
The EU should abandon the concept of a single set of standards and instruments for all of its neighbors. It is time for a revolution in the European Neighborhood Policy.

The terrorist attack that shook Grozny during the night of December 4 has put in question the authorities’ ability to control the situation in the North Caucasus, even in the seemingly stable Chechen Republic.

Twenty years after the outbreak of the First Chechen War, Moscow is still struggling to integrate the Chechen Republic into the Russian Federation.

Russia continues to subvert its neighbors in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus, while the EU lacks any strategy to check this advance. The EU needs to step up its response.

Calling time on the South Stream pipeline project, Putin announced a new Black Sea pipeline to Turkey instead. The new project could be a competitor to Azerbaijan gas ambitions, but, at the same time, it may require more collaboration in the future.

As Russia and the West enter a period of prolonged mutual resentment and distrust, the post-Soviet space remains the most volatile issue in their relationship.

The shooting down of an Armenian helicopter on the ceasefire line of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone is the worst incident of its kind in over 20 years.

The unity of the Georgian Dream coalition has ended and the next election has already begun, only two years after the previous one. A break-up of this big coalition was inevitable; the only surprise is that it has happened so soon.
The North Caucasus may be out of the headlines, but it remains the most turbulent part of the Russian Federation.

The situation in Russia’s Muslim community is generally stable. However, the economic crisis creates fertile soil for the growth of Islamic radicalism, for which the country should be prepared.