Operation Spiderweb: under Russia’s nose

On 1 June 2025, Ukraine launched Operation Spiderweb, the most effective drone attack against Russian airfields since the start of the war. A total of 117 drones were used to strike airbases across five regions – Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur regions –, with the aim of inflicting maximum damage on Russian aircraft far away from the frontier (Al Jazeera, 2025; Horowitz, 2025). Reports suggest that 41 aircrafts – including A-50, Tu-95, Tu-22 M3 and Tu-160 – have been hit in the operation along with a third of Russian bombers that are currently used as cruise-missile carriers (Horowitz, 2025; Security Service of Ukraine, 2025; Zoria, 2025).

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The Acceleration of Command and Control Through Artificial Intelligence and its Implications for European Land Forces

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an ever more important part of command and control (C2) and the decision-making connected to it. AI systems are crucial in supporting commanders in their decision-making, allowing them to act on data and the information it carries faster and more efficiently than ever before. These systems are complex, their results are often difficult to understand or verify, and they struggle with ethical considerations. To offset these disadvantages, humans need not concur with every decision AI makes, but they should retain control and be able to intervene and stop certain decisions as they see fit. Given the faster speed that AI gives C2 activities, continuing to exercise this control will prove challenging for commanders and their staff.

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NORDEFCO – A Blueprint for Regional Defence Cooperation?

This paper examines the Nordic Defence Cooperation (NORDEFCO) as a case study in pragmatic, regional defence collaboration. Despite being founded by states with divergent political alignments and defence doctrines, NORDEFCO has evolved into a flexible and low-threshold framework that promotes operational efficiency, logistical coordination, and strategic interoperability among its members. By tracing NORDEFCO’s institutional structure and historical development, the study assesses the model’s successes and limitations. While NORDEFCO’s achievements, such as multinational exercises, intelligence sharing, and education programmes, demonstrate the value of voluntary, sovereignty-conscious cooperation, its replicability is constrained by the unique geopolitical and cultural cohesion of the Nordic region. The paper further aims to provide an outlook into NORDEFCO’s possible avenues of expansion and prospective transformation following the NATO membership accession of all its members. The study concludes that NORDEFCO-NATO coalescence is crucial to overcome the agreement’s limitations to achieve real Nordic defence integration, arguing that NORDEFCO is likely to retain its relevance under NATO command thanks to its region-specific capability enhancement projects.

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A New Chapter in EU-UK Relations? Insights from the 2025 EU-UK Summit

The EU-UK summit, held on May 19th at Lancaster House in London, marked a decisive moment in post-Brexit European politics. As the first formal summit since the UK’s departure from the European Union, the meeting brought together key EU officials, namely European Council President António Costa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and High Representative Kaja Kallas, alongside UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Tocci, 2025). Amidst a backdrop of global geopolitical turmoil, the summit symbolised a renewed commitment to security and defence cooperation.

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Climate threats as justifying derogations under Article 15 ECHR?

This paper examines whether Article 15 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) can serve as a legal foundation for addressing security threats arising from climate change. Through doctrinal analysis and case-based comparisons, it explores how climate-driven crises may justify rights derogations under Article 15. The findings show that while such an approach aligns with the EU’s Joint Communication on the climate-security nexus, it risks reinforcing coercive, state-centric responses. The paper concludes that a shift towards a human security framework offers a more ethical and effective path, emphasising individual protection and structural climate justice over militarised solutions.

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