TEFI - The Eastern Frontier Initiative

26/08/2026

More than €500 billion – that is the current estimate of Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery needs over the next decade. This figure is not final: as the war continues, not only is the scale of direct damage increasing, but so is the need for investment to rebuild and modernise the country’s economy, infrastructure and public services.

Delfi examines which sectors have suffered the most from the war, how much rebuilding the country may cost, and how the European Union and Lithuania are already contributing to Ukraine’s reconstruction

12/08/2026

Whoever owns the past owns the present: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania face the ghosts of the Red Army

Preserving Soviet monuments in the former countries behind the Iron Curtain without any historical or ethical intervention is just one of Moscow's soft-power ambitions.

The monuments and hundreds of military cemeteries erected in honour of Soviet soldiers who died in the Second World War are more than stones and bronze statues. Many of them are active instruments in a battle over memory unfolding in real time, in the shadow of the war in Ukraine.

The removal of these propaganda elements from public spaces in the Baltic states is now at the centre of a preliminary legal action launched by Russia at the United Nations, where Moscow claims violations of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Preserving the memory of the Second World War exclusively in the terms approved by Soviet propaganda is embedded in these memorial sites, which anchor a narrative in which the Red Army appears only as a liberating force. Any challenge to that version is framed as desecration, Russophobia or falsification of history.

Preserving Soviet monuments in the former countries behind the Iron Curtain without any historical or ethical intervention is just one of Moscow's soft-power ambitions.

06/08/2026

As the dispute between Poland and Ukraine over historical memory continues, more and more questions are being raised about how Lithuania and the other Baltic states should respond.

Should countries that maintain close relations with both Warsaw and Kyiv publicly support one side, assume the role of mediator, or avoid becoming involved in a dispute between two allies altogether?

Political scientists argue that the most important priority in this situation is not to lose sight of the strategic objective: preserving regional unity and maintaining support for Ukraine.

As the dispute between Poland and Ukraine over historical memory continues, more and more questions are being raised about how Lithuania and the other Baltic states should respond.

03/08/2026

Historian MARCI SHORE has never been afraid to use the word fascism. "Not because Trump was literally Mussolini or Hi**er, but because we simply didn't have a better word for what we were witnessing," says the former Yale University professor, who moved with her family from the United States to Canada after Donald Trump returned to the White House.

Read the whole discussion on the Easternfrontier website.

Historian MARCI SHORE has never been afraid to use the word fascism. 'Not because Trump was literally Mussolini or Hi**er, but because we simply didn't have a better word for what we were witnessing,' says the former Yale University professor, who moved with her family from the United States to Cana...

28/07/2026

I'm setting off on a journey from Poland through eastern Lithuania and Latvia, asking people what they think and how they feel at a time when drones fly overhead, military exercises and hybrid attacks unfold just across the border, and the world keeps repeating, almost like a mantra, that the Baltics will be next.

I’m standing in the village of Gerdashiai, looking out over the Neman River. Behind me is Lithuania; across the water is Belarus. There’s no fence, no border patrol, only the posts painted in the colors of the two national flags. As I stand there, the headlines keep running through my mind: "President and Prime Minister Take Shelter After Drone Detected Over Belarus Heading Toward Lithuania," "Drone Explodes in Latvia; Wreckage Recovered," "More Russian Provocations? Latvia Warns Residents."

This is where my journey across eastern Lithuania and Latvia begins.

I'm setting off on a journey from Poland through eastern Lithuania and Latvia, asking people what they think and how they feel at a time when drones fly overhead, military exercises and hybrid attacks unfold just across the border, and the world keeps repeating, almost like a mantra, that the Baltic...

23/07/2026

"The first thing that caught my eye at Spain's annual International Women's Day march was the sea of flags bearing the hammer and sickle. I glanced at the police, thinking, this is about to get ugly. But nothing happened. It was then that I realized just how many young Spaniards romanticize communism."

It's not only the extreme right that fascinates young people across Europe. In some countries, communism is also making a return.

The first thing that caught my eye at Spain's annual International Women's Day march was the sea of flags bearing the hammer and sickle. I glanced at the police, thinking, this is about to get ugly. But nothing happened. It was then that I realized just how many young Spaniards romanticize communism...

13/07/2026

"I hope Russia will come to realize just how difficult its situation is becoming. It should begin negotiations and accept Ukraine's proposals", says Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

I hope Russia will come to realize just how difficult its situation is becoming. It should begin negotiations and accept Ukraine's proposals, says Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

08/07/2026

It seems that Finland's more than 1300-kilometre border with Russia, together with the country's painful historical experience, has paid off: out of Finland's 5,6 million inhabitants, 4,8 million could take shelter at the same time. A photo report from beneath the streets of central Helsinki.

"We’re in a good position. About 700,000 people live in Helsinki, and we can accommodate 950,000 people in shelters. In case the east of Finland needed to be evacuated, we would have room for them. If Tallinn needed to be evacuated and the Estonians would have to flee, they would come here, and we’d be able to take them in as well. The danger always comes from the east," says Nina, an employee of the Helsinki municipal government, as we observe a playroom operating in one section of a gigantic shelter beneath the city center.

Read the report on the Easternfrontier website.

It seems that Finland's more than 1300-kilometre border with Russia, together with the country's painful historical experience, has paid off: out of Finland's 5,6 million inhabitants, 4,8 million could take shelter at the same time. A photo report from beneath the streets of central Helsinki.

02/07/2026

Five years after Russia's war in Ukraine began, Latvia will require all residential buildings with more than five floors and public buildings over 2,500 square metres to include civil defence shelters from 2027, providing protection in the event of war, air attacks, or other emergencies.

For the future residents of these aforementioned buildings, this is undoubtedly a benefit, but it also means additional costs.

"Delfi" explains exactly what the new requirements provide for, what they mean for businesses, what issues companies are now grappling with, and what end users of buildings – buyers and tenants – will need to take into account.

Five years after Russia's war in Ukraine began, Latvia will require all residential buildings with more than five floors and public buildings over 2,500 square metres to include civil defence shelters from 2027, providing protection in the event of war, air attacks, or other emergencies.

24/06/2026

Belarusian opposition leader: Lukashenko keeps talking about his excellent relations with the United States, but he understands that Trump may quickly lose patience with him.

Read the whole interview:

Belarusian opposition leader: Lukashenko keeps talking about his excellent relations with the United States, but he understands that Trump may quickly lose patience with him.