Baltic States

Is France a Trojan horse within NATO?

France's push for a European army, greater autonomy from the US and its apologia for Russian expansionism raise questions about its commitment to NATO.

Baltic states slap sanctions on Belarus over alleged election rigging

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania place travel sanctions on 30 top officials in Belarus, including President Alexander Lukashenko.

How Russia is slowly encircling Europe

Described as a Cold War casualty, Russia has been reasserting itself both politically and militarily. Experts argue that Moscow aims to reclaim its old glory.

What are the biggest issues ahead of the NATO summit?

Washington and European allies have serious differences on the future of the organisation after French President Emmanuel Macron described the alliance as “brain dead”.

The Great Game over the Arctic: Geopolitics from the North Pole to Syria

US-Russia missile sabre-rattling in the Arctic sends threatening political messages but the bigger threat is its lasting environmental damage.

Economic disparity tops Lithuanian presidential election agenda

Robust annual wage growth of around 10 percent has raised the average gross monthly salary to 970 euros but poverty and income inequality remain among the highest in the EU, largely due to weak progressive taxation.

EU rich-poor gap widens but still lowest in world

Scores of various countries within the European Union differ markedly, with some of those of the former communist states in Eastern Europe bringing down the average.

Britain presses for more EU sanctions against Russia

Britain, the EU, and the United States blame Russia for a nerve agent attack against a Russian double agent in the English city of Salisbury earlier this year. The Kremlin denies involvement.

EU recalls ambassador to Russia over spy row

In a show of support to British PM Theresa May, the European Union as a whole has agreed to pin the blame on Moscow for a chemical attack on a double agent and his daughter in the UK.

Belarus plays down Western fears over Russian war games

Western leaders have cited fears the Zapad war games could be a preparation for the occupation of Russia’s neighbours in Eastern Europe.

Russia launches massive war games in eastern Europe

Military drills involving nearly 13,000 troops are being carried out on the territory of Moscow’s ally Belarus.

Protests in Minsk as Belarus prepares to host Russian drill

NATO forces begin their own war games in Ukraine amid fears that an upcoming Russian military drill in Belarus could be a Trojan horse tactic to invade Baltic states.