The Socialism of Central Europe’s Populists
The success of the FPO party in the Austrian parliamentary elections, coupled with billionaire upstart Andrej Babiš in the Czech Republic becoming prime minister in the waning days of 2017, means that it appears that Central Europe will be facing another year of political upheaval in 2018. Governments in Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and...
Watch List Findings: Dec. 30, 2017
What follows are the preliminary findings for issues identified in the daily Watch Lists this week. We are only sending findings that we regard as significant or potentially significant to keep this list manageable. We have findings for all the Watch List items. Should you be interested in findings not listed here, please contact us and we will...
How Does Hungary Choose its Friends?
Russia / Europe A parliamentary election will be held in Hungary in spring 2018. The results will recast its parliament and government for the next four years. Nine parties are represented in the National Assembly of Hungary at the moment, seven of which are members of the two major coalitions. Approximately 67% of parliamentary seats are held by...
Freed Donetsk religious scholar: Many in Donbas want a return to Ukraine but are afraid
Renowned religious specialist and freed hostage, Ihor Kozlovskyy believes that many locals who once actively supported the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ [DPR] would now like a return to Ukrainian control, but fear that they could end up imprisoned unless an amnesty is passed. Kozlovskyy was giving his first interview...
Who Are the Leading State Sponsors of Terrorism?
As 2017 draws to a close, it is difficult to be optimistic about what will be coming in the new year. The American President, whose margin of victory was certainly based on his pledge to avoid unnecessary wars, has doubled down on Afghanistan, refuses to leave Syria even though ISIS has been defeated, and is playing serious brinksmanship with a...
Reasons to Doubt the Veracity of the ‘Steele Dossier’ on Trump are Still Emerging
There is a parallel but lesser-publicized narrative running alongside the dominant media-favored Trump-Russia collusion story.It centers not on Trump and his alleged collusion with Moscow, but on Fusion GPS, the shady firm behind the infamous Steele dossier.Stories about the 35-page “intelligence report” written by former MI6 spy...
Ukrainian activist sentenced in occupied Crimea for ‘anti-Russian’ Facebook posts
A court in Russian-occupied Crimea has passed a 2-year suspended sentence on 54-year-old Larisa Kitaiska, a businesswoman and former Maidan activist, over supposed ‘Russophobic’ posts on Facebook . …read more Source: Kharkiv Human Rights Protection...
US Decides to Provide Ukraine with Lethal Weapons
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said on December 22 that the US was going to provide Ukraine with “enhanced defensive capabilities as part of our effort to help Ukraine build its long-term defense capacity, to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to deter further aggression.” Among the weapons being sent...
ICT Given Huge Boost in Belarus
Slowly but steadily, Belarus continues to liberalise its regulations to attract more foreign investment. The country’s president, Alexander Lukashenko, recently signed a decree on the development of the digital economy, thus making Belarus the first world’s jurisdiction with overall legal regulation of businesses based on blockchain...
Watch List: Dec. 26, 2017
The items listed below represent potential emerging issues that our analysts are tracking. These can be long term or short term, but will be updated daily. If an item on our Watch List becomes critical, we will email you a full analysis explaining its significance. Each Saturday, we will follow up our daily Watch List for each week with our...
