Europe & Central Asia

This week on Hold Your Fire!, Richard speaks with Crisis Group’s Türkiye director Nigar Göksel about Türkye’s policy in its neighbourhood as Ankara seeks to defend its interests in a region caught up and reshaped by recent wars. 

High-ranking officials from around the world will soon convene in Switzerland for talks aimed at “inspiring a future peace process” in Ukraine. No Russian representative will be there. In this Q&A, Crisis Group lays out the summit organisers’ goals and the obstacles to achieving them. 

In this episode of Ripple Effect, Michael and Steve are joined by Crisis Group trustee Gérard Araud, a former senior  French diplomat, to talk about Europe’s views on the U.S. election and how political volatility in the U.S. might affect transatlantic relations.

This week on War & Peace, Olga and Elissa are joined by Crisis Group expert Marta Mucznik and senior policy fellow at ECFR Susi Dennison to talk about the upcoming European Union parliamentary elections, prospects for far-right gains, and the implications for European foreign policy.

The gruelling war in Ukraine continues, with Russian forces creeping forward amid fierce fighting. To stop Russia’s immediate momentum and withstand its assault, Kyiv and its backers will need to move quickly to fix problems that have hindered the Ukrainian effort to date.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the verge of falling apart as Republika Srpska, the smaller of its two ethnically divided parts, threatens to break away. In this excerpt from the Watch List 2024 – Spring Update, Crisis Group urges the EU to help stop the fragmentation.

This week on War & Peace, Olga and Elissa are joined by Crisis Group experts Oleg Ignatov and Marta Mucznik to talk about the calls for Russian help from Moldova’s breakaway Transnistria region and autonomous Gagauzia and Moldova’s own worries about Russia as it seeks EU membership.

Tensions are rising in Kosovo’s restive Serb-majority north, as Pristina enforces its writ against the backdrop of continuing disputes with Belgrade. The parties and outside supporters should first work on defusing the short-term risk of violence and then look for ways to foster lasting stability.

This week on Hold Your Fire, Richard is joined by Crisis Group experts Jerome Drevon, Ibraheem Bahiss and Olga Oliker to discuss the ISIS-claimed attack on a music venue in a Moscow suburb, the global threat ISIS and its affiliates pose and what the strike might mean for Russia and the war in Ukraine.