Russia Spy Ships Gather Intelligence in the North Sea for Future Sabotages

On 19 April 2023, a joint investigation of Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish public broadcasters found that Russia has been using boats disguised as fishing and research ships to perform surveillance and gather intelligence in the North Sea.

Comments Off on Russia Spy Ships Gather Intelligence in the North Sea for Future Sabotages

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.

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

Greece Expands Fence along the Border with Turkey: What Does the Extension Project Include?

The extension of the fence to the Evros, according to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, is a project of utmost importance since it will contribute to further preserving the external borders of both Greece and the European Union in an effort to prevent migration flows, concentrating on strengthening military and police presence at the frontier and modernizing military hardware (ProtoThema, 2023).

Comments Off on Greece Expands Fence along the Border with Turkey: What Does the Extension Project Include?

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.

Comments Off on The Su-25 and the Russia-Belarus Military Cooperation

Radicalisation in the Armed Forces

The topic of radicalisation is strictly linked to terrorism since, usually, the former leads to the latter. However, they are not synonyms, and the processes behind each are very different and complex to analyse. The radicalisation topic dominated public opinion following the surge of terrorist attacks in Europe by ISIS militants starting in 2015. These events led national and local institutions to commission projects and programs to tackle radicalisation by raising awareness on the topic in civil society. This paper aims to investigate radicalisation in European militaries to create a European framework in which armed forces and civil society can join to fight radicalisation processes related to armies. To do so, this analysis will focus on radicalisation processes within the military and amongst individuals who have left the armed forces.

Comments Off on Radicalisation in the Armed Forces