Even as this piece is being written, it is possible that a Europolitician in Brussels would turn up his salary-soaked nose at the headline. However, it is now time to face the stark truth. The refugee crisis has confirmed again that the European Union is so weak that it can be terrorised and blackmailed by national dictators, human traffickers and other suspicious individuals. […]
Someone recently described the recent terrorist attacks in Paris as designed in Syria and developed in Brussels. It may very well be. Meanwhile Moscow monitors and actively exploits every turn of the conflict. […]
In October, Estonian and Finnish gas companies, with the support of the national governments, jointly applied to the European Commission for financing of the construction of Balticconnector – the transmission pipeline network that would connect the gas networks of the two countries. Reaching an agreement and submitting the application marks a very important intermediary stage, writes the Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee of the Estonian parliament Kalle Palling (Reform Party). […]
One month after Russia got itself involved into the Syrian war, there is little doubt that Moscow’s actions, aimed at soothing domestic delusions of grandeur, will only bring more chaos and destruction into the conflict, argues Vytautas Dumbliauskas, Associate Professor at Mykolas Romeris University. […]
Climate change and the protection of our environment have captured the attention of world leaders. The United States is fully engaged in the effort to deliver an ambitious, durable, and inclusive agreement at the United Nations Conference in Paris in December. […]
For centuries, the rule of thumb in trade was that land divides, water unites. It took years and gradually months to follow an overland trading route from Europe to China, as opposed to months and eventually weeks by boat. But speed-trains are changing the global logistics map. These speed train connections are the “hardware” of the overland Silk Path road project that connects Europe to China. […]
Journalists and education experts criticise the trends in Lithuania‘s institutions of higher education, which in turn criticise journalists and experts who talk about the bad aspects only, but never see the good ones. […]
Dr. Boris Vytautas Bakunas unpacks signs of depression that, if left unaddressed, can lead to tragic consequences. […]
Conventional wisdom dictates vision before planning. It seems neither are present in the cautious, yet steady Western reset with Belarus, whose authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko recently secured his fifth term in elections widely considered to be flawed, argues Marius Laurinavičius, fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA). […]
What are our obligations to those threatened by war and violence? What and how much can we cope with? When will we reach our uppermost limits? Each of these three questions is quite legitimate. But if the debate is restricted to the media soundbites “we can do it” and “the boat is full”, then the refugee crisis threatens to tear our society apart. We need an honest discussion about our realistic scope for action. […]
The theatre goes on. Alexander Lukashenko will continue in his long running ‘role’ as president of Belarus. One cannot say ‘elected,’ ‘endorsed’ or even ‘confirmed.’ Not only would none of these be true, they would simply not be believable. As has been said, the only question in this piece of performance art was whether Lukashenko would choose to win by 72%, 79% or even more absurd, 83% of the vote, based upon the delusion that ‘believability’ was possible and that the Belarusian population can be kept silent. […]
Discussions about the refugee crisis and how to solve it has moved from the European Union to the United Nations General Assembly, where most national leaders spoke about settling the conflicts in Syria and Iraq and fighting international terrorism. Among the highlights were the speeches and meeting of the presidents of the United States and Russia. […]
It is easy to list what Russia needs to put in place for its economy to grow successfully over the long-term and for its citizens to improve their lives: secure property rights, protection for investors, reliable commercial courts and significantly reduced volumes of regulation. Instead of strangling business at every opportunity and bending it to its will, the state should allow business to develop freely within the bounds of the law. […]
Human beings are omnivores, we are supposed to eat both plant and animal matter. Our physiological structure demands this. I do not support vegetarianism, and think veganism is really for the type of people looking forward to Kanye West’s Presidential nomination in 2020. […]
Current times in Eastern Europe can hardly be seen as a blessing. With the region more destabilized than ever, not only the economies of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the surrounding countries suffer, but also the image of Eastern Europe has been in downfall lately. However, for someone these problems in the region might be coming at a perfect time. […]
I am brown, but I am not one of them or of you. I am on neither side, and honestly I don’t even care to take sides. But I am caught in the cross-fire, I had three incidents of cars trying to run me over in just the last 30 days. […]
On Tuesday, the European Union‘s (EU) interior ministers accepted a plan to redistribute 160,000 refugees that had come to Europe. Similar talks one week earlier failed, because several Central-Eastern European countries opposed the scheme. Lithuania has already committed itself to accepting 1,105 refugees; in the long run, though, the number might grow ten times. […]
The dangerous actions by Russia and Vladimir Putin pose the greatest challenge to security and democracy since WWII. This applies not only to the countries within Eurasia, but to our post-war vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace. While not necessarily a return to the Cold War, the current situation nevertheless has brought a clear competition of ideologies to the forefront: democracies founded on free elections, accountable governance and rule of law versus authoritarian ideals of “managed democracy.” […]
While the refugee and migrant crisis is an existential problem for Europe, it is also a huge opportunity. The way it is handled will critically impact not only the future direction of Europe, but also its identity – the European ethos – economics, demographics and indeed (don’t be scared!) culture. Encapsulated in the current drama is an opportunity, which only few leaders and very few countries see as they are overwhelmed by the immediate tasks. If handled right, Europe will come out stronger. […]
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