LONDON: Russia is rebuilding its capacity to destabilize European countries and extend its influence in the Middle East and Africa, posing a strategic threat to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as its members focus on the war in Ukraine, a United Kingdom-based think tank said on Tuesday. "As the war in Ukraine protracts, Russia has an interest in creating crises further afield,'' authors Jack Watling, Oleksandr V. Danylyuk and Nick Reynolds wrote, citing the Balkans as a region that is ripe for mischief. "Russia also has an active interest in destabilizing Ukraine's partners, and with a slew of elections forthcoming across Europe there is a wide range of opportunities to exacerbate polarization,'' the authors said. The 35-page report by the think tank, founded in 1831, was released days before the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The threat "extends beyond Ukraine and the active collaboration of those states that are being targeted," it said and urged for "sustained vigilance" over a range of issues.

Source: Manila Times February 20, 2024 14:39 UTC