The Eastern and Central Europe Section of IR Insider publishes breaking news reports and analysis from Russia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, and other Eastern and Central European nations. Topics covered in the Eastern and Central Europe Section may range from Russia’s role in the Syrian Civil War to the Latvian parliamentary elections and beyond. Our section editor is Kevin Qi.
After weeks of tied polls, on Nov. 5 Donald Trump won a decisive victory in the United States presidential election. Though Trump has not been forthcoming about specific plans for European relations, he has made it clear that he will not keep the status quo.
On Nov. 17, in the final months of the Biden administration, the United States made a historic decision to authorize the Ukrainian military to use long-range missiles. As a response, on Nov. 20, Russian forces launched a ballistic missile attack for the time during this war.
Russia’s lower parliament passed a bill targeting speech that promotes refraining from having children or criticizes families with children. The bill is aimed at addressing the declining birthrate and positioning Russia in opposition to western nontraditional family values.
This article examines how Russia has adapted its imperial ambitions to the digital era, using information warfare and soft power. Central to this strategy is Aleksandr Dugin's The Foundations of Geopolitics, which advocates for a Eurasian bloc led by Russia through ideological dominance rather than military force. The article highlights Russia’s recent election interference and disinformation campaigns in Europe, as well as strategic alliances with China, Iran, and India. Recent allegations of Russian interference in Georgia’s 2024 parliamentary elections underscore Dugin’s vision in action, where Russia manipulates political processes to build a multipolar world that challenges Western dominance.
The Dream party saw its fourth consecutive win in Georgia on Oct. 26, but with its drift towards authoritarianism and pro-Russian sentiment, many say the vote does not reflect the true preference of Georgians.
In the 16th annual BRICS summit, countries met in Kazan, Russia. A key point of discussion was alternatives to Western global financing systems to counter the threat of sanctions.
As footage emerges of North Korean soldiers suiting up in Russian gear, Ukraine warns that Pyongyang’s involvement could shift the balance of the conflict. With Moscow and Pyongyang forging a tighter military alliance, the international community faces fresh security concerns.
Last year, Donald Tusk was elected as Poland’s Prime Minister in a landmark parliamentary decision, but his current run has underperformed at the hands of right-wing President Andrzej Duda.
Georgia’s president, Salome Zourabichvili, drew sharp criticism from Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili after refusing to sign a controversial anti-LGBTQ bill into law on Oct. 2.
Decades after a Soviet nuclear power project was abandoned, Poland is starting construction of an American-built nuclear plant. The plans are a promising emblem of US collaboration with Poland, but locals in the village where it is set to be built have doubts.
Russian President Vladmir Putin’s new nuclear doctrine shifted significantly from the country’s previous nuclear policy. The new amendments, announced in late September 2024, lowered the threshold for the usage of nuclear weapons.
On Oct. 2 Vladimir Putin signed a law that allows criminals to join the army in return for immunity. According to independent Russian outlet Istories, the government wants to conscript 40 percent of 60,000 prisoners with pre-trial detention status.
The Austrian Freedom Party, which ran on a platform of limiting immigration, easing sanctions with Russia and Euroscepticism won the Austrian Election on Sept 29. However, forming a coalition will be challenging with other major parties refusing to work with them.
A significant development in the lead-up to the Moldovan presidential election occurred on Sept. 24, when the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) released its list of approved candidates. The agency notably did not register Igor Munteanu, one of the main political opponents of incumbent President Maia Sandu.
On Sept 21, 2024, around 20 Russian women gathered outside the capital holding up banners that demanded a meeting with Defense Minister Andrei Belousov and the return of their mobilized loved ones. The demonstration took place on the second anniversary of the decree signed by President Vladimir Putin ordering the mobilization of reserve citizens to the war in Ukraine.
On Aug 6, 2024, Ukrainian armed forces launched an incursion into the Kursk region of Russia. More than 1,000 Ukrainian troops, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, caught Russia off guard, prompting Moscow to declare a state of emergency and rush reinforcements to the region.
On Sept. 8, a Russian-operated Shahed-type drone crashed in Latvia's Rezekne region. The drone had entered Latvian airspace from Belarus and was tracked by air defense systems. While there was no immediate harm, Latvian Minister of Defense Andris Sprūds emphasised this incursion's seriousness, as any violation of a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member's airspace could have broad security ramifications.
The regime in Russia further cracked down on its queer community this month, with Russia’s top court ruling to ban the so-called “international LGBTQ movement,” labeling it an extremist organization. It is now illegal in Russia to “promote or praise LGBTQ relationships, publicly express non-heterosexual orientations or suggest that they are normal.”
The European Union (EU) has threatened legal action against the Polish government for failing to resolve the blockade at the border between Poland and Ukraine — caused by a weeks-long trucker protest.
Around 250 blue Stars of David were tagged on buildings in France, in what the Parisian police chief called an “antisemitic” incident. Officials in France claim that a Russian-speaking person living abroad “may have paid for” the graffiti and Russian-controlled social media accounts promoted images of the graffiti.
In a recent interview with The Economist, top Ukrainian General Valery Zaluzhny admitted that the war against Russia has reached a stalemate — comparing the situation in Eastern Ukraine to Northern France during World War I.
A mob in the Russian Republic of Dagestan stormed an airfield on Oct. 30, 2023, prompting the closure of an airport and the diversion of flights.
In a controversial move, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Oct. 24, 2023. Orbán, the leader of Hungary’s right-wing party FIDESZ, was even photographed shaking hands with Putin, drawing the ire of other Western leaders.
In a sharp reversal of trends since the COVID-19 pandemic, Central European Schengen area countries (i.e. European Union member states who have joined the visa-free and, essentially, internal border-free zone) have opted to reintroduce border controls of various intensity temporarily.
In the run-up to the election, the public media network Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF) showed that 41% of respondents thought that Ukraine should accept territorial concessions to Moscow, should it mean an end to the conflict.
The Russian government blamed Ukraine for an apparent drone attack above its capital building.
On Monday, April 17, Moscow City Court sentenced opposition activist and journalist Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in a strict regime penal colony after finding him guilty of spreading 'fakes' about the Russian army, operating an 'undesirable' organization for working with the Open Russia Foundation, and committing high treason.
Finland joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) last Tuesday after remaining militarily non-aligned since the end of the Second World War.
Thousands of opposition supporters gathered outside the Georgian parliament to express their dissatisfaction with the government’s policies.
On April 1, the Russian Federation took hold of the presidency over the United Nations (UN) Security Council.
