Category Archives: Comments & Policy Briefs (ENG)

Ukraine and the West Should Beware of Unrealistic Peace Plans. Otherwise the Kremlin Will Outplay Them

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thumbnail of 2016-05-19 – Elections and OSCE Police Mission for Donbas EESRI-C-ENG

In recent months, the idea of sending an OSCE armed police mission to the Donbas has become Kyiv’s idée fixe in the same way that holding local elections in the Donbas has become the West’s. Both believe that their proposals can give the stalled Minsk agreement a boost, or at least provide strong arguments to extend sanctions against Russia, which are set to expire in July. (PDF) Maksym Khylko

Belarus: Situation In the Field of National Security and Defense as of March 2016

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The most significant event of March was a visit to Minsk of the Pentagon delegation headed by the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Carpenter, who met the Belarusian Foreign and Defense Ministers, and personally Alexander Lukashenko. On March 4, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense held consultations with the NATO delegation on participation in the planning and assessment of forces within the “Partnership for Peace” program. On March 15, examination of the Belarusian Armed Forces started; combating hybrid threats was practiced among other tasks. (PDF) Andrei Porotnikov

Situation In the Field of Economic Security of Belarus as of March 2016

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The plans of Belarus government formally indicate willingness to activate market reforms, including those accompanied by unpopular measures. The authorities are being pushed towards such policy by the ongoing economic downturn and uncertainty on the foreign markets. At the same time, serious doubts remain about the sincerity of these intentions, which may turn out to be just a tool of facilitating negotiations with the international lenders. (PDF) Pavel Kirkovsky

Slovakia’s Foreign Policy Priorities in 2016

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Upon proposal of the East European Security Research Initiative Foundation, a selection of Slovakian experts commented on the probable changes in Slovakia’s foreign policy, especially with respect to the Visegrad Group, Eastern Partnership, European Union, NATO, Ukraine, and Russia. (PDF) Dušan Fischer, Zuzana Novakova, Jozef Ulian, Marek Lenč, Kristina Bockova, Samuel Goda

The Dutch Referendum on the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine

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The Dutch referendum about the EU Association Agreement with Ukraine leads to uncharted waters on several fronts. April 6, 2016 is the first time when an electorate of one EU member state gets a direct say on an external EU agreement. This brief provides an overview of the referendum’s (i) legal and political background, (ii) state-of-play, including the argumentation of its main proponents and (iii) future prospects as the situation opens a range of new questions for the Netherlands, the EU and Ukraine in an unprecedented context. (PDF) Zuzana Novakova

Belarus: Situation In the Field of National Security and Defense as of February 2016

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The plans on supply of armament and equipment for the year 2016 have been announced, including the battery of ADMS “Tor-M2”; radar stations “Protivnik”, “Rosa” and “Vostok”; helicopters Mi-8MTV-5; armored vehicles, including modernized T-72 and BTR-70; the 4th division of ADMS S-300 are to arrive to Belarus from Russia in March.  The first visit to Belarus of the delegation from Thailand led by the Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Defense of the Kingdom took place; the intergovernmental agreement on military-technical cooperation was signed. (PDF) Andrei Porotnikov

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