Eoin McNamara, Robert Pszczel, Olena Tregub 'War in Europe: how threatened are Russia’s neighbours?'

'War in Europe: how threatened are Russia’s neighbours?' With full-scale war in Europe now into its third year, the continent’s security environment has been transformed since February 24, 2022. This is most obviously the case for the primary victim of Russia’s aggression – Ukraine – but also for many of its near neighbours. In this edition of IIEA Insights, how the Russian threat is perceived is assessed by a Ukrainian living in Ireland since just after the invasion, an Irishman based in Helsinki and a Polish security expert in Warsaw. Eoin McNamara is a research fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs specialising in transatlantic relations; NATO; and security in northern and eastern Europe. He has published in the NATO Review, the Revue Militaire Suisse, the Defence Forces Review and has commented on security, defence and international affairs in outlets such as BBC World, Euronews, the Times of London, the New York Times, El Pais and the Irish Times. Robert Pszczel is a senior fellow at the security and defence department of the Centre for Eastern Studies in Warsaw. A former diplomat with many years of service in the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, both in Warsaw and in Brussels, he was a member of the national team for accession talks with NATO in 1997. From 1999 (until his retirement in 2020) he served on NATO’s International Staff in Brussels and as the director of the NATO Information Office in Moscow. Olena Tregub heads the secretariat of The Independent Defence Anti-Corruption Committee. The Committee, which is a joint initiative of Transparency International Defence and Security and Transparency International Ukraine, aims to reduce corruption and increase accountability in the Ukrainian defence sector. She has previously worked for Ukraine's Ministry of Economic Development, at UN Headquarters in New York and as a lecturer in international relations.