Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski
CORPORATE

Poland to challenge rules of Europe’s foreign policy game

Across Europe all eyes have been on Poland‘s conservative Law and Justice Party since they dramatically swept back into power. After securing a majority in the Polish parliament, the party swiftly put their power to use, launching controversial reforms of the country’s Constitutional Court and increasing control over state media, in the process drawing comparisons with Viktor Orban’s Hungary. […]

Inauguration ceremony for LitPol Link and NordBalt
Energy

Baltic States’ failure to cooperate blocking Lithuanian energy security

A failure to coordinate energy policies with Latvia and Estonia may prove to be the biggest obstacle to improving Lithuania’s energy security and increasing its independence from Russia. […]

Vladimir Putin and François Hollande
Uncategorized

Will there be rapprochement between Russia and West?

Terrorist attacks in Paris and the plane crash over Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula might provide a turning point in Russia‘s relations with the West, allowing Moscow to break out of international isolation. Major Western powers might have to adopt a more lenient tone when talking to Russia in order to have Moscow contribute to fighting international terrorism, says Laurynas Kasčiūnas, analyst at the Eastern Europe Studies Centre. […]

Vladimir Putin and Greek PM Alexis Tsipras
Uncategorized

Putin’s Russia. Kremlin’s plan for Europe, bribe No. 1

In the previous articles of the series ‘Putin’s Russia: Kremlin’s Goals and Tools’, I analysed the theory and practice of Russia’s foreign policy and drew attention to the fact that Russia still uses the ammunition of USSR KGB – disinformation, influence agents, scandals (e.g., Edward Snowden’s story) and criminal activity: corruption, criminal world, drug trafficking and terrorism. So I will now move on to the cases of three countries and their policies – that, I believe, will be a perfect illustration of Kremlin’s capabilities. […]

PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski with prospective PM candidate Beata Szydlo
Uncategorized

Will Poland come back as a regional leader?

Expected, yet very impressive. These words come to one’s mind when evaluating results of the parliamentary elections in Poland. After eight years in opposition, the conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party came back to power thunderously. […]

US President Barack Obama and Lithuania's Dalia Grybauskaitė
Foreign affairs

Why Lithuania is bound to be pro-American

There was a time right after World War Two when Lithuanians believed that the United States of America would swoop into a Soviet-occupied country and drive the Soviets away. These hopes were rather baseless, yet the USA did stand by its policy not to recognise the annexation of the Baltic states. The start of this policy is believed to be July 23rd, 1940, with the declaration to this effect by US State Secretary Sumner Welles. […]

European Union

Dilemma of EU neighbourhood policy: Mediterranean vs. Eastern Partnership

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is the instrument through which the European Union (EU) aims to create bonds between its Member States and the countries at the boundaries of the EU and thus secure the stability of the European borders. The EU stipulates Association Agreements offering financial support and other advantages in exchange for a commitment to implement reforms. There are two action plans within the ENP: the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) and the Eastern Partnership (EaP). […]

No Picture
Opinion

Opinion: Russia’s nuclear blackmail and new threats of covert diplomacy

The world has truly entered a new era. Even Russia‘s nuclear blackmail has become such an everyday occurrence that it sometimes passes underappreciated. One concludes thus after last week’s reports in British dailies The Times and The Independent about a meeting between Russian and US generals in March where Russia voiced threats of a nuclear response should NATO continue to deploy forces in the Baltic states. […]