russia Archives • Eyes on Europe

The European Defence Industry and the War in Ukraine: New windows of opportunity?

5 June 2023 Security

“I know that public opinion prefers butter to cannons, but for years we have been under-investing (…) This war against Ukraine has been a brutal wake up for all of us” Joseph Borrell, High Representative of the European Union, 12 August 2022. With these words, the head of European diplomacy addressed the public in the opening speech of the Annual Conference of the European Defence Agency. Throughout a speech of thirty minutes, he made clear the delicate situation experienced by the twenty-seven European armies: The stockpiles are almost empty and we do not have the capacity to fill them.

Imports of Ukrainian agricultural products: EU solidarity vs National interest

4 May 2023 European Politics

Francesco Pannullo 7 min

In February 2022, Russia initiated the invasion of Ukraine, and substantial destructions followed. Over $6.6 billion in agricultural infrastructure has been destroyed. This caused an increase in prices of agricultural products and fears about shortages. To assist Ukraine, the EU institutions promptly adopted several economic measures.

New challenges ahead: Bosnia and Herzegovina’s EU candidate status under Russian influence

3 April 2023 European Politics

Mario Vega 9 min

Since the beginning of 2022, the European Union has been facing an increase of threats that marked the end of the year. In this regard, the European geopolitical chessboard is still shaking with some worrying issues still unresolved

Putin’s War or Russia’s War?

24 February 2023 Russian Invasion of Ukraine Security

Lev Zinchenko 6 min

[OPINION] It has been a year since the full-scale Russian invasion in Ukraine trembled the whole world. After its beginning, in Europe, it is highly debated that the Russo-Ukrainian War is not supposed to be treated as a war of Russia against Ukraine, but rather as a Kremlin’s or Putin’s war against Ukraine. It is done in order to deviate the responsibility of the Russian people in a genocidal war that started not in 2022, but in 2014. Nonetheless it is evident that the responsibility for this war directly lies on the shoulders of ordinary Russians.

Ukraine’s perspective in green energy substitution for the European market and European divestment from the Russian fossil fuels

9 February 2023 Energy Security European Politics

Lev Zinchenko 6 min

The Russian war in Ukraine has highlighted the European States’ dependency on Russian fossil fuel production. In fact, it led to the ongoing energy crisis which asserted its impact throughout the continent and extended even beyond. This current scenario has led to several discussions concerning the European energy market, and whether there is an existing solution to the substitution of the ramped-up fossil fuel production (to lower the prices) with green initiatives. On 17th November 2022, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyi reaffirmed that at the end of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Ukraine “is capable of becoming a key partner of the European Union for the purposes of decarbonization”. Thus, Ukraine has a lot of potential in the advancement of renewable energy, a solution that seems to be feasible and meets every involved actor’s needs.

The use of migrants as a geopolitical tool

5 May 2022 Migration

Bruno De Sousa 10 min

In November 2021, the world witnessed an unprecedented crisis between Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, on one side, and Belarus, supported by the Russian government on the other. The incident […]