March, 2023

• 5 March

  Moldova’s New Government Expects Fresh Pressure From Moscow – OpEd

  

  Moldova’s new government faces renewed hybrid threats from Russia, with experts fearing a sophisticated disinformation campaign will be enacted to force another change of power. The previous administration, headed by Natalia Gavrilița and inaugurated in August 2021, resigned on February 10. It had faced multiple crises including the war in …

  Read More »
• 4 March

  Kosovo Media, and Regulators, Failing on Privacy Protection

  Media in Kosovo often publish the personal data of individuals in a race for clicks that ignores standards on ethics.When Indeksonline, an online media outlet in Kosovo, reported in January that a participant in a local reality TV show was HIV positive, dozens of other media ran with the story. …

  Read More »
• 4 March

  DEMOCRACY DIGEST: POLAND’S MOMENT; SLOVAKIA’S SHAME

  

  Poland cements its status as key NATO state with Biden visit; as Slovakia commemorates the anniversary of the contract killing of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee, a new trial date for the alleged masterminds is set. All eyes on Poland this week as US President Joe Biden visited first …

  Read More »
• 4 March

  Russian Rumour-Mongering Causes Fear of War in Transnistria

  

  Russian television stations and Moscow’s local mouthpieces have been promoting unsubstantiated theories about an imminent attack on Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria from neighbouring Ukraine. Fears have grown in recent days in Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria about a possible military attack, after pro-Russian television stations, the dominant media force …

  Read More »
• 4 March

  Albania Must up its Game to Meet Growing Cybersecurity Challenges

  

  Albanians face the dual challenge of safeguarding themselves from foreign cyber-attacks – while worrying about the potential misuse of their personal data by their own government and political parties.As local elections approach in Albania, the debate surrounding the use of IT tools by political parties for collecting and utilizing citizens’ …

  Read More »
• 4 March

  Visegrad Group: No Rekindling the Romance

  

  The once-vaunted unity of the V4 has been shattered by the war in Ukraine and Poland and Hungary’s diametrically opposed views on it. 2023 holds out little hope of a rapprochement. Central Europe’s regional grouping of Czechia, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia was formed originally to coordinate positions before EU accession, …

  Read More »
• 4 March

  Poverty In the Region: One Direction

  

  The war in Ukraine has stoked inflation and increased the number of people at risk of poverty and social exclusion throughout Europe. With food and energy prices remaining high in 2023, experts expect more people to fall below the poverty line. At the end of 2021, 95.4 million people in …

  Read More »
• 4 March

  At the Brink of War in the Pacific? The Nightmare of Great Power Rivalry Over Taiwan

  

  While the world has been distracted, even amused, by the diplomatic tussle around China’s recent high-altitude balloon flights across North America, there are signs that Beijing and Washington are preparing for something so much more serious: armed conflict over Taiwan. Reviewing recent developments in the Asia-Pacific region raises a tried-and-true …

  Read More »
• 4 March

  Why Biden Snubbed China’s Ukraine Peace Plan

  

  There’s something irrational about President Biden’s knee-jerk dismissal of China’s 12-point peace proposal titled “China’s Position on the Political Settlement of the Ukraine Crisis.” “Not rational” is how Biden described the plan that calls for de-escalation toward a ceasefire, respect for national sovereignty, establishment of humanitarian corridors and resumption of …

  Read More »
• 4 March

  Trapped in Putin’s Embrace: Erdogan’s Russian Dilemma

  

  The catastrophic earthquake that hit Turkey earlier this month has put mounting pressure on embattled Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of key presidential and parliamentary elections due to be held on May 14. It has also served to spotlight Erdogan’s problematically close ties with Moscow. As Erdogan is one …

  Read More »