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ist destabilisation, reduces the capacity of many countries in Central and Eastern
Europe to defend Europe if the situation in Ukraine escalates.
There is ample evidence that Russia is supporting political and paramilitary forces
poised to take Europe back to where it was between the two world wars: namely, to
have a group of quarrelling, frustrated small states ready to turn against each other.
One thing is certain: as persistent as the United States has been in strengthening
and exporting democracy around the world during the 20th century, Putin’s Rus-
sia is similarly determined to export violent, illiberal autocracy (weakly aligned in
these efforts with China, Turkey and Iran) in the 21st century.Péter Krekó is a senior affiliate at the Political Capital Institute in Budapest. He is also
an assistant professor at the Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences in Budapest.Edit Zgut is a foreign policy analyst at the Political Capital Institute.
She is also a guest lecturer at Pázmány Péter Catholic University.Lóránt Győri is a geopolitical analyst at the Political Capital Institute.Opinion & Analysis Central Europe is more vulnerable than it appears, Péter Krekó, Edit Zgut and Lóránt Győri