On the night of 9 September 2026, the silence on the Ukrainian Moldovan border was torn apart by the roar of several Russian Geran-type drones attacking the Starokozache international checkpoint in Odesa region. The raid killed two civilians and wounded three others. Border terminals were destroyed, and a passenger bus,...
Baltic states request €500 million from European Commission for drone defence
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have asked the European Commission to urgently allocate €500 million to strengthen counter-drone systems. The defence ministers of the three countries — Martin Herem (Estonia), Raivis Melnis (Latvia) and Robertas Kaunas (Lithuania) — sent a confidential letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on...
Lithuanian Seimas backs removal of constitutional ban on nuclear weapons
Lithuania’s parliament has approved in the first reading a bill to strike from the Constitution the article that prohibits the deployment of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, on the country’s territory. The initiative received 99 votes in favour, 13 against and five abstentions. Article 137 of Lithuania’s Constitution,...
NATO publishes updated baseline requirements for national resilience for the first time
NATO has for the first time publicly released an updated list of baseline requirements for the resilience of Allied states against war and other large-scale threats. The document, 2026 Resilience Baseline Requirements, was published between 15 and 17 September and sets common benchmarks to help countries prepare for crises, withstand...
Fico accuses the West of pushing NATO toward war with Russia
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said in a video address posted on social media on Saturday that the West has for more than four years been “needlessly pouring oil on the fire” in Ukraine. In his view, the strategy of “destroying Russia” through the war has failed, and some Western...
Fico says he does not want to drag Slovakia into a war “because of some Article 5” of NATO
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico publicly expressed his reluctance to fulfill obligations under Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty on collective defense. He made the remarks on September 17, 2026, during a speech to students and hospital staff in Prešov. “Can you imagine, ladies and gentlemen, that Article 5...
EU countries approve first five major joint defence projects
Representatives of EU member states on Wednesday, 16 September, approved at the level of permanent representatives the first five European Defence Projects of Common Interest (EDPCI). Each of them is set to receive €60 million in funding from the European Defence Industry Programme (EDIP). Formal adoption of the list is...
Hungary and Slovakia became a convenient platform for Russian intelligence inside NATO
Hungary and Slovakia are of significant interest to the Kremlin because of their EU and NATO membership. The long tenure of political forces that built close ties with Moscow created favorable conditions for expanding Russian influence. Through loyal political elites, economic links, information platforms and agent networks, the Kremlin gained...
German military counterintelligence says sabotage and hybrid-attack threats have risen
Over the past year, the threat of sabotage and hybrid attacks in Germany has increased markedly. That assessment appears in the 2025 annual report of the Bundeswehr Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD). The service links a substantial share of suspicious sabotage cases to Russia with a high degree of probability, Der...
British commander in Estonia is ready to enter combat without delay in the event of an attack
The commander of the British contingent in Estonia, Brigadier Jamie Murray, said that if necessary, he would enter combat without delay. He made the remarks in an interview with Estonian public broadcaster ERR. Murray also serves as deputy commander of the Estonian Division. He has led the British contingent since...