Tanks For Ukraine: How the European Members of NATO Have Responded

This Info Flash outlines the critical security aid that has reached Kyiv from the European members of the NATO alliance. Ukraine has welcomed this aid from its European counterparts, but the nation’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, has continuously pressed European leaders to allow the transfer of their main battle tanks (MBTs) to help push back Russian forces. This request has ignited debates among policymakers and analysts about whether MBTs would make a difference for Ukraine on the battlefield and whether states should grant Zelensky’s request for tanks. As a result, the policies of European NATO members regarding MBT transfers have been mixed since February 2022. Some European NATO members quickly supplied Ukraine with MBTs, while others have only recently given the green light to transfer MBT units.

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The Su-25 and the Russia-Belarus Military Cooperation

This Info Flash outlines the necessity to take a closer look at Russian-Belarusian military cooperation. While increased military cooperation between Russia and Belarus can be expected in an ongoing war, this depends on many more factors, and it is rather difficult to estimate its exact form. For the European Union, however, this cooperation poses a significant risk, and even though the involvement of the Belarusian army in the war seems unlikely, many factors at play can change this. The previously reached factors and many more factors are further discussed in this work, with the main research questions focusing on how close is the Belarus-Russian military cooperation and why it poses a threat to the European Union.

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The Remilitarization of the Black Sea

This Info Flash outlines that recent Russian attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure have highlighted the devastation of twenty-first-century warfare and the resulting vulnerability to civilian life. The hybrid threat is a major component of modern warfare, and Russia is a particularly aggressive perpetrator. The return of war to Europe has created conditions that necessitate an increased NATO focus on this dynamic: it highlighted the importance of the region in energy security terms and shed light on the need for an increased transatlantic effort including military security, economic rehabilitation and regional security (Dupuy, 2022). Thus, the Black Sea Region needs NATO as a steadying influence and NATO needs to address the Alliance’s interests in the region (Horrell, 2016).

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Small but Ready: How Finland Has Prepared to Defend Itself

The Nordic nation of Finland is expected to join NATO in the coming months. Despite its size, it will be an asset, not a liability. Finland faces many national security concerns, primarily originating from Russia. However, Finland has gradually developed an impressive military well-equipped to defend the country. Significant procurements in the air force, army, and navy will reinforce Helsinki's vital role in the Baltic and even Arctic theatres. Furthermore, the Finnish comprehensive security model connects state and non-state entities in the interest of national security, leading to greater resilience and preparedness in Finnish society. This model results in a unique hybrid resilience, which is critical considering Russia's propensity for hybrid warfare.

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A New Era of Japan-EU Cooperation: the Digital Partnership

This Info Flash outlines the development of the EU-Japan cooperation that saw several improvements over the last few years in politics, development, strategy, and security. Their bilateral agenda has been constantly dominated by digital and technological issues in order to improve the degree of global connectivity. Despite the many challenges raised by the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russo-Ukrainian War, the digital partnership between the EU and Japan has broadened from public services and digital infrastructures to technological skills for citizens and innovation businesses.

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