The Euroclear Saga
The war triggered by Russian invasion of Ukraine has not only reshaped Europe’s security architecture; it has also exposed the strategic significance of financial infrastructures that had long operated in […]
Russia
Through its Focus on Russia, Egmont aims to establish an informal yet structured platform for regular exchanges among Belgian experts on Russia. The initiative addresses the full spectrum of political, economic, military, geopolitical, and societal dynamics in Russia. We convene a select group of experienced practitioners, analysts, and scholars with deep expertise on Russia in a series of closed-door meetings held approximately four times per year. Emphasis is placed on collegial dialogue, intellectual openness, and the rigorous exchange of perspectives. By combining longue durée analysis with real-time assessments, the initiative seeks to enhance policy-relevant reflection and strategic situational awareness for Belgian public institutions, in particular the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The overarching objective is to create a trusted expert circle capable of generating nuanced, multidisciplinary insights into Russia as a strategic actor, while also contributing to a more coherent and informed Belgian and European approach.
Heads: Jan Balliauw and Dr Joris Van Bladel
Publications
External publications
Making Russia Fear Escalation Again
Russia’s hybrid war against Europe continues to expand, with drone sightings, cyber-attacks, airspace violations, disinformation campaigns, and sabotage operations steadily increasing across the continent. Rather than being a series of […]
Commentaries
Russia, Europe and the Danger of Strategic Reassurance
European debates about Russia’s threat perception are often framed as a binary choice. On one side, alarmist voices warn of an imminent military danger requiring rapid mobilisation. On the other, […]
From the Donbas to Africa: How Returning Fighters Could Fuel a New Mercenary Wave
What will happen to the thousands of militaries involved in the war between Russia and Ukraine once the war is over? Hundreds of thousands of battle-hardened soldiers from Russia’s full-scale […]
The Fog: The Opacity That Warns
The Fire, the Ice, and the Fog: A Sublimation of the Russian Threat Now in its fourth year, Russia’s war on Ukraine has become more than a battlefield confrontation. It […]
The Ice: The Confrontation That Cannot Thaw
The Fire, the Ice, and the Fog: A Sublimation of the Russian Threat Europe’s debate over Russia is sharply divided along ideological, epistemological, and geographical lines, crystallised by Fiona Hill’s […]