A fragile ceasefire is partially holding in Donbas (eastern Ukrainian region encompassing Donetsk and Luhansk provinces). Massive offensive operations have ceased and some heavy weapons have been withdrawn from the front line. But the truce is constantly broken by gun battles and bombardments. The Organization... MORE

At present, news coming out of Belarus is marked by two particular refrains: the economic crisis and a search for national consolidation. These refrains may be interrelated since negative macroeconomic trends, coupled with a lack of structural reforms that would boost the private sector, make... MORE

As the fragile truce in eastern Ukraine has provided Kyiv with a respite from war, the Ukrainian authorities have begun to purge their own ranks. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, who has been in charge of economic policy since the Maidan victory in February 2014,... MORE

On March 30, Irina Vlah was officially declared the winner of the election for the post of Bashkhan (head of the executive authority) in Moldova’s Gagauz Autonomous Territorial Unit (Gagauz Yeri). As now confirmed, Vlah won the election in the first round on March 22,... MORE

On March 26, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili declared that he was postponing his state visit to Ukraine because he was too busy dealing with Georgia’s domestic affairs. Garibashvili took pains to emphasize that the postponement of his visit was not due to his unhappiness... MORE

Recently, there has been an uptick in Russian efforts to defend the placement of nuclear-capable weapons, if not actual nuclear weapons, on Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed one year ago. Notably, TU-22M3 long-range bombers, which would be able to carry and deliver such... MORE

On March 17, the Russian and Kyrgyzstani services of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) published a long interview with a citizen of Kyrgyzstan identified as Manas (not his real name), who said he had fought alongside the Moscow-backed pro-Russia separatists in the Luhansk region of... MORE

On March 18, Russia marked the first anniversary of the annexation of Crimea. The extent of the celebrations in southern Russia varied dramatically, according to Kavkazsky Uzel news agency reporters who were on the scene. Twenty people gathered for celebrations in Sochi, but about 13,000... MORE

President Petro Poroshenko’s continued ownership of a confectionary manufacturing facility in Lipetsk, Russia, has become such a political burden for the Ukrainian leader that he specifically addressed the issue of its sale in an exclusive TV interview earlier this month (March 2015) (TSN, March 13).... MORE

The postponed Russia-Belarus-Kazakhstan summit took place last Friday (March 20) in Astana, but the program was cut so short that the only point for staging the event appeared to be to confirm President Vladimir Putin’s return to business as usual (Kommersant, March 21). Presidents Nursultan... MORE