Moscow
Central/Eastern Europe

The Russian Liberal Bias

Do not expect grassroots change to happen in Russia. A popular phrase spoken only half-jokingly by the residents of Moscow goes like this, “Moscow ends, and Russia begins at the Sadovoye Koltso”. Sadovoye Koltso, or […]

Latvia's Russian-speakers
Uncategorized

Strange bedfellows: Latvian nationalists and ethnic Russians both want to block entrance of more Russians

It has often been remarked that politics can make strange bedfellows, bringing together groups that one could not imagine agreeing on anything. That is what has been happening in Latvia, where Latvian nationalists and ethnic-Russian residents of that Baltic country—for quite different reasons—both support restricting any further immigration into Latvia from the Russian Federation. […]

Alexei Venediktov
Opinion

Russia wouldn’t open ‘third front’ in Baltics, says Russian journalist

Alexei Venediktov, the editor-in-chief of Echo Moskvy, spoke to Delfi about the threat of escalation in the tensions between Russia and the Baltics. His radio station is considered by many to be the last major independent media outlet in Russia, and has run into trouble with Russian government media regulators in the past. […]

No Picture
Uncategorized

Putin backs down and… wins?

Russian forces are withdrawing from the Ukrainian border. Pro-Russian separatists are putting down their arms. There are reports about Russia re-opening some of its markets to Western production. All this has sparked discussions about Moscow backing down from confrontation with the West. […]

No Picture
Uncategorized

Russia expanding soft power, Estonian official says

Head of Estonia‘s Foreign Affairs Committee Marko Mihkelson said that Russia‘s soft power policies were increasingly purposeful. […]

Dalia Leinartė
Opinion

Shall we live in a Eurasian empire of woman haters?

Vladimir Putin, Russian politicians and some intellectuals keep talking about the “Russian world” and readiness of the country’s armed forces to defend the Russian population in any country. It is worth remembering that before the Bosnian war (1992-1995) and the mass killings of Bosnian Muslims and Croats, Radovan Karadžić also spoke of Serbia’s interests not only in countries with the Serb minority, but also in those with only Serbian graves […]