On May 2nd, the Czech Government decided to increase the number of Foreign Ministry employees in its offices in Ukraine.

According to the Czech Republic, this decision is aimed at speeding up the processing of applications for work permits in the Czech Republic received from Ukrainians, Radio Svoboda reported.

In particular, this change will increase the number of Consulate officials by five people at the Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Lviv.

The increase in the number of staff in …

Two Ukrainian energy companies have brought a claim to the UN Arbitration Court asking for compensation for losses due to the inability to control assets in the Crimea after the peninsula was annexed by Russia, as reported by Reuters on Monday, May 2nd.

According to the agency, the two companies involved are Ukrnafta and Stabil.

They contend that Russia violated its obligations under the Russian-Ukrainian bilateral investment agreement by "expropriating" the investments of these companies …

According to Postimees, NATO fighters had to accompany Russian military aircraft five times last week. The Russian planes were flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

On the 26th of April, NATO fighters stationed in the Lithuanian city of Šiauliai were alerted to a Su-27 plane travelling from the Kaliningrad region of Russia. It is alleged that the plane was flying without submitting a flight plan, had its transponder switched off and did not maintain connection with the Mission …

The largest of NATO’s military exercises this year began on May 2nd in Estonia. According to the press service of the Estonian Defense Force Headquarters, 6,000 servicemen, including 1,500 from 10 countries that are strong allies and NATO partners, took part in a series of maneuvers code-named Kevadtorm 2016.

Soldiers from Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Canada, the USA, Sweden, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania are participating. Military exercises scheduled to last three weeks …

Manfred Weber, the leader of the largest European People’s Party, heavily criticized the construction plans for the gas pipeline Nord Stream-2. The Financial Times reported on May 2nd that Weber wrote about this in his letter to the German Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, and European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete.

Weber claims that the construction of the gas pipeline runs counter to foreign-policy goals of the European Union as it …

The web-site of the British Government reported that four fighter jets of the Royal Air Force of the United Kingdom joined the NATO air policing mission in the Baltics and will lead it until the end of August. The aircraft, which will be based in Estonia during the mission, will be ready to take off round-the-clock in order to ensure security of airspace over Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

“This deployment emphasizes our commitment to the respect of sovereignty of democratic States of Eastern …

The Swedish Prime Minister, Stefan Löfven, in response to comments made by the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, on the possibility of Stockholm joining NATO, stated that Stockholm does not need Moscow’s opinion to make decisions.

Löfven noted that the words of the Russian Minister were "absolutely useless," emphasizing that no one seemed interested in Moscow’s opinion regarding this issue.

"In Sweden we make our own decisions regarding defense and security policy. In this regard we …

Latvian military forces discovered a Russian submarine and a military ship near the Latvian border. This information was disclosed on the Twitter account of the Latvian Armed Forces on May 2.

According to the tweet, a class "Kilo" submarine and a military ship, "Victor Konetsky",  were spotted at a distance of approximately 8 nautical miles from Latvian territorial borders. 

In April Russian fighters intercepted American military aircraft as many as 3 times over the Baltic Sea. Also in April, …