![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-europe.jpg)
Latest Articles about Europe's East
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Alyaksandr-Lukashenka-EDM-December-12-2018-640x360.jpg)
New Public Demarche by Lukashenka
Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka took part in the summit of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in St. Petersburg, Russia, on December 6. During the televised segment of the meeting, Lukashenka launched into a diatribe against unequal natural gas prices that undermine the entire idea of... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Poroshenko-NDSC-meeting-EDM-December-12-2018-640x486.jpg)
Martial Law in Ukraine: A Rehearsal for War
In late evening, on November 26, the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) implemented Martial Law in selected regions of Ukraine that is to last until December 26 (Rada.gov, November 26). President Petro Poroshenko pushed the legislature to adopt this measure after the Russian Coast Guard attacked... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Russian-Belarusian-joint-exercise-EDM-December-11-2018-640x396.jpg)
New Union State Military Doctrine Will Not Change Status Quo in Belarusian-Russian Military Alliance
Despite recent concerns from some security analysts that a new Military Doctrine of the Union State of Russia and Belarus will include provisions for the establishment of a Russian military base on Belarusian soil (see EDM, October 30), the document will likely undergo only cosmetic... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Kerch-Port-640x360.jpg)
Azov Sea, Kerch Strait: Evolution of Their Purported Legal Status (Part Four)
*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. *To Read Part Three, please click here. On November 24, one day before Russia’s November 25 attacks on Ukrainian ships, Russia’s State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Grigory Karasin... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Kerch-Bridge-640x423.jpg)
Azov Sea, Kerch Strait: Evolution of Their Purported Legal Status (Part Three)
*To read Part One, please click here. *To read Part Two, please click here. Russia’s 2014 seizure of Crimea and the resulting de facto border changes have overturned the geographical and political foundations of the 2003 Russia-Ukraine treaty on the Azov Sea and Kerch... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Alyaksandr-Lukashenka-and-Ilham-Aliyev-EDM-December-6-2018-640x433.jpg)
Belarus and Azerbaijan Enhance Their Strategic Military Partnership
On November 19, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev paid a long-awaited official visit to Belarus, where he met with his counterpart, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. On this occasion, the Belarusian and Azerbaijani state news agencies praised the level of bilateral strategic cooperation, widely citing Lukashenka’s words to... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Bulgaria-Pipelines-EDM-December-6-2018-640x462.jpg)
The Balkan Gas Hub: A European Gas Trading Platform or South Stream Lite?
With the completion, in November, of the offshore section of the TurkStream natural gas pipeline from Russia to western Turkey, the Bulgarian government kicked its preparations for creating a Balkan Gas Hub into high gear. On November 30, Bulgaria’s parliament included the construction of the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Vladimir-Makei-EDM-December-5-2018-640x427.jpg)
Belarus and Its Neighbors: Ups and Downs in Relations
For four days, Minsk did not officially comment on last month’s (November 25) Russian-Ukrainian naval conflagration that occurred around the Kerch Strait. “The situation is so explosive,” opined Valer Karbalevich of Radio Liberty, “that even a neutral and pacifying appeal to both sides may cause... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Petro-Poroshenko-and-Xi-Jinping-EDM-December-5-2018-640x426.jpeg)
Ukraine Increases Trade With China at Russia’s Expense
In line with China’s continuing westward economic expansion, it may launch free trade talks with Ukraine. Stepan Kubiv, Ukraine’s economy minister, coming back from a visit to China where he met Chinese Vice Premier Liu He last month, said Ukraine asked China to start consultations... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Tuzla-Island-EDM-December-5-2018-640x395.jpg)
Azov Sea, Kerch Strait: Evolution of Their Purported Legal Status (Part Two)
*To read Part One, please click here. The 2003 treaty between Russia and Ukraine on “Cooperation in the Use of the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait,” officially in effect to this day and “sine die,” purports to place those two bodies of water outside... MORE