Bulgaria has scrapped two of its three Russian-backed energy projects. Plans to build the 2,000MW Belene nuclear power plant on the Danube River were cancelled last week, and the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline was dropped in December. Usually saying ‘no’ to Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin carries a heavy price. READ MORE

On 20 and 21 May 2012, Chicago will host the NATO Summit. During the Summit, more than 50 Heads of State and Government will come together to deliver on decisions taken at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010, driving forward key Alliance policies and reaffirming the transatlantic link. READ MORE

What is going on in Central Europe? After Viktor Orban’s consolidation of power in Hungary, another political strongman has returned to the helm, this time in Slovakia. Former Prime Minister Robert Fico has once again assumed the leadership of Slovakia following his Smer-Social Democracy (SMER-SD) party’s landslide victory in last month’s elections. Like Orban in Hungary, Fico will preside over the first single-party cabinet in Slovakia since the collapse of communism in 1989. His coalition government between 2006 and 2010 had been accused of abuses of power and a lack of respect toward the opposition, media, and NGOs. And, much like his Hungarian counterpart, Fico could yet use his political mandate to attempt to reinterpret Slovakia’s history, change key laws, or battle with the European Union on nationalistic grounds. READ MORE

08:58, 28 March 2012 – the claxon shrieks at Tampere Air Base in Finland. Four minutes later, two F-18 Hornet fighter jets from the Finnish Air Force take off. Their mission – to intercept an aircraft that is not complying with international air traffic regulations. Since the attacks of 11 September 2001, the surveillance of European airspace is a sensitive topic for the Alliance member States and their partners. READ MORE