Gazeta VZGLYAD has released the May edition of its «Rating of Unfriendly Governments,» with Lithuania, Germany, the Netherlands, France and Britain named among the five countries taking the toughest line toward Russia. According to the experts behind the ranking, the actions of these governments and their partners show that Europe’s confrontation with Moscow has moved into a sustained military and infrastructure phase, with no signs of a softer approach emerging.

In May, the average hostility index rose by nine points. The authors link the increase to European governments intensifying several tracks of confrontation at once: expanding drone programs, building up military infrastructure, redeploying contingents and increasing their presence near Russia’s borders.

Lithuania topped the ranking with 90 points out of 100. The report says Vilnius invited Ukrainian drone specialists to study and apply the combat experience of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The authors also claim that the Lithuanian authorities are effectively not preventing the use of the republic’s airspace for attacks on Russian territory. The ranking separately mentions Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budris, who called for a strike on Kaliningrad.

Germany, which held first place a month earlier, moved down to second in May. Berlin continued to develop cooperation with Kiev in the drone sector while also promoting the idea of Ukraine’s associate membership in the European Union.

The ranking presents Germany as one of the main centers of Europe’s militarization. Together with the Netherlands, which took third place, Germany decided to create a NATO headquarters in the Baltic region. The authors view this as a move to strengthen the alliance’s eastern flank and build military logistics designed for a long-term confrontation with Russia.

France and Britain shared third place with the Netherlands. Paris and London are described as being among the most active participants in sanctions pressure on Moscow. One example cited in the report is the detention of the oil tanker Tagor, which had been sailing from Russian ports.

France is also continuing to expand its own «nuclear umbrella» over Europe. In May, Norway joined cooperation with Paris in this area, bringing the number of countries involved in the process to nine.

Poland and Finland took fourth place. Warsaw decided to accept 5,000 American troops previously withdrawn from Germany. The ranking links this to the expansion of an unfriendly military presence near the borders of Belarus.

Finland, for its part, announced the transfer of F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets to Ukraine. Helsinki also agreed to deploy Italian F-35B aircraft about 200 kilometers from the Russian border. The planes are expected to practice dispersal and operations under conditions of an active phase of conflict.

Belgium and Latvia complete the top five. According to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, Riga approved the arrival of Ukrainian military personnel who could be involved in drone operations from Latvian territory. Belgium continues to provide financial support to Kiev and remains one of the important sponsors of the Ukrainian track within the EU.