To ensure the financial and political independence of media in Germany, there exists a mandatory contribution to support public broadcasting (Rundfunkbeitrag), whose roots stretch back to the 1920s. In its current form, it has existed since 2013 and requires every household or apartment to pay a fixed contribution of €18.36...
The green illusion: how the British waste recycling market became a factory for fake certificates
In February 2026, the UK Environment Agency (EA) announced a series of high-profile arrests in a packaging waste fraud case. Investigators suspect recycling market participants of manipulating Packaging Recovery Notes (PRN) — certificates confirming that packaging has been recycled. Yet the regulators themselves acknowledge that this is not an isolated...
Billions for EU Defence attract criminals and fraudsters
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the escalation of hybrid threats against Europe have forced Brussels and many European capitals to rethink their defence plans and doctrines. To build up and modernise the defence sector, the EU has launched a number of large-scale programmes: the Act in Support of Ammunition...
The birth of a new German power: yow the war in Ukraine made Germany Europe’s military leader
February 2022 and the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine marked a new turning point for Germany — a fundamental reassessment of the country's position in the European security system, its military doctrine, and the restructuring of its economy. But does this represent mere adaptation to new threats, or is...
Slovakia’s “Eastern turn” and its consequences for Pan-European policy
The return to power of Prime Minister Robert Fico in October 2023 marked a turning point in Slovakia's foreign policy. A country long regarded as part of Central Europe's pro-European consensus began showing signs of a strategic shift toward an "eastern," pragmatically pro-Russian line. This process is unfolding against the...
Armenia builds a shield against Russian information operations with France’s help
In the spring of 2026, Armenia reached a point where information security became a matter of national resilience. Against the backdrop of parliamentary elections scheduled for June 7, 2026, and an ongoing geopolitical pivot away from Moscow toward Brussels and Paris, Yerevan officially turned to France for the first time,...
AfD as a tool of the Kremlin: the history of a political project that became a threat to EU unity
Alternative for Germany (AfD) emerged in 2013 as a response by conservative German elites to the eurozone crisis, uniting citizens who opposed financial bailouts for weak Southern European economies and demanded fundamental EU reforms. The party's ideological affinity for Russia became apparent almost immediately after its founding, when one of...
How EU agricultural subsidies became the source of a political crisis in Greece
The scandal surrounding European Union agricultural subsidies in Greece, which erupted in 2025–2026, proved to be a symptom of corruption problems at both the national and pan-European levels. The roots of the problem stretch back to the previous decade, but the critical phase fell between 2016 and 2023. It was...
Neutrality as a trap — the Austrian price of Russian espionage
Over recent years, Austria has firmly established itself as a hub for Russian intelligence services in the very heart of Europe, transforming Vienna into a logistical and coordination center for their operations. The Austrian authorities' lenient attitude toward Russia and the absence of strict oversight of its spies backfired badly...
AfD turns parliamentary inquiries into legal espionage for the Kremlin
The phenomenon of "Alternative for Germany" (AfD) lies in its rapid transformation from a party of Eurosceptic intellectuals into a radical populist force that exploited Germany's identity crisis, migration, and economic problems to boost its ratings. It became the first right-wing radical party in post-war German history to not only...