TOP NEWS

European security policy
The ice melts in the Arctic – Russia increases its presence

As the ice melts at the North Pole, Russia may increase its military presence in the northernmost waters. This is reported by Sky News, who has visited Svalbard with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy.

He believes that the Arctic is facing a completely new geopolitical situation in the wake of global warming and that the threats are "deadly serious".

"We see that Russia's shadow fleet is using these waters. We are also seeing increased activity with nuclear submarines in these waters and a development of sabotage on undersea cables," says Lammy.

This also means a new test for NATO, which will need to strengthen its presence in the "disputed" region, he says.

Security around the Baltic Sea
Investigation into Eagle S complete – three suspects of sabotage

Three people are suspected of crimes after the oil tanker Eagle S damaged several cables in the Baltic Sea at the end of last year. This is reported by Swedish Yle after the police investigation into the high-profile case was completed.

The ship's captain and first and second mates are still suspected of crimes. According to Yle's information, the suspicions relate to gross sabotage and gross disruption of postal and telecommunications traffic.

The case is now being handed over to prosecutors who will decide on charges.

It was on Christmas Day last year that an electrical cable between Finland and Estonia and several data cables were damaged. Suspicions were quickly directed at the oil tanker Eagle S, whose anchor is believed to have caused the cable breaks.

Presidential Election in Poland
Potential for Polish Election Turmoil: “Like Predicting a Coin Flip”

Everything indicates that Sunday’s presidential election in Poland will be a thriller. A recent opinion poll shows a narrow advantage for President Donald Tusk’s candidate, Warsaw’s pro-EU mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, who would receive 50.6 percent of the vote against conservative Karol Nawrocki’s 49.4 percent, reports AFP.

When the Polish news site Onet makes its final election forecast, based on opinion polls and other data, the difference is even smaller – just 0.2 percentage points between the candidates.

The analysts state that it is “as likely to predict the winner of this election as the result of a coin flip.”

A victory for Trzaskowski would mean a major boost for the government, whose policies have been repeatedly blocked by incumbent President Andrzej Duda, loyal to the right-wing nationalist Law and Justice party.