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The Kremlin Playbook: Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Eastern Europe
More than 150 US policy-makers, experts and media reporters participated in the event. The study's leading authors presented the key findings from the report, which illuminate the linkages between Russia's economic presence in Central and Eastern Europe and the region's general decline in political stability, diminishing democratic standards, and erosion of governance standards in five case study countries: Bulgaria, Serbia, Slovakia, Hungary, and Latvia. In his opening remarks, CSD Chairman Dr. Ognian Shentov emphasized that we need to look first at the Russian economic footprint in Europe, and metrify this footprint, which is still largely unknown or ignored; otherwise most probably we'd be cataloging only anecdotal evidence. On the other side, we need to run this analysis from different optics - the governance deficits, gaps and even failures in Europe - both at EU and national level - which provide ample opportunities for Russian aggressive economic and political behavior. In her keynote Kathleen A. Kavalec, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European Affairs at the U.S. Department of State commented that one of the most important achievements of the Kremlin Playbook report is to recognize the general framework used by Russia in its policies and activities towards the CEE, adding that Russia’s policy increasingly rejects the post-Cold War order in Europe. Russia, she underscored, is also willing to undermine existing rules, as witnessed in its coordinated aggressive actions in Ukraine, elsewhere in Europe and in the United States. Ms. Kavalec noted that they aim to weaken core institutions in the West and cast doubt on the integrity of the West’s democratic systems. The Kremlin Playbook: Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Eastern Europe Presentation of the Kremlin Playbook: Understanding Russian Influence in Central and Eastern Europe (Adobe PDF, 907 KB) The event on the CSIS website Video recording on the CSIS website Video recording on the C-SPAN website 16 Policies to Combat the Kremlin’s Playbook at the CSIS website Media Coverage Presentation of the report “The Kremlin Playbook” at the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Auswärtige Politik, 26 January 2017, Berlin |