On 6 April 2016, in a referendum held in the Netherlands on the Ukraine-EU Association Agreement, 61,1% votes were against and 38,1% - in favour. More than 10 years earlier, the Netherlands had voted in a similar way against the EU constitutional treaty, together with France. Although the referendum is non-binding and turnout was low with 32,2%, it will have political implications for both the EU and Ukraine. It is also a bad news for the European future - writes Robert Steenland, CIR's intern, in his analysis "The Ukraine-EU Association Agreement after the Dutch referendum".

Last week’s Zaventem airport and Maelbeek metro station blasts in Brussels once more demonstrated how insecure Europe is today. 35 people died, over 300 were injured. Luckily, one of the bombs did not explode, otherwise the balance would have been much worse. The Islamic State (called ISIS or IS) took responsibility for these suicide attacks performed by two brothers el-Bakraoui, around 30 years old, both Muslims - writes Iranian scholar Mahan Charmshir (University of Warsaw) in CIR's comment "The Islamic State and the Caliphate. Europe in danger".

Recent years have proven that Mexico has a stable and growing economy and is becoming increasingly open to international trade and FDI from places other than NAFTA. A closer relation with Poland is both desired and viable but issues such as an ocean-wide distance, a language barrier and the individual dynamics of both markets supplement the list of obstacles that complicate the great potential of a solid partnership - writes Ernesto Malda Arozarena, charge d'affaires at the Mexico Embassy in Poland, in CIR's analysis "Mexico and Poland: a promising partnership".