Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Belarus’s strategic position has become riskier and more acutely endangered, a fact the government in Minsk undoubtedly understands quite well. At the same time, Western governments, especially Belarus’s neighbors like Poland and the Baltic States, are watching... MORE

Minsk has introduced visa-free regulations for entering Belarus for no more than five days, if arriving via Minsk National Airport, for citizens of 80 states. The decree applies to all of the European Union, the United States, Japan and many other countries (Belta.by, January 11,... MORE

Franz Klintsevych, a high-ranking member of the Russian Federation Council (upper house of parliament), denounced the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), on January 8, for their activities in the Baltic Sea region. According to Klintsevych, who serves as the first deputy... MORE

On December 11, Moldova’s secessionist region of Transnistria held presidential elections. After a heated campaign, mutual accusations and even prison threats, the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (Transnistria’s parliament), Vadim Krasnoselski, defeated the incumbent President, Yevgeny Shevchuk, by a landslide (62 percent to 24 percent)... MORE

Moldova’s Socialist leader Igor Dodon won the presidential election on November 13, was duly confirmed by the Constitutional Court as president-elect on December 13, and is due to be sworn in on December 23. Moldova’s de facto ruler, billionaire Vladimir Plahotniuc, is using this six-week... MORE

On December 13, Moldova’s Constitutional Court validated the election of Socialist Party leader Igor Dodon as head of state, one full month after the November 13 presidential election runoff. The outspokenly pro-Russia candidate Dodon won by an unexpectedly narrow margin, 52 percent versus 48 percent,... MORE

The Kremlin has deliberately obscured the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR), in eastern Ukraine, under a fog of confusion. As such, on a single day last week, a Russian analyst argued that the two self-styled republics are about to... MORE

December 8 marked the 25th anniversary of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The document that did away with the USSR was signed by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus in Viskuli, at a hunting lodge belonging to the Communist Party leaders, in the... MORE

On December 4, Moldova’s Autonomous Territorial Unit of Gagauzia held the second round of its legislative election. The People’s Assembly (Gagauzia’s legislature) is composed of 35 members elected for a four-year term in 35 single member districts. A winner needs to gain at least 50... MORE

As President Vladimir Putin openly admitted to planning and executing the annexation of Crimea in 2014 (YouTube, March 15, 2015), the role of various Russian forces that participated in the takeover of the Ukrainian peninsula has increasingly come to the forefront. The scale of Russian... MORE