Typically, before delivering the annual address to the parliament, President Vladimir Putin takes a pause in order to build up expectations and create the impression of thoughtful work being carried out along crucial guidelines. Last week, however, the Kremlin staged a series of public events... MORE

At the end of November, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said that Kazakhstan should aim to raise its GDP per capita fivefold, to $60,000 from the present $12,000, to join the ranks of the top 30 developed countries. Although Nazarbayev recognizes that Kazakhstan must overcome major challenges... MORE

On November 29, Azerbaijan and the European Union signed a visa-facilitation agreement in Vilnius, Lithuania, within the framework of the Eastern Partnership summit. The agreement was signed by the foreign minister of Azerbaijan, Elmar Mammadyarov, by Linas Linkevicius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania in... MORE

Reports of clashes between government forces and militants in Chechnya are rare these days. However, the absence of such reports is not always due to an absence of clashes. Russia’s information policy with regard to Chechnya is pointedly positive and thus practically excludes the very... MORE

On November 21, a week before the planned signing of the Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union at the Eastern partnership Summit in Vilnius, the Ukrainian Parliament (Verhovna Rada) failed to pass legislation to allow the former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko to receive medical... MORE

Against the backdrop of anti-Islamic hysteria launched by the Russian government’s propaganda machine, it is hard not to notice the negative trend in such a delicate matter as interfaith dialogue in the country. Deliberately or not, a negative image of Muslims has been firmly established... MORE

Among the European Union’s six Eastern Partnership countries (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), Moldova is moving closer to the EU at the fastest pace. The government, led successively by Vlad Filat (prime minister, 2009–2013) and Iurie Leanca (foreign affairs minister 2009–2013, prime minister... MORE

Ukraine’s refusal to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union at the November 28–29 summit in Vilnius has resulted in a sharp cooling of relations between President Viktor Yanukovych and the West. Kyiv is hosting the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)... MORE

Under Russian pressure, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign an association and free-trade agreement with the European Union at the Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius on November 29, triggering mass protests in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities (see EDM, December 2, 4). In the... MORE

North Caucasus Federal District Deputy Prosecutor General Andrei Medvedev, recently reported that the number of extremism-related crimes in the North Caucasus rose by 40 percent in the first three quarters of 2013 in comparison to the same period of 2012. According to the official, 69... MORE