Russia are increasingly being played in the open. The raid netted...

Why Sweden’s Social Democrats U-Turned on NATO

29Dec

By ISSGNo Comments

Europe

Why Sweden’s Social Democrats U-Turned on NATO

Sweden’s left has historically been opposed to joining NATO. But as the war in Ukraine made joining the alliance popular, Sweden’s Social Democrats changed tack, alienating many of their supporters and exposing deep divisions among the Left in the process. On November 8, Ulf Kristersson, the newly elected prime minister of Sweden, went to Turkey. He was courting President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as a part of Sweden’s bid to join NATO. For many Swedes, the image that has come to symbolize the historic visit is a zoomed in frame of Kristersson’s hand, small and contorted, being squeezed to a bright red hue in Erdoğan’s grip. After Sweden officially asked to join the military alliance in May, many NATO nations quickly signaled their enthusiasm at the prospect of Swedish membership. But Turke...