A collection of 86 posts
Slovenia will increase its defence budget to reach 2% of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, a significant increase from the current 1.35%, Slovenian Defence Minister Marjan Sarec announced at the SOBRA international fair in Gornja Radgona, north Slovenia, on Thursday. In 2023 the defence budget of Slovenia,
Slovenia and Austria were the worst hit countries by the severe floods that swept over Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) over the weekend. As thousands evacuated their homes and four died in Slovenia, the country asked for help from the EU and NATO. In Austria, one person died after falling
The leaders of Ukraine and Lithuania were left frustrated at the alliance’s summit in Vilnius on July 11-12, despite NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s assertion that “there has never been stronger language for membership in NATO”. Although a communiqué issued after the two-day event proclaimed that “Ukraine’s
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda held a joint press conference on Monday, 10 July, the day before the start of the NATO meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, with 48 delegations of some 2,400 people, including 40 heads of state and 150 leading officials, due to
Polish President Andrzej Duda outlined five key areas for action for NATO on Tuesday, after international consultations in The Hague, The Netherlands, ahead of the upcoming summit of the alliance in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 11-12 July. To help prepare for next week’s summit, Duda met NATO Secretary General Jens
Incoming Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu stressed the importance of the EU and NATO, on Thursday, 15 June, in his first speech since becoming premier. Romania’s new government has been officially confirmed by the parliament, and it includes former EU permanent representative Luminita Odobescu as foreign minister. After being
Bulgaria’s conservatives and liberals were practically neck and neck with votes still being counted after the country’s fifth election in two years on Sunday, 2 April. Early projections put former premier Boyko Borisov’s conservative GERB party at 24-26%, slightly ahead of the liberal We Continue The Change
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged the Western world to send more help when he opened the Munich Security Conference (MSC) from Kyiv on Friday. “We need speed,” Zelenskyy said. The MSC is the primary global platform for the exchange of ideas on security policy, assembling hundreds of heads-of-state, ministers, influential
Moldova shut down its airspace for three hours on Tuesday, 14 February, one day after the country’s head of state accused Russia of plotting to overthrow its government. An unidentified balloon is thought to have caused the disruption. The move to close the airspace was seen as a precautionary
Geopolitics is leaving its mark on the arms race in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Countries are drifting further away from the concept of a united European armed force amid shifting geopolitical realities, mistrust and the revival of long-standing historical alliances. The rearmament of Europe lurched back onto the global
The death of two men at the hands of a missile on farmland in the Polish village of Przewodow sparked fears that the Ukraine war could spill over into neighbouring states this week. The two men were reportedly employed at a grain-drying facility in the village near Poland’s border
Poland will sign executive agreements with The Republic of Korea on Friday to equip the Polish Army with its first shipments of K2 Black Panther battle tanks and K9 self-propelled gun-howitzers, Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Mariusz Blaszczak announced in an interview on Thursday. “The contracts for
NATO has around 30 surveillance and fighter jets in airspace outside of Ukraine and Belarus at any moment according the defence alliance, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. NATO also released an infographic outlining the allied aircraft able to be deployed in airspace in Central and Eastern Europe
NATO will increase its number of forces in the Baltic sea if Sweden applies to join the defence alliance, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Thursday afternoon. The NATO chief told Swedish SVT News that although NATO does not intend to enter the conflict between Russia and Ukraine – and therefore
NATO leaders will formulate plans to bolster its eastern flank across Central and Eastern Europe at a summit in Madrid in June, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg announced. Calling Russia’s invasion of Ukraine the “biggest security crisis in a generation”, Stoltenberg said “regardless of when, how, the war in Ukraine ends