EU-NATO cooperation on cyber security, defence capabilities and capacity building: changes and continuities between the 7th and 8th progress report

On June 16th 2023, NATO and the EU released their 8th progress report on the implementation of the common set of proposals endorsed by the respective Councils on December 6th 2016 and December 5th 2017. This info flash aims at identifying elements of change and continuity in bilateral cooperation dynamics compared to the 7th progress report published on June 20th 2022.On June 16th 2023, NATO and the EU released their 8th progress report on the implementation of the common set of proposals endorsed by the respective Councils on December 6th 2016 and December 5th 2017. This info flash aims at identifying elements of change and continuity in bilateral cooperation dynamics compared to the 7th progress report published on June 20th 2022.

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Urban Warfare

With the ongoing war in Ukraine, the focus on urban warfare has returned to prominence in military reviews and analysis. Russian forces have engaged in urban battles in Kyiv, Mariupol, Kherson, and other Ukrainian cities.

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Refusing a second Finlandization

Europe is again amidst a security crisis, the roots of which go far beyond the unsolved issues with post-Soviet Russia and NATO enlargement towards the East of Europe. The current invasion of Ukraine shows that two opposing international concepts are on the battleground. On the one side, there is a vision that officially supports the right of non-interference in a multipolar world whilst, in reality, abusing sovereign power, imposing it on other nations and dividing the world into areas of one-dominant country influence

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Turmoil in Kosovo

On 29 May 2023, Serb protesters clashed with troops of the NATO-led mission in Kosovo* (KFOR) after demonstrators attempted to force their way into a government building in Zvecan, located in the Serb-majority northern part of the territory (Bytyci, 2023a). The clashes resulted in approximately 30 KFOR peacekeepers suffering injuries (Bytyci, 2023a). Prior to the incident, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic ordered, on 26 May, an urgent movement of troops to the border with Kosovo after ethnic Serbs had clashed with local police in the country (Al Jazeera, 2023).

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Mandatory military conscription in Europe: addressing past or present threats?

This Info Flash aims to shed light on the case of Latvia, which passed a law in April 2023 calling for the mandatory reintroduction of military conscription after it was abolished in 2007. A perspective on the possible downfalls of such defence policy is analysed, while also contextualising the growing support for mandatory military service across the EU in the 21st century. A brief historical analysis also portrays the main reasons why it was abandoned by most European countries over the course of the last two decades and how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has generated a U-turn in defence policy in the Latvian case.

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