To remain relevant in the region, the European Union needs a coherent and consistent strategy to promote its interests and values together with the political will to follow this through. ECFR’s Wider Europe programme was launched in 2007 with the aim of fostering this process.
Young diplomats in Eastern Partnership countries are optimistic and pro-European. Many of them want the EU to become a bolder geopolitical actor.
Russia’s capacity to carry out large-scale military operations against Black Sea states allows it to coerce and extort them
ECFR’s policy experts examine what the Taliban takeover means for countries and regions around the world: Europe, the US, the Middle East, Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and the Sahel
It has taken three general elections for change to come in Bulgaria – but this week’s parliamentary vote gives cause to hope for genuine action on corruption
How serious is the Russian troop build-up near the Ukraine border? And what should NATO do about it?
Russia is mobilising its forces, but much more covertly than in the past. Moscow’s belief that the EU and US will not step in to protect Ukraine could lead it to take direct military action.
What is coercive engineered migration? And what would be the best way for the EU to respond to Minsk’s tactics?
The EU currently lacks tools to make a real difference to stability in the Western Balkans. But it can create these tools if it musters the political will.
The EU should show the Lukashenka regime that it will no longer tolerate the weaponisation of migration. As with any form of blackmail, it would be senseless and dangerous to make concessions – because the aggressor will only demand more.
Young diplomats in Eastern Partnership countries are optimistic and pro-European. Many of them want the EU to become a bolder geopolitical actor.
The EU should learn from Moldova’s response to its gas crisis. It would be a mistake to link Russian concessions on energy prices to talks in areas such as trade policy.
Europeans need to pay closer attention to Russia’s growing opportunities to sell gas to China and other countries in Asia – otherwise they could be left even more at Moscow’s mercy
The emerging ‘traffic-light’ coalition government should recognise the dangers ranged around the EU on its Western Balkans borders – and help move EU integration along for the region’s states
Young diplomats in Eastern Partnership countries are optimistic and pro-European. Many of them want the EU to become a bolder geopolitical actor.
Russia’s capacity to carry out large-scale military operations against Black Sea states allows it to coerce and extort them
ECFR’s policy experts examine what the Taliban takeover means for countries and regions around the world: Europe, the US, the Middle East, Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, and the Sahel
The campaign has encouraged Zelensky’s tendency towards governance through informal means. This has allowed him to act speedily – but it risks letting oligarchic influence return
The solution to the dispute between Kosovo and Serbia should be to create a societal consensus on both sides of the border
EU member states should help Turkey manage the impact of the new trade regulations the deal would bring in
The bloc should reframe how it speaks of human rights and democracy, while developing closer security and military links with select neighbours
Instead of using the UAE to push back against Turkey or vice versa, Europe should develop its own strategy on their rivalry
As European and US ambivalence towards the Western Balkans persists, the region will be in increasing danger of falling into an endless spiral of competition between various foreign actors
It will be difficult to sustain progress for Bosnia or the region without a credible and clear EU accession process
It has taken three general elections for change to come in Bulgaria – but this week’s parliamentary vote gives cause to hope for genuine action on corruption
Russia is mobilising its forces, but much more covertly than in the past. Moscow’s belief that the EU and US will not step in to protect Ukraine could lead it to take direct military action.
The EU currently lacks tools to make a real difference to stability in the Western Balkans. But it can create these tools if it musters the political will.
The EU should show the Lukashenka regime that it will no longer tolerate the weaponisation of migration. As with any form of blackmail, it would be senseless and dangerous to make concessions – because the aggressor will only demand more.
The EU should learn from Moldova’s response to its gas crisis. It would be a mistake to link Russian concessions on energy prices to talks in areas such as trade policy.
Europeans need to pay closer attention to Russia’s growing opportunities to sell gas to China and other countries in Asia – otherwise they could be left even more at Moscow’s mercy
The emerging ‘traffic-light’ coalition government should recognise the dangers ranged around the EU on its Western Balkans borders – and help move EU integration along for the region’s states
The EU is currently assembling its fifth package of sanctions on Belarus. Here is what European governments and the Belarusian opposition should draw from how things have gone so far.
If the Kremlin sees the Duma election result as a buffer that will allow it to safely prepare for a transition at the top, the Russian political system might still find a way to evolve. But, if it views the result as confirmation that the system works just fine, its ‘victory’ really is a Pyrrhic one.
Germany insisted on its choice of new high representative. Now it needs to reveal if it has a plan to make the Bosnian state workable enough for the high representative institution to finally end.
What role does Russia play in the breakaway regions of Eastern Europe?
Locked in a shadowy life between war and peace, “grey zones” now litter the map of Eastern Europe
Following high level ministerial meetings on Ukraine, ECFR's Wider Europe team report on the implementation the Minsk agreement
How serious is the Russian troop build-up near the Ukraine border? And what should NATO do about it?
What is coercive engineered migration? And what would be the best way for the EU to respond to Minsk’s tactics?
What can and should the EU do to support Ukrainian sovereignty?
How will the European Green Deal affect the EU’s relationship with Turkey?
What will be the impact of the EU and US measures against Belarus? And what should be next steps also ahead of the EU-US summit on 15 June?
How much influence does China already ha be in the Western Balkans and how should European policymakers react?
How can the EU prevent the Turkey-UAE rivalry from destabilising European security and foreign policy?
What kind of implications do the developments in Belarus have for the wider neighbourhood and Europe?
What lessons can be drawn from Josep Borrell’s controversial visit to Moscow?
Mark Leonard and Jeremy Shapiro predict ten bright and bold policy projections for the year to come
When Turkey is left alone in the room with Russia, its hand is not as strong as it once thought
Asli Aydintasbas comments on the new regional power balances as American and European powers retreat
Russia has gone far beyond what was agreed in the Minsk ceasefire and thinks that the West is weak and in decline
Le Mappe della Crisi – Interview to Gustav Gressel about the possible escalation between Russia and Ukraine
There is an aim underlying Moscow’s moves, to be sure. But usually it’s not straightforwardly about the West.
Pavel Slunkin provides an update on the migrant and humanitarian crisis on the Poland-Belarus border
In an interview with Nepzava, Pavel Slunkin analyses the Belarus-Poland border crisis, Lukashenko’s strategies, as well as Russia’s involvement in the events
