In Geopolitics Today: Wednesday, September 7th
The Baltic States to Limit Entry for Russian and Belarusian Citizens, Albania Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Iran, and other stories.
The Baltic States to Limit Entry for Russian and Belarusian Citizens
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have reached an agreement on restricting the entry of Russian and Belarusian visitors with Schengen visas issued by other EU member states. Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs made the announcement following talks between the three governments on imposing border crossing restrictions, with the rules to be finalized and implemented individually at the national level.
The restrictions will be implemented individually by all three EU member states simultaneously and are expected to come into force sometime later this month. The Baltic states and several other EU countries have already stopped issuing new Schengen visas to Russian citizens and have been pushing Brussels to implement an EU-wide ban on the process. Finland has already expressed an interest in applying similar measures, with Finnish foreign minister Pekka Haavisto stating that Finland is awaiting a European Commission's decision on the matter before taking unilateral action.
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EU to Transfer 5 Billion Euro in Financial Aid to Ukraine
The European Commission has proposed a further five billion euros in financial aid to Ukraine as part of a promised nine-billion-euro rescue package agreed in May. The president of the commission ephasized that Ukraine requires the “full support” of the EU, with the financial aid forming a part of $39 billion in aid promised by the G7 to prop up Ukraine.
Under the proposal, the funds will be made available to Ukraine in the form of long-term loans taken out on favourable terms. The funds will be disbursed in a small number of instalments while the EU budget will cover the interest costs and administrative fee payments. As with previous EU loans to Ukraine, the Commission will borrow the funds on international capital markets and transfer the proceeds on identical terms to Ukraine. The loans will be backed by guarantees provided by EU member states which will complement the provisioning available from the EU budget.
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Albania Cuts Diplomatic Ties with Iran
Albania has cut diplomatic ties with Iran and expelled the country's embassy staff over a major cyberattack nearly two months ago. The Albanian government's decision was formally delivered to the Iranian Embassy in Tirana, with all embassy staff, diplomatic and security personnel, ordered to leave Albania within the next 24 hours.
On July 15, a cyberattack was said to have temporarily shut down numerous Albanian government services and websites. A subsequent investigation by Albanian officials has determined that the cyberattack was carried out by Iran. The United States has expressed support for its NATO ally, condemning Iran’s attack and calling for Tegran to be held accountable for this cyber incident. Albania, a NATO member since 2009, has been sheltering thousands of Iranian dissidents belonging to the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq group, a political organisation which seeks to depose the current government in Tehran.
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Europe’s Energy Alternatives Pose Risks
Europe’s attempt to replace Russian natural gas has quickly resulted in Europe displacing Asia as the top destination for US liquefied natural gas (LNG). Europe now receives 65% of total US LNG exports, fostering a dependency on a different foreign power than Russia. There are now concerns that trading one dependency for another will carry a different set of risks for European natural gas customers in the years ahead.
Since the bulk of US LNG export facilities are found along the Gulf of Mexico’s Coast, the EU's new primary source of energy is located in a region that is prone to hurricanes. This means that when hurricanes batter the Gulf of Mexico, every process from liquefaction to shipping and extraction to processing can be disrupted. Similarly, as Europe is beginning to consider Africa for its future energy supplies, and as Mozambique is preparing to ship its first cargo of LNG to Europe, natural gas supplies from Africa are fraught with vulnerabilities stemming from political instability.