International Centre for Defence and Security

Although Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has given new momentum to the European Union’s enlargement process, further progress is being hindered by unresolved bilateral disputes.

The information war is not a future threat—it is the defining battlefield of the present.

The Red Sea has become more important to Russia since 2022, as several Russian trade and sanctions evasion routes run through it.

This week, media reports revealed ongoing, behind-the-scenes contacts between Russian and US representatives, who are allegedly close to agreeing on a 28-point “peace plan for Ukraine.” Although members of the Trump Administration describe it merely as “a list of potential ideas,” it effectively functions as a tool designed to coerce Ukraine into capitulation.

Next year, Estonia will be acting as chair of the Nordic-Baltic cooperation, known as the NB8 group. It will come at a time when the turbulent security environment has pushed countries in the region to cooperate more closely than ever.

In February 2022, Beijing launched Eastern Data Western Compute (EDWC), a national megaproject to compute data from China’s developed eastern areas in its rural western regions, which enjoy a regional advantage due to plentiful renewable energy and lower average temperatures.