The end of tit-for-tat politics in Bulgaria
In an environment in which European and American interests are not always the same, it is short-sighted and dangerous for Bulgarian leaders to question their country’s geopolitical alignment
Wider Europe
Dead-end pragmatism: Germany’s Russia strategy after Merkel
Berlin has no will to rethink its long-held assumption that it can somehow improve Europe-Russia relations by engaging with Moscow from a position of weakness and betting on the benefits of long-term economic ties
Why the EU should appoint a special representative for Crimea
By appointing a special representative for Crimea, the EU would show its commitment to standing by its partners and rejecting Russia’s violations of international law
Why attempts to reset relations with Russia fail
Offering ‘resets’ to Russia does not work. On the contrary, a more muscular approach to the country will yield results
The Putin paradox: Five things Navalny’s arrest says about Russia
The events Navalny set in motion both indicate the urgent need for change and make such change less likely to happen
Decade of patience: How China became a power in the Western Balkans
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
Bosnia to war, to Dayton, and to its slow peace
It will be difficult to sustain progress for Bosnia or the region without a credible and clear EU accession process
Low expectations: A year of renewal for the EU-Turkey relationship
Grand bargains are tough to achieve but, eventually, Turkey and the EU will have to strike up a working partnership whereby they cooperate on some issues and compete on others
The geopolitics of covid vaccines in Europe’s eastern neighbourhood
Many of the EU’s neighbours are hoping it will help them secure vaccines – leaving offers from China and Russia to flood in
The impossible stalemate: How the Belarus face-off could go on and on
Aliaksandr Lukashenka rewrote the rules to keep himself in power. But it did not succeed in 2020 – and the EU will not be able to remain a spectator to Belarus’s problems forever