The Impact of Western Sanctions on Russian Energy Companies
As a response to the Crimean crisis, in March 2014 the United States and the European Union, followed by Albania, Australia, Canada, Iceland, Montenegro, and Norway, initiated sanctions on several Russian citizens and businesses. In August 2014 the Russian government responded by ordering an entry ban on several American and Canadian citizens and...
Alina Polyakova
By Rachel SlatteryAlina Polyakova is the David M. Rubenstein Fellow in the Foreign Policy program’s Center on the United States and Europe. She specializes in European politics, far-right populism and nationalism, and Russian foreign policy. Polyakova’s recent book, “The Dark Side of European Integration” (ibidem-Verlag and Columbia...
Wife of Chechen Man Accused in Putin Plot Killed
The couple, who survived a previous assassination attempt in June, were attacked just outside Kyiv …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Lithuanian citizen sentenced for praising Stalin while Russia rehabilitates the dictator
A court in Vilnius has sentenced Yuri Subbotin, a Lithuanian citizen of Russian descent, to 14 months’ restricted liberty for at least one post in which he praised Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin and the Soviet regime. The norm in Lithuania is similar to one of Ukraine’s decommunization laws, however the penalties are much less severe...
Beating up Crimean Tatar activists is OK in occupied Crimea, demonstrating contempt for the assailants a ’crime’
24-year-old Shevket Razzakov is facing criminal charges in Russian-occupied Crimea for spitting at a Russian National Guard sniper during the armed search of another Crimean Tatar. None of the officers involved in beating up peaceful activists and hospitalizing one of them during the events that day is under investigation. …read more...
Old Wounds, New Memorials: the Last Address Project
Walking through Moscow, you may pass by a small steel plaque no larger than your hand. These plaques are affixed to apartment buildings and bear nothing more than a few dates and a name. The dates do not recall some world-famous event. They are the dates of the birth, death, arrest, and rehabilitation of political prisoners. The names are not...
Russia’s Kosovo Fixation
Russia / Europe Backed by the US and the EU, the Serbian government is preparing for reconciliation with Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Serbian authorities wish to accelerate the process of EU integration, which implies a departure from a current policy aimed at hindering the formation of a Kosovan statehood, amongst...
Mediation for peace
This week, EURACTIV reports from Astana about the various mediation efforts of Kazakhstan on the international scene, including the Syria war and the conflict in Eastern Ukraine, as well as the county’s initiatives as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council. …read more Source:...
Russian Government’s Fission Know-How Hard at Work in Europe
In May 2016, prominent Russia expert Mark Galeotti warned that “the [Russian] Foreign Intelligence Service and FSB are now especially active in Europe, and the organizations they support include … separatists from Spain to Scotland.” Fast-forward to September of this year: a sophisticated mix of “Kremlin-run outlets, pro-Kremlin or aligned...
Russian ‘Donetsk republic’ propagandist seized – or killed – in Donbas after speaking too freely
While media reports of Roman Manekin’s brutal murder remain unconfirmed, there seems no doubt that the prominent Russian journalist and propagandist for the so-called ‘Donetsk people’s republic’ [DPR] was taken prisoner shortly after strong criticism of at least one of the ‘DPR’ leaders. There are also reports that the...
