Confluence database

This paper describes the reaction of Slovakia to the supply crunch following the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

This paper outlines Poland’s response to the supply shortage that ensued in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

This paper delves into the Czech Republic’s response to the lack of energy supplies resulting from the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

This paper discusses how Hungary reacted to the supply disruptions caused by the Russian invasion in Ukraine.

This study maps the narratives that China’s embassy accounts spread in Europe in the context of the war in Ukraine, with special attention devoted to the Chinese embassies in V4 countries. It focuses on the evolution of China’s Twitter presence in Europe, patterns of content posting, engagement, the level of interaction with the local actors and the discourses disseminated on the issue of the Russian invasion.

This paper primarily focuses on the activities of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) in Poland and its impact on the country’s economic relations with China.

This paper advances understanding of the mechanics of Russia’s influence and disinformation operations and how these types of activities can affect U.S. allies and alliance politics.

This policy brief examines China’s tools and tactics used to exert influence across five key areas: information operations, economy, culture, diplomacy, and local and regional administration.

This study examines the state of knowledge protection in the EU and China’s approach to STI and its goals in Europe. It specifically focuses on the scope of cooperation in STEM areas with China in three EU member states (Austria, Czech Republic and Slovakia), utilizing open-source data on scientific cooperation.

This paper identifies China’s key objectives and tools of economic influence, and formulates a comprehensive set of potential countermeasures that can and should be adopted by the Czech Republic or be advocated for by the Czech Republic in the EU.

This policy paper focuses on the means that China uses to weaken the ability of individual states, including Hungary and the Czech Republic, and thus the EU as a whole to act. It evaluates various strategies used in dealing with economic or political coercion exerted by China.

This paper analyzes the link between the clientelistic hybrid regime built by Viktor Orbán’s Hungary and Budapest’s burgeoning ties with China.

This paper focuses on domestic and foreign hidden malign influence activities pursued through the so-called ‘grey zone’, targeting the Czech Republic during a period of heightened international tensions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It examines the inner workings of disinformation campaigns carried out by mostly anonymous media actors to conduct or influence political campaigns, specifically in the run-up to the elections, and destabilise the region in general after the outbreak of the war.

This paper focuses on domestic and foreign hidden malign influence activities pursued through the so-called ‘grey zone’, targeting Hungary during a period of heightened international tensions related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. It examines the inner workings of disinformation campaigns carried out by mostly anonymous media actors to conduct or influence political campaigns, specifically in the run-up to the elections, and destabilise the region in general after the outbreak of the war.

Analysis of China-related narratives on five specific topics (5G, Chinese investment, Hong Kong protests, Xinjiang, and Taiwan) in the ‘alternative media’ known for pro-Russian stance in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

This analysis monitors the pro-Kremlin media website Sputnik CZ in autumn 2021 to map how it reflected the formation of the new Czech government.

The overview of Russia and China’s activities in the Polish information space and a detailed content analysis of the dataset comprising of China-related commentaries published by Sputnik Poland and CRI Poland in 2020 and 2021.

This paper analyzes China’s and Russia’s economic coercion against European countries, including Poland and the Czech Republic. The paper reflects on the EU’s proposed Anti-Coercion Instrument.

This policy paper examines paradiplomatic relations of Slovak and Czech municipal and ‎regional administrations with their Chinese counterparts.

Ths publication provides a comprehensive overview of how disinformation manifests itself in individual countries, and how states and societies across the region have responded, or failed to respond, to this challenge.

This analysis discusses the spread of hostile propaganda within the Czech media space related to the revelation of Russian GRU involvement in the Vrbětice ammunition depot explosions in 2014, while also examining the Czech response and resilience to hostile propaganda.

This paper focuses on various activities by Chinese as well as local Slovak and Czech actors linked to the influx of Chinese corrosive capital.

This policy brief examines European operations of the China News Service (CNS), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) united front system’s main propaganda agency, and its extensive network of media outlets in Europe and the challenges that its activities pose to European institutions.

Comparative study focused on media coverage of Chinese investment and Chinese involvement in 5G infrastructure in the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia.

This brief examines the Czech Republic’s membership in the Russia-led International Investment Bank (IIB), a tool of malign Russian influence.

This report analyzes cases of Russian active measures against municipalities in Hungary. The Hungarian government seeks good relations with authoritarian regimes by pushing for their interests in the West, mainly to have its hybrid regime legitimized or even financed by these actors.

This report analyzes the case of Paks 2 and the Kremlin’s influence-seeking efforts through nuclear energy. In 2014, Hungary entered into a nuclear energy deal with the Kremlin that will not only reshape Hungary’s economic and energy policies for decades to come, but serves as a quasi-justification for continuously maintaining political ties at the highest level – even at the expense of Budapest’s Euro-Atlantic orientation.

Study summarizing debates on Huawei’s involvement in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Eastern European countries, including addressing security issues, active US diplomacy and intra-EU discussions.

This study maps academic interactions between Slovak academic institutions (public universities and research institutes of the Slovak Academy of Science) with Chinese entities.

Policy paper revealing the evolving nature of Chinese propaganda, both overt and covert, in Central Europe, including the ‘damage control’ operations in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and adaptations made by Chinese officials and surrogates on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

This paper examines the impact that Chinese overtures under the ‘mask diplomacy’ umbrella have had on Central Europe, and Europe more broadly, as the regime seeks to retain a foothold and restore its image in the region.

This Strategic Analysis examines how China’s information operations in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) have evolved. Specifically, it explores the introduction of new tools and techniques to enhance its influence portfolio and identifies the shift towards new targets.

This comparative study reveals how China has been using a targeted mix of ‘carrots’ and ‘sticks’ to increase its influence in Central European countries.

This paper uncovers China’s activities in political, economic and societal domains in the countries gathered in China-led 17+1 platform.

This policy brief focuses on two key suppliers of IoT equipment, Dahua and Hikvision, and their strong presence in the Polish market.

This report examines Russian and Chinese influence in Central Europe, focusing on China’s and Russia’s short and long-term goals for the countries, including economic, political and social tools & tactics.

This policy brief focuses on China’s ‘economic diplomacy’, which, despite often having little economic effect, providives rhetorical cover for the extensive capture of local political elites through business contacts and targeted corruption.

This report examines Chinese and Russian influence in four young democracies in Latin America and Central Europe, including Slovakia and Poland.

This paper examines the links between various pro-Kremlin entities and Slovakia’s political scene as a whole, with a particular focus on the extreme-right movements.

This paper delves into the links between diverse pro-Kremlin actors and Poland’s political entities, with a specific emphasis on the extreme-right factions.

This paper explores the connections between a wide range of pro-Kremlin stakeholders and Hungary’s political entities in general and the violent, fringe extreme-right movements in particular.

This paper delves into the relationships between a diverse array of pro-Kremlin stakeholders and the political entities in the Czech Republic, with a specific focus on the extreme-right movements with violent tendecies.

This paper explores the connections between a wide range of pro-Kremlin stakeholders and Central-Eastern European countries’ political entities in general, and the violent, fringe extreme-right movements in particular.

This study explores Russian soft power in Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and Austria with a special focus on Kremlin’s aim to monopolize, manipulate and disseminate ‘traditional’ societal and Christian values used to ideologically underpin the system.