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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has pushed European countries to make historic foreign and defense policy moves, and it appears that the political will for a common European approach on this front, elusive for decades, is forming. For the first time the EU is financing the purchase and delivery of weapons to Ukraine, a country at war, while Germany reversed its historic policy against sending arms...

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Russia is actively seeking to influence religious and traditional views to further its own agenda, pushing a narrative that Moscow stands for traditional values against a decadent West in an effort to foster division within Western societies. This is a particularly pernicious front of Russia’s malign influence campaigns, and combating it presents a uniquely difficult challenge for the United...

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Turkey designated the Russian invasion as a “war” over the weekend, giving it the right under the 1936 Montreux Convention to close the Bosporus Strait - a move that’s been seen as supportive of Ukraine. Aside from this move, however, Turkey has been reluctant to join its NATO allies in taking punitive measures against Moscow such as imposing sanctions or shutting its airspace to Russian...

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Energy has taken on a central role in the crisis unfolding in Europe following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as Europe imports 40 percent of its natural gas from Russia. Despite this reliance on Russia and sky high energy prices, EU leaders have agreed on tough sanctions against Russia, and Germany even canceled the Nord Stream 2 Pipeline that would carry Russian gas to Germany. The war in...

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Over the weekend Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu announced that Ankara would implement the Montreux Convention, an agreement that allows Turkey to regulate the transit of warships through the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits during times of war. The decision comes after Turkey called Russia's invasion a "war", and means Turkey could block at least some Russian warships from accessing...

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More than half a million people have fled their homes to escape the war in Ukraine as heavy fighting continues across the country and as major cities remain under attack. On Sunday, EU migration commissioner Ylva Johansson said hundreds of thousands of refugees had already entered the EU, and the bloc needed to prepare for millions. In response, the EU has activated Temporary Protection for the...

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Russian forces on Friday closed in on Kyiv, and the city was hit by missile strikes. More than 100,000 people are estimated to have fled their homes, with many fleeing for the border. The US, UK and EU have all imposed sanctions on Moscow, but stopped short of removing Russia from the international banking system, Swift. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged the West to do more to...

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Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine early on Thursday, sending troops across the border from several directions and bombing targets across the country. President Biden announced new sanctions on Russia's military and economy in response to its invasion, while the EU announced it would introduce the ‘harshest’ sanctions ever. Kathimerini's Vassilis Nedos and Yiannis Palaiologos join...

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The international community is working to avert an oil spill in the Red Sea that risks becoming the worst natural disaster ever seen in the broader region, threatens global shipping, and could trigger a new wave of migration. An oil tanker off the coast of Yemen, has been deteriorating by the month since it was abandoned in 2017. A spill would be four times bigger than the historic Exxon Valdez...

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Is it time for the US to start treating the Eastern Mediterranean and Aegean as bigger than a Greco-Turkish dispute? Endy Zemenides, the Executive Director of the Hellenic American Leadership Council, argues in his latest piece for Kathimerini - “Dangerous Double Standards” - that continuing to get this wrong, and continuing to give Turkey a free pass when it comes to invasion, occupation and...

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High energy prices are driving decades-high inflation numbers across Europe and the world, adding additional financial stress on governments, businesses and households. In Greece, inflation is at a 25-year high and price increases for many basic food items are in double digits. Greece’s government has taken steps to help households deal with rising costs, introducing subsidies, tax cuts and...

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The US government’s non-paper on the EastMed Gas Pipeline is back in the headlines after Representatives Bilirakis and Malliotakis sent a letter to the State Department in which they pushed back against the Biden administration’s shift in policy on the EastMed Gas Pipeline. The two members of Congress said that in canceling the project the State Department “has unilaterally taken [energy]...

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Turkey has been escalating its rhetoric against Greece, openly disputing Greek sovereignty of its east Aegean islands. In fact, this week Erdogan threatened that Turkey is prepared to issue “a warning at the highest level” to Greece if Athens doesn’t change its position with regards to the demilitarization of the Aegean islands. Greece’s foreign ministry officially protested these comments and...

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog is set to visit Ankara in mid-March, which would make him the first Israeli president to visit Turkey since 2007. This trip comes as Turkish President Erdogan attempts to mend relations with countries in the region - such as Israel, Egypt, and the UAE - in order to end Ankara’s diplomatic isolation and give a much needed boost to the Turkish economy. Israel,...

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Ukraine has lately been the scene of an unfolding political and military thriller that could potentially upset the existing balance in the region and have long-term consequences for Europe’s security architecture. The crisis has put Turkey and Russia’s relationship into the spotlight, especially as Turkey’s President Erdogan tries to balance Ankara’s close ties with Moscow and the West. This...

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In recent years US-Greece relations have reached new heights, with officials on both sides describing them as the best ever in decades. As Greece and the US grow closer, their cooperation is directly affecting Russia. Greece is hosting more American troops and deepening its economic ties with the US, ultimately frustrating Russia. This heightened US presence is also making Greece an indirect...

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Earlier this month President Biden proclaimed that the leader of the Islamic State was killed in a Syrian hideout. The raid, which took place a few kilometers from the border with Turkey, did not include Turkish forces. In fact, President Biden praised the Syrian Democratic Forces, with Kurdish fighters at its core, for their contributions in the raid. Turkey’s exclusion from the raid, and the...

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The Ecumenical Patriarch and the Greek state both sent complaints to Turkey in the wake of footage showing a DJ playing electronic music at the historic UNESCO-listed Monastery of Panagia Sumela. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew described the incident as an insult, and said that holding the event was “incompatible” with the monastery’s “religious character and its history.” Greece added that...

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In letters sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last July and September, Turkey for the first time disputed Greece’s sovereignty over its east Aegean islands. Over the years, Turkey has attempted to establish the Aegean as a disputed area, and has brought new issues to the table such as so-called gray zones and disputing Greece’s maritime boundaries and airspace. Experts note that with...

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Sunday’s Kathimerini featured an in-depth report on the challenges Turkey’s unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) pose to Greece’s security, and explored the ways in which Athens is working - both diplomatically and operationally - to counter their intrusions in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean. Meanwhile, as Athens looks to deal with the challenges posed by Turkey’s UAVs, it also has its...

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