Latvia's Prime Minister Indulis Emsis has made an abrupt decision to remove Sandra Kalniete, an internationally respected diplomat, from the post of European Commissioner in Brussels. Emsis wants to free Latvia's seat on the European Commission for Ingrida Udre, chairwoman of the Latvian parliament, and... MORE

The State Duma on August 3 approved a Kremlin-supported bill in its second reading that would replace Soviet-vintage social benefits -- to such groups as pensioners, war veterans, the disabled, and Chernobyl cleanup workers -- with cash payments. The lower parliamentary chamber is expected to... MORE

A special session of the OSCE's Permanent Council in Vienna on July 29 failed to act on Georgia's proposal to widen the role of the OSCE Mission in South Ossetia. Supported in principle, though in lukewarm tones, by the United States and the European Union,... MORE

On July 31, a Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry statement approvingly confirmed that a Russian company has begun maintenance work on the Sochi (Russia)-Sukhumi (Abkhazia) railroad. That railroad is legally Georgian, but is controlled by Russia and the Abkhaz. The Russian move violates the March 2003... MORE

With Ukraine's presidential election just three months away, Russia appears to be stepping up efforts to influence the outcome of the ballot in its neighbor. Ukraine remains the linchpin in the new frontier of Russia-led Eurasian integration. The result of the October 31 election may... MORE

The leader of the All-Ukrainian Party "Liberty," Oleh Tyahnybok, was expelled from the Our Ukraine parliamentary faction on July 20. Tyahnybok was excluded after giving an anti-Russian, anti-Semitic speech at the gravesite of a commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a guerrilla group that... MORE

A Ukrainian ship en route to Egypt was stopped and searched in Istanbul in June. Turkish officials found that the ship contained numerous items not listed on its manifest, including such sophisticated weapons as a radio-controlled missile and launcher (Associated Press, June 4). This disclosure... MORE

President Putin's recent changes in the senior personnel in the Russian armed forces have aroused concerns about the future course of the military. Those appointed, at least on paper, hold out the promise of steady improvement in the military, rather than continued decline. Colonel-General Alexander... MORE

The latest survey conducted by the Minsk-based Independent Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies in June 2004 suggests that there is a new pool of contenders for the Belarusian presidency (iiseps.by). However, the electorate remains unconvinced that any of the individuals could mount a realistic... MORE

International organizations, as well as an indifferent U.S. State Department, are proving unable or unwilling to deal with "linguistic cleansing" in Trans-Dniester. All players involved are treating the Russian authorities' forcible closure of the last six Latin-script schools as an unwelcome distraction from negotiations toward... MORE