by Giorgi KvelashviliOn November 17 Belarus, arguably Russia’s closest ally in the world, sent its delegation to Georgia on a three-day visit to study the situation on the ground and report back to the Belarus parliament and the leadership of that country. Altogether nine parliamentarians... MORE

Business New Europe recently published an interesting article “An Eastern European island getaway” by Prague-based journalist Jiri Kominek “For many, Cyprus is synonymous with sunny beaches and Mediterranean flair. Yet as a recent lawsuit by the natural gas trader Itera Group shows, the Greek half... MORE

By: Kenneth P. Vogel and Ben Smith American political consultants are hard at work in Ukraine. This fascinating article can be read in its entirety on www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29410.html. "In Kiev and Kharkiv and other cities in Ukraine, American political consultants who worked against one another in... MORE

by Roman KupchinskyUkrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko announced that the transit fee for Russian gas going to Europe via the Ukrainian pipeline system will be doubled from $1.70 per 1,000 cubic meters/100 kilometers to $3.40. Tymoshenko did not specify when the new transit fee will... MORE

by Vlad SocorThe following article by Jamestown senior fellow Vlad Socor appeared in the Eurasian Daily Monitor and the full text can be read on the EDM website. On November 13 in Sofia, Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev and his Bulgarian counterpart Giorgi Purvanov witnessed the... MORE

by Paul Goble Vienna, November 17 – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has often described the collapse of the Soviet Union as “the greatest tragedy” of the 20th century, has now said that the “reunification” of Georgia has “already been decided,” a suggestion some of... MORE

by Giorgi KvelashviliOn November 17 Georgia sent 170 servicemen to Afghanistan to participate in NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operation. The combat troops will serve under French command near the Afghan capital Kabul. According to Georgian media, Mikheil Saakashvili’s pro-Western government plans to dispatch... MORE

by Roman Kupchinsky Gazprom, the Russian gas giant, has been caught in a financial vise throughout 2009. It’s main market in Europe for gas shrank by 32 percent in the first half of 2009. Part of this can be explained by reduced demand due to... MORE

by Yuri Zarakhovich“First, the golden heads left, then, the golden hands. Now, we have only gold teeth left.”I first heard this sad quote in Tajikistan in 1993, as the Tajik civil war pushed many a golden head out the country. One of those golden heads... MORE

By Myroslav PotapovA normal and not unprecedented outbreak of flu has added to political tension in Ukraine during the presidential election campaign. The flu outbreak should not be normally a cause for alarm as fewer people had died as of November 1 than by the... MORE