After the financial collapse of 2008, Iceland became one of the few European countries where the idea of joining the European Union transformed from a discussion into a matter of national survival. Today, nearly two decades later, the country is revisiting the topic of European integration — but in an...
Invisible confrontation between Russia and NATO in the skies over the Baltic
The Baltic region is becoming a testing ground for a new kind of hybrid warfare—one of the most dangerous zones of electronic confrontation between Russia and NATO, where strikes are delivered not with missiles but with radio signals. What just a few years ago was considered isolated technical failures has...
“Storm-1516” against Armenia: how Russia conducts hybrid warfare with fake investigations
Until 2020, Armenia remained one of the most Russia-dependent states in the South Caucasus. However, its defeat in the war over Nagorno-Karabakh and the subsequent events dramatically changed the situation. In 2023, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan publicly declared that Armenia’s exclusive reliance on Russia for security matters had been a...
How sanctions did not prevent the Kremlin from making money from oil
Despite the sanctions imposed and the fight against the “shadow” fleet, Russian oil processed in third countries will now enter European markets officially and completely legally. The decision of the UK on May 19, 2026, which allowed the import of Russian fuel following similar exceptions from the US, effectively legalized...
Tenders, kickbacks, and unnecessary surgeries – the anatomy of medical corruption in Europе
On February 24, 2025, the Czech police, in cooperation with the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO), conducted the largest anti-corruption operation in the history of Czech healthcare. The investigation involved more than 350 law enforcement officers, 22 people were detained, and 46 searches were carried out. The director of the...
Romania’s anti-corruption machine has become a shield for the political class
On January 1, 2007, when Romania joined the European Union, Brussels viewed the reform of its judicial system as one of the key tests of the country’s ability to become a full-fledged European democracy. Corruption in state institutions at the time was chronic, and according to Transparency International data, in...
How the nature of cyber warfare has changed in the EU
Over the past five years, the nature of cyber warfare in Europe has undergone a fundamental transformation. Before 2022, cyberattacks in the EU were primarily associated with criminal extortion, industrial espionage, and occasional state-sponsored operations. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, they have become an integral part of hybrid warfare...
The FSB’s shadow over European science
While European policymakers introduce new sanctions against Russia and talk about protecting critical technologies, one of Europe's leading academic publishers, De Gruyter Brill, continues to collaborate with Russian scientific institutions that have ties to the FSB and the military-industrial complex. Immediately after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February...
The MFS scandal and its consequences for the financial systems of the UK and Europe
At the beginning of 2026, a major financial scandal erupted in the United Kingdom involving the bankrupt mortgage lender Market Financial Solutions Ltd (MFS). It emerged that the company had borrowed more than £1.3 billion in total from major banks and hedge funds, then issued expensive mortgage loans to borrowers...
Why young people in Germany and Europe are becoming radicalised
In the spring of 2026, Germany once again found itself at the centre of events linked to the rise of right-wing extremism among young people, a phenomenon that has ceased to be a marginal issue and is increasingly perceived as a systemic threat. The trigger for this new wave of...