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Bruce K. Anderson

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Bruce K. Anderson

Tag Archives: Sweden

Commentary: Can Ukraine Shed Its Soviet Skin?

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by Bruce K. Anderson in European News, Foreign Policy, Ukraine

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Eastern Partnership, European Union, Orange Revolution, Poland, Post-Soviet states, Russia, Soviet Union, Sweden, Ukraine

The European Union and Ukraine

The European Union and Ukraine (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Adam Reichardt, The National Interest, Sept. 26, 2013

It is hard to believe that the election and events that set into motion Ukraine’s Orange Revolution took place nearly nine years ago. The scenes of young Ukrainians camping out on Kiev’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square), demanding that their voice be heard and the will of the people not be ignored, was a moment which many believed was not only an awakening for Ukraine, but also a significant change in the whole of the former Soviet Union. One of the largest of the former Soviet states (excluding Russia) had finally begun to make its first strides towards Europe.

The energy and hope that arose out of the Orange Revolution was one of the main drivers behind a movement to bring a final end to the already tattered Iron Curtain. This initiative, which was launched in 2009 under the leadership of Sweden and Poland, became known as the Eastern Partnership (EaP). The goal was to create conditions that would enable greater political association and further economic integration between the European Union and the partnership countries. The belief then was that this project would speed up democratic, economic, institutional and civil-society reforms to bring these states closer to Europe. Membership in the Eastern Partnership was opened to the remaining “European” states that were once members of the Soviet Union—Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The 2008 war between Russia and Georgia further emphasized the need to create a stronger engagement with these countries, especially if they have aspirations to join the European community…

…The biggest Elephant in the East remains Ukraine, the largest of these countries. For both Europe and Russia, Ukraine is still considered to be the big prize. With a population of over forty-five million people (more than its western neighbor Poland) Ukraine’s potential as a consumer society is quite large. Opening up European markets to Ukraine and vice versa could be potentially a game-changer in the Eastern European region. A large section of Ukraine’s population is Russian-speaking, which can be advantageous to European companies who want to eventually do more business in Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union… (more)

Related articles
  • Yanukovych Sure on EU Pact as Ukraine Braces for Russia Backlash – Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
  • Ukraine’s EU trade deal will be catastrophic, says Russia (theguardian.com)
  • Russia warns Ukraine against EU deal (news.yahoo.com)
  • Russia or EU? Former Soviet republics face hard decisions (indrus.in)
  • Russia Opposes Free-Trade Deal Between the EU and Ukraine (americanlivewire.com)
  • Russia threatens Ukraine with bankruptcy over plans to sign EU agreement (telegraph.co.uk)
  • Ukraine and EU ridicule Russian threats (euobserver.com)
  • The Kremlin’s Collapsing Eurasian Sandcastle (nationalinterest.org)
  • Roubini Urges Ukraine to Sign EU Accord Over Russian Deal (bloomberg.com)
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How the Nordic Countries Are Quietly Leading the Alliance into the Future

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by Bruce K. Anderson in Foreign Policy, Military and Defense

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Denmark, Finland, NATO, Nordic countries, Norway, Sweden

Nordiska passunionen: Norge, Sverige, Finland,...

The Nordic Passport Union: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Magnus Nordenman, New Atlanticist, April 08, 2013Amidst massive defense cuts and perennial squabbling over burden sharing across NATO, the Nordic countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark have quietly assumed a real leadership role in the transatlantic security relationship. They are making valuable contributions to the Alliance in personnel, strategic vision, operations, and policy. More importantly, they provide a model for how NATO can remain an effective security provider in a future of constrained resources… (more)

Related articles
  • A Nordic defensive shield (brucekanderson.com)
  • Coalition casualties in Afghanistan
  • Denmark in NATO
  • Fact Sheet: The United States and Denmark – NATO Allies and Global Partners
  • Danish support to coalition operations
  • Norway in NATO
  • Norwegian support to coalition operations
  • NATO’s relations with Finland
  • Finnish support to coalition operations
  • NATO’s relations with Sweden
  • NATO and Sweden: strong partners in support of the United Nations
  • Swedish support to coalition operations

A Nordic defensive shield

14 Thursday Mar 2013

Posted by Bruce K. Anderson in Baltics, European News, Foreign Policy, Military and Defense

≈ 34 Comments

Tags

Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, NATO, Russia, Sweden

English: Map of the geographic situation of No...

Map of the geographic situation of Nord Baltic Eight countries. Nordic countries (Demark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) are painted in blue and Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) are painted in green. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

By Edward Lucas, European Voice, March 14, 2103

Look at a map and the case for closer co-operation between NATO and its non-member neighbours Finland and Sweden seems obvious. Like the alliance’s most vulnerable members, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, they have problems with Russia. By virtue of their membership of the European Union, both Finland and Sweden are committed to collective defence of a kind. Close co-operation with NATO simply makes it more effective. The shibboleths about non-alignment and neutrality look anachronistic… (more)

Related articles
  • Finland becomes Estonia’s biggest export and import partner (shaan.typepad.com)
  • Large NATO Exercise to Take Place in Baltics in Fall (brucekanderson.com)

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