Slovakia becomes second Hungarian outpost against Brussels
The return of Robert Fico to the post of Prime Minister in 2023 has launched the process of “orbanization” of Slovakia. Bratislava is increasingly copying the Hungarian model of governance in all key areas of the state. This course involves not only the dismantling of anti-corruption structures, the usurpation of…
Emigration as a cover: how the FSB turns Russian refugees into its agents
Over the course of more than a quarter century of Putin’s rule, political emigration from Russia has transformed from isolated cases of the expulsion of individual “inconvenient” oligarchs from the country to the outflow of the intellectual and cultural elite who dared to express public disagreement with the Kremlin’s policies….
How Central Asia became a main hub for evading Russian sanctions
Since the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions in 2022, the countries of Central Asia (CA) and the CIS have become a center of “gray” imports to Russia and the main channel for circumventing sanctions. Parallel imports through Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Georgia have shown impressive growth rates over the past few years….
Growing hybrid threats to the UK from Russia
After the start of the Russian Federation’s full-scale war against Ukraine in 2022, Britain became a priority target for hybrid operations by Russian intelligence services for a number of reasons. Firstly, because of its military leadership in NATO and its active position in supporting Ukraine. It was the first to…
Science in exile: American scientists leave the US and what Europe gains in return
When Donald Trump began his second presidential term in early 2025, few observers predicted that this era would be a turning point for American science. However, over the past year, the US scientific community has become an unwitting participant in processes far from scientific. Many experts believe that grant cuts,…