NATO signals to Russia that its aggression in Ukraine hasn’t achieved its goal
Oleksiy Melnyk, Co-director of foreign affairs and international security programmes at the Razumkov Center, said that to blame Putin’s aggression on western reluctance to draw closer to Ukraine would be to repeat a Kremlin propaganda trick, of accusing others of your own faults. Mr. Melnyk added that apart from army modernization efforts,...
Separatists Order UN, NGOs Out of Luhansk
Rebel demand follows forced closure of aid programs in Donetsk. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Putin Calls Elton John (Really!)
Russian pranksters had duped the British singer into thinking Vladimir Putin had reached out to him – now he actually has. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
On target? EU sanctions as security policy tools
Amid lingering questions over their utility in restraining the proscribed actions of the Assad regime in Syria, curbing Iran’s nuclear programme or softening Russia’s aggressive stance on Ukraine, the EU stands to benefit from a balanced, empirically-informed assessment on how sanctions have been implemented, monitored and enforced....
Election 2015: Devising new defence platforms (Part 3)
A couple of weeks ago, I was frustrated that the major parties had not articulated Defence platforms so I wrote one for the Liberals and then one for the NDP, and then the Liberals came out with their statement. I left the Conservative platform for last. Why? Because it is the hardest to write. Why? Because it could simply be “more of the same”...
OSCE Secretary General visits Vienna’s West Station to meet refugees and representatives of Austria’s Interior Ministry, Police and humanitarian organizations
VIENNA, 24 September 2015 – OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier today met refugees and representatives of local aid organizations at the Vienna West railway station (Westbahnhof), where he was briefed by Austria’s Interior Ministry and the Vienna police about their operations. The visit, organized in co-operation with Austria, was...
OSCE Special Co-ordinator visits Belarus ahead of presidential election observation
COPENHAGEN, 24 September 2015 – The Special Co-ordinator of the OSCE’s short-term observers for the presidential election in Belarus, Kent Harstedt (MP, Sweden), met with high-level officials and a range of other interlocutors in Minsk and Homel this week to discuss the preparations and environment for the upcoming vote. “I thank the...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 23 September 2015
The SMM monitored the implementation of the “Package of measures for the implementation of the Minsk agreements”. Its monitoring was restricted by the parties and security considerations*. The SMM noted a large concentration of tanks in a “DPR”-controlled area along the contact line. The SMM recorded some ceasefire violations, demining and...
Ukraine Introduces Sanctions Against Russian Citizens, Companies
On September 16, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree introducing sanctions against 105 firms and 388 individuals, mainly from Russia, for supporting the annexation of Crimea and the war in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas (President.gov.ua, September 16). The decree came into effect on September 22, when its text was...
The Emergence of a New Reality
In the last two years, out of the four options on Ukraine, Russia, and NATO, one that in the past had seemed the least likely, has suddenly materialized: Russia treated Ukraine so badly that it has driven Ukrainians into NATO’s arms. This option came second on the list, but last on expectations. It depended on two failures: the failure of...
