Eastern Europe
Electoral reform – the good news we missed from Georgia
Georgia is becoming, once again, a country to be watched by those who value liberty and the expansion of freedom and prosperity, writes Krassen Stanchev.
Hundreds protest in Belarus after two main challengers barred from election ballot
Hundreds of people protested in the Belarusian capital Minsk on on Tuesday (14 July) after the central election commission refused to register the two main rivals of President Alexander Lukashenko as candidates in the August 9 presidential election.
French MEPs visit Crimea illegally to observe Russia’s constitutional vote
Ukraine's ambassador to the EU has written to European Parliament President David Sassoli to condemn a move by a group of French MEPs who are visiting the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.
Georgia votes on turning West, not East
Despite the Russian occupation, COVID-19 and the economic recession in the world, Georgia continues to strengthen its democracy – the government is currently preparing for Parliamentary elections scheduled for October 2020, writes Archil Talakvadze.
Russia and Europe trade barbs over WWII narratives
The Kremlin has become entrenched in a war of words with Europe over the legacy of World War II, as both sides accuse each other of cynically rewriting history for political gain.
Western democracy is still advancing: Just look at Georgia
For every Hong Kong, with all the difficulties played out in the global media, there is a Georgia where the slow advance and entrenchment of liberal democracy is often barely witnessed beyond the Western Embassies in Tbilisi, argues Andrew Rosindell....
It is time for the EU to build security partnerships with its neighbours
As the EU is discussing the way to develop the Eastern Partnership policy for the decade ahead, it is time for the EU to finally become more ambitious about the security dimension of this partnership, three former Eastern Partnership foreign...
Georgia targeted by fake stories of US secret labs spreading COVID-19
EU foreign ministers are discussing China on Friday (29 May), as the country started to back Russian narratives of Washington-led biological weapon development in Georgia and other post-Soviet countries. One widely circulating allegation in the internet during the pandemic claimed...
NSA warns of ongoing Russian hacking campaign against US systems
The US National Security Agency on Thursday (28 May) warned government partners and private companies about a Russian hacking operation that uses a special intrusion technique to target operating systems often used by industrial firms to manage computer infrastructure.
Building a prosperous, democratic and outward-looking Georgia
Safety requires cancelling public festivities but Georgians are marking their National Day by celebrating individually in their hearts and standing together in solidarity, writes David Zalkaliani.
Orbán says prepared to hand back emergency powers at the end of May
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expects that his government will be able to give back to the national parliament at the end of May the sweeping powers enacted during the coronavirus crisis, state news agency MTI quoted him as saying during a visit to Serbia on Friday (15 May).
The EU must draw Georgia into its arms
EU institutions must continue to ensure that countries such pro-European as Georgia see the European Union as their ultimate goal, writes Paul L. Vandoren.
EU’s Strategic Sovereignty start in Eastern Europe
While European societies take stock on the impact the COVID-19 pandemic on the EU, it has been increasingly common to hear that the pandemic proved the need for the EU to be more strategically sovereign. No doubt about that. But the real test for EU power and its strategic sovereignty won’t be in masks, but on how the EU deals with external problems, not least in its neighbourhood, write Nicu Popescu and Gustav Gressel.
EU foreign affairs chief to turn to Europe’s East after COVID-19
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, confirmed that his first visit following the easing of coronavirus-related restrictions will be to Ukraine, in a bid to affirm the EU's leadership in the region.
COVID-19 fight and borderisation: Georgia sets good example
While pro-Russian separatists in occupied Georgian territory are taking advantage of the COVID-19 outbreak to press on with illegal borderisation, the population of these areas puts hopes in the success of Tbilisi in fighting the pandemic.
IMF to raise funding to Georgia to $450 mln to fight coronavirus
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Wednesday (15 April) it was ready to provide Georgia with increased funding of $450 million this year to help the ex-Soviet country in its fight against the coronavirus and support the economy.
Global conspiracies, local panics
The COVID-19 pandemic, disrupting societies, economies, families and persons alike, is compounded by a global contagion of rumours, conspiracies, fake news and other deadly narratives that, despite their appearance of being tailored to fit local characteristics, are strikingly similar at a transnational level, writes Alina Bargaoanu.
Coronavirus used to promote anti-EU narrative in Balkans, report finds
The ongoing coronavirus crisis is feeding into the narrative that the EU is “turning its back” on the Western Balkans, the European External Action Service (EEAS) said in an updated report on ongoing disinformation campaigns surrounding the pandemic, published on Wednesday (1 April).
EU announces COVID-19 help for Balkans, Eastern neighbours after criticism
The EU on Monday (30 March) announced nearly €40 million to help Western Balkan countries deal with the coronavirus, after Brussels came under fire for not doing enough for its neighbours.
The Commission’s Eastern Partnership strategy is disappointing
Distance should not be a criterion: Georgia is better prepared for EU membership than the frontrunners of the Western Balkans, writes Andrius Kubilius.
Georgia’s furious fight against COVID-19
Since reporting its first case of coronavirus on 26 February, Georgia has had only 61 confirmed cases of the virus as of 23 March. With 3,320 people placed in mandatory quarantines, the Caucasian country is being lauded as a success story in the global fight against the pandemic.
Coronavirus pandemic batters tourism in Georgia
Spring has arrived in Tbilisi but its picturesque old town -- a whimsical mixture of Art Nouveau buildings and medieval churches -- is gloomy.
Eastern Partnership’s champions expect more from the ‘geopolitical Commission’
As associated countries of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova ask for a more ambitious Eastern Partnership (EaP) policy, the debate continues about the next steps and available financial support for what is lauded as one of the EU's most successful foreign policies.
Georgia reports massive cyber-attack ‘carried out by Russia’
Georgia’s foreign ministry announced on Thursday (20 February) that a massive cyber-attack had taken place against its state institutions and media, and that investigations have shown that Russia was responsible for it. “On 28 October 2019, a large scale cyber-attack...
