Written by Sophie Ritzenthaler | March 14 2024 Katalin Novak Earlier this year the president of Hungary, Katalin Novak, resigned after a scandal involving the pardon of a man implicated in assisting in covering up a sexual abuse case in a children’s home. Novak has been president since 2022 and in her largely ceremonial role... Continue Reading →
Written by Sophie Ritzenthaler | March 4, 2024 Residential building of Avdiivka after Russian shelling Throughout the last few weeks, villagers in Ukraine have listened in dread as the sounds of Russian bombs got closer. Nearly two weeks ago, Russian troops captured the southeastern city of Avdiivka with their sights set Westward. Since then, Ukrainians have... Continue Reading →
As of September 30th, an estimated 100,000 people have left Nagorno-Karabakh and entered into Armenia. This large exodus comes in the wake of Azerbaijan’s military offensive in the contested region. Local forces in Karabakh have since disarmed and disbanded. Ethnic Armenians in the region, fearing persecution from the Azeri government, fled almost immediately after violent conflict erupted on September 20th. The Armenian separatist government in the region will cease to exist after January 1st, 2024.
While some European countries are uniting against Russia, placing bans to make Russian transportation more difficult, others such as Belarus remain a staunch Russian ally.
On September 6, NATO member Romania reported that parts of a Russian drone fell within its territory. While Romanian officials said a drone crash was not a serious threat, President Klaus Iohannis said if drone parts were found it would be a “serious violation of Romania’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Finland, joined NATO on April 4, 2023, making it the 31st NATO member state. The country recently broke ground on a new Russian border fence to reduce illegal migration from Russia.
April 10, 2023 Written by Ash Breedlove Five weeks after a general election in Estonia, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas reports her party, the Reform Party, has secured a deal with two other parties to form a coalition. Estonia’s Reform Party won the parliamentary election in March with 31.2% of the vote. The coalition has been formed... Continue Reading →
Written by Ash Breedlove Since the war began in February last year, thousands of Ukrainian children have been abducted by Russian forces. This is just one of Russia’s tactics to control occupied territory. The relocation of these children is not a humanitarian effort to save innocents from a war zone. Russia is actively kidnapping children under the... Continue Reading →
Written by Ash Breedlove March 12, 2023 Digital voting has dominated Estonia’s most recent general election. The Baltic nation has used “i-voting” in order to increase the use of digital infrastructure. I-voting is made secure by an electronic identity system provided by e-Estonia. The security system involves user ID, a card reader, and PIN codes.... Continue Reading →
Written by Ash Breedlove February 11, 2023 Moldova’s prime minister, Natalia Gavrilita, unexpectedly resigned on February 10th. During her 18-month period as prime minister, Gavrilita contended with Moldova’s energy crisis and a struggling economy with rising rates of inflation. She often voiced her pro-Western views and support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The day before... Continue Reading →
The Patterson Journal of International Affairs 