Hugo von Essen
Analyst and Project Manager
Hugo von Essen is an analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS). He is also the manager of the SCEEUS Eastern Europe Policy Project.
Hugo has worked at the OSCE Task Force and previously done an internship at the Department for Eastern Europe and Central Asia at the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Hugo has a bachelor’s degree in political science from Uppsala University, and has also studied Russian, psychology, history of ideas, and law at Uppsala University, Stockholm University, and Saint Petersburg State University.
Publications
4 December, 2024
Threading the needle: Boosting Armenia’s resilience and deepening EU cooperation
By Hugo von Essen and Jakob Hedenskog. Following the loss of Karabakh and in the light of its radically cha...
18 October, 2024
The End of Georgia’s European Dream or the End of the Georgian Dream?
Edited by Hugo von Essen. The fate of Georgia will be decided on 26 October. In the parliamentary elections...
25 September, 2024
Future Scenarios of Russia-China Relations: Not Great, Not Terrible?
The future of Russia-China relations will have a decisive impact far beyond the borders of
the two authori...
20 June, 2024
Putin’s June 2024 Visit to North Korea Sends Ripples Through Both East and West
By Hugo von Essen. On June 18-19, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an official visit to North Korea fo...
27 May, 2024
Putin in Uzbekistan, May 26-27, 2024
By Johan Engvall and Hugo von Essen. On May 26-27, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an official visit...
21 May, 2024
Putin in Beijing, May 16-17 2024
By Hugo von Essen and Patrik Andersson. On May 16-17, 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited his Ch...
18 April, 2024
Russia Announces the Total Withdrawal of Its Troops From Nagorno-Karabakh
By Hugo von Essen and Jakob Hedenskog.On 17 April 2024, Russia announced the withdrawal of its peacekeeping...
17 April, 2024
Has Georgia Abandoned Its European Path?
By Hugo von Essen. Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, has reintroduced a Russia-inspired draft law on...
8 April, 2024
Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov visits China on April 8-9
By Hugo von Essen. On April 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov arrived in Beijing for a two-day visi...
2 February, 2024
Russia in the South Caucasus: Losing, Adapting, Overcoming
By Mahammad Mammadov, Murad Muradov, Sergei Melkonian & Giorgi Badridze. Edited by Hugo von Essen. Agai...
7 December, 2023
Azerbaijan Announces Snap Presidential Elections for February 2024
By Hugo von Essen. On December 7, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev announced that a snap presidential el...
1 December, 2023
Azerbaijan’s Uncertain Geopolitical Rise in a South Caucasus Maelstrom
By Hugo von Essen. In the shadow of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the geopolitical situation...
9 November, 2023
China’s and Russia’s narratives on Ukraine: Examining the boundaries of political alignment
By Patrik Andersson, Hugo von Essen & Viking Bohman. Just weeks before Russia launched its full-scale i...
8 November, 2023
The 2023 EU Enlargement Package: Implications for Ukraine, Moldova, and Georgia
By Hugo von Essen & Lina Sigurdh. Today, the European Commission (EC) published its annual enlargement...
19 September, 2023
Azerbaijan Launches “Anti-terrorist” Military Operations in Nagorno-Karabakh
By Hugo von Essen & Jakob Hedenskog. On September 19, Azerbaijan announced the launch of “local anti-te...
5 July, 2023
Russia-China Economic Relations Since the Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine
By Hugo von Essen. The Russian-Chinese economic relations experienced a sharp dip in the immediate months a...
22 March, 2023
Xi Jinping’s Visit to Moscow in March 2023
By Patrik Andersson, Hugo von Essen and Christopher Weidacher Hsiung. On March 20, 2023, Chinese President...
27 February, 2023
The Fate of Europe Will Be Decided in Ukraine
By Anna Lundbladh and Hugo von Essen. The European Union’s support for Ukraine has been strong, united and...
7 February, 2023
The 24th EU-Ukraine Summit – A Reason for Optimism
By Hugo von Essen, Anna Lundbladh, Andreas Umland and Fredrik Wesslau. Last week, the President of the Euro...
10 May, 2022
Russia’s Dictated Non-Peace for Ukraine in 2014-2022
Why the Minsk Agreements Were Doomed from the Start and What Lessons They Teach.
14 January, 2022
Russia’s CSTO Intervention in Kazakhstan: Motives, Risks and Consequences
The violent clashes in Kazakhstan and the consequent intervention by the Russia-dominated Collective Securi...
3 December, 2021
Realizing the Vision of a “Europe Whole, Free and at Peace”: A New Strategic Approach for the Eastern Neighbourhood
Thirty years after the break-up of the Soviet Union, the West’s engagement with the European Union’s Easter...
18 November, 2021
The Wider Implications of the Tensions at the Belarus-Polish Border
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