Tag: Latvia

The Kremlin’s body of bad behavior – from election meddling to the annexation of Crimea to military involvement in Ukraine – has been widely covered in the media and, for many, news of Russia attempting to suborn Western institutions may begin to sound like background noise. But there is a systematic, often under-the-radar, attack on the rule of law and institutions underway and it is
no less alarming than the headlines. In the two chapters of this report, our esteemed authors demonstrate the attacks aimed at free societies, all intended to suborn Western
structures to the benefit of the Kremlin.

Mykola Gerasimyuk, former first deputy prosecutor-general of Ukraine, negotiated bribes for dropping charges against associates of Viktor Yanukovych.

Hitler-Stalin Pact Still Casts a Shadow Over Europe 77 Years On 2016-08-25 04:25:54 Staunton, VA, August 23, 2016 – Seventy-seven years ago, Hitler and Stalin reached the agreement on the division of Eastern Europe into spheres of influence, an agreement known as the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and one that continues to divide Russia from the rest of Europe […]

The Daily Vertical is an RFE/RL video primer for Russia-watchers that appears Monday through Friday. Viewers can suggest topics via Twitter @PowerVertical or on the Power Vertical Facebook page.

Staunton, October 19 – One of the most memorable passages of Solzhenitsyn’s “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” is when one GULAG inmate explains to another that Moscow has decided what time it is — regardless of where the sun is located in the sky — prompting the latter to speculate that the […]

Staunton, July 1 – A call by some Duma members for the Russian government to review and declare illegal the Soviet government’s recognition of Baltic independence in September 1991 has attracted widespread attention and concern as an indication of Moscow’s intentions but ultimately ridiculed as otherwise meaningless grandstanding. But there are other straws in the […]

Staunton, June 14 – Seventy-five years ago today, the Soviet Union began to occupy Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, act the West never recognized as legitimate but that lasted until 1991. Despite the distance in time from those events, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite says that the Baltic peoples must remain vigilant with regard to the Russian […]

Staunton, May 21 — Vaira Vike-Freiberga, the former president of Latvia, points to an inconvenient truth that few want to recognize: no frozen conflicts in the former Soviet space will be resolved as long as Russia retains its veto in the UN Security Council and thus is in a position to block moves toward a […]

Latvia has spotted Russian warships and a submarine off its coast. Welcome to our column, Russia Update, where we will be closely following day-to-day developments in Russia, including the Russian government’s foreign and domestic policies. The previous issue is here. UPDATES BELOW Russia This Week: – What Happened to the Slow-Moving Coup? – Can We […]

Staunton, April 20 — Gas pipeline issues have attracted far more attention, but a plan for a unified energy network among European Union members appears likely to have serious consequences for Kaliningrad, the non-contiguous Russian exclave that is bordered by Poland and Lithuania, both of whom are EU members, according to Nezavisimaya Gazeta. In a […]