Institute of Central Europe/IES Commentaries

IES Commentaries

Baltic Team

Komentarze IEŚ 753
Michał Paszkowski - Baltic Team

Kazakhstan: questionable source of crude oil supply for Central European refineries

The entry into force on December 5, 2022 of European Union sanctions against Russia, which prevent the import of crude oil from that country by sea, has forced refiners in Europe, including those in Central Europe, to seek alternative grades, including from Kazakhstan. On one hand refineries in Germany are counting on crude oil supplies from that country, but the direction of...

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Eastern Team

IEŚ Commentaries 731
Jakub Olchowski - Eastern Team

The Black Sea grain game

The agreement enabling the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports contributes to reducing the food deficit. This issue is also an element of the political game around the growing importance of the Black Sea, in which the beneficiaries are all parties, i.e. Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN. The international position of Turkey, which plays an increasingly important role...

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Visegrad Team

IEŚ Commentaries 717
Łukasz Lewkowicz - Visegrad Team

Slovakia: an unstable public support for Ukraine and the West

Survey research from July 2022. “How are you Slovakia?”, conducted by researchers from the research agencies MNFORCE, Seesame and the Slovak Academy of Sciences, shows that the majority of Slovaks support a victory for Russia rather than Ukraine in the current Russian-Ukrainian conflict. At the same time, an earlier survey, conducted by the think tank Globsec, shows...

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Baltic Team

IEŚ Commentaries 711
Aleksandra Kuczyńska-Zonik - Baltic Team

The Orthodox Churches of the Moscow Patriarchate in the Baltic States’ attitude towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine

On May 18, 2022, the Lithuanian Prime Minister asked the Patriarch of Constantinople to separate the Lithuanian Orthodox Church from the Moscow Patriarchate. Then, on September 8, the Latvian Saeima adopted a law on the independence of the Latvian Orthodox Church. Moreover, on October 12, the head of the Estonian Orthodox Church was ordered by the Estonian government to condemn...

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Baltic Team

IEŚ Commentaries 712
Marlena Gołębiowska - Baltic Team

Lithuanian solidarity with Ukraine

Lithuania has remained one of the leading countries in terms of support for Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion. It is measurable, counted in hundreds of millions of euros, military, humanitarian, and financial aid given to a war-torn state and the refugees fleeing from it. There is also a Lithuanian voice in the international arena against the aggressor, expressed...

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Eastern Team

IEŚ Commentaries 705
Piotr Oleksy - Eastern Team

Chisinau’s Transnistrian Dilemma

The Moldovan authorities face a dilemma regarding their policy towards the separatist region on the left bank of the Dniester River. The new circumstances on the international scene resulting from Russian aggression against Ukraine mean that there is an increased possibility to exert pressure on the authorities of the separatist republic. A prompt resolution of the problem would...

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Eastern Team

IEŚ Commentaries 704
Jakub Olchowski - Eastern Team

Credibility of international organizations in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (part 2)

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has contributed not only to the accelerated erosion of the international order but also to a decline in trust of international organizations. The limited effectiveness of key inter-state organizations, the controversial activities of some important non-governmental organizations, and Russia’s consistent disregard for international law may...

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Eastern Team

IEŚ Commentaries 700

Raport: IEŚ Commentaries 700 (212/2022)

Jakub Olchowski - Eastern Team

Credibility of international organizations in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (part 1)

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has contributed not only to the accelerated erosion of the international order but also to a decline in trust in international organizations. The limited effectiveness of key inter-state organizations, the controversial activities of some important non-governmental organizations, and Russia’s consistent disregard for international...

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Baltic Team

IEŚ Commentaries 653
Marlena Gołębiowska - Baltic Team

Unicorns at the Baltic Sea: Estonia is the forge of start-ups

Estonia is harvesting the crops were sowed over a quarter of a century ago as the Tiger Leap (est. Tiigrihüpe). It was an initiative aimed to expand infrastructure and develop citizens' skills in the field of digitization, with a focus on the education of the youngest. The generation of Estonians educated in such an environment is already on the labour market and are successfully...

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Eastern Team

IEŚ Commentaries 646
Jakub Olchowski - Eastern Team

Russian propaganda attacks Polish-Ukrainian relations

In recent weeks, Russia has been conducting an intensive propaganda and disinformation campaign aimed at deteriorating relations between Poland and Ukraine. Warsaw is accused of, inter alia, striving to seize and subjugate the western part of Ukraine in the name of the idea of the “great Republic”. Poland is also presented as an irresponsible and Russophobic state, striving to...

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