While the Kremlin has concentrated on the crisis unfolding in Western Europe, serious problems loom at home as the pandemic spreads further into the Russian heartland.

Russian interference during the Ukrainian elections in 2019 did not only manifest itself through political support for pro-Russian parties and candidates from Kharkiv. Disinformation, acts of sabotage and bomb threats were also part of the strategy in the region.

For years, unresolved territorial conflicts in the Eastern Partnership countries have been stuck in geopolitical limbo. While overcoming the security dilemma is crucial for post-Soviet states, they also face the competing interests of Russia and the European Union. This deadlocked situation calls for new peace strategies.

With the Croatian EU presidency, attention will be diverted towards the Western Balkans, where Russia is testing the EU’s commitment and resolve.

Over the past five years, the influence of the Kremlin in Odesa has shifted from sponsoring open calls for separatism to more subtle forms of interference.

Review of the book titled: Ukraine after Maidan. Revisiting Domestic and Regional Security. Written by Tomasz Stępniewski and George Soroka.

The Russian language is the only 'big language' in the world to remain so closely connected to its parent nation-state, Russia. Despite the fact that it is used so widely across the post-Soviet sphere, there are no official country-specific varieties of the Russian language. This kind of ethnolinguistic nationalism is yet another mode by which Moscow influences the “near-abroad” and even European Union member states.

Interview with Stefano Vergine, an Italian investigative journalist and co-author of the recent book The black book of Lega. Interviewer: Mario Giagnorio.

Germany’s proceedings around Nord Stream 2 will not only hurt this country, but also European common policy as a whole from a security point of view. Additionally, they are undermining Germany’s already-fragile position as the European mediator and dealmaker.

Even after the change of power last year, Armenia continues to adhere to Russia on foreign policy and tolerate Russia’s massive role domestically. Most recently, this is demonstrated by Armenia supporting Russia’s vast military effort in support of the Syrian regime.

Five years after Russia used information and lies, special forces, dark money, propaganda, military invasions, and the manipulation of disadvantaged locals to attempt to seize all of southern and eastern Ukraine – succeeding in the Donbas and Crimea – one regional Ukrainian leader from those chaotic and uncertain days has important, and possibly even optimistic, lessons from his innovative approach to defend Ukraine and its European path against Russian aggression and its retrograde plan for the region.

Christmas may be known as the season of love and kindness, but Bulgaria will remember Christmas 2018 as the season of division. A seemingly benign gift from Russia shed light on historical wounds and party politics as well as the surprising impact social media could have on bilateral diplomacy.