![](/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/region-europe.jpg)
Latest Articles about Europe's East
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/NATO_Chicago_Summit_-_EDM_May_24__2012.jpg)
Chicago Summit: NATO Remains AWOL from Europe’s East
With the salient exception of Georgia, NATO basically ignored its own immediate eastern neighborhood at NATO’ Chicago summit (May 20-21). Europe’s East – a “gray zone” of six countries bordering on NATO and the EU – faces a deepening security vacuum and Russian re-expansion. This... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Wen_Jiabao_and_Lukashenka_-_EDM_May_23__2012.jpg)
Multiple Signs of Stabilization in Belarus
If there is any refrain to recent developments in Belarus, it is political and socio-economic stabilization. First, the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has not succumbed to political pressure – mainly from the United States – and confirmed Minsk as the venue for the 2014... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Eduard_Stavytsky_-_EDM_May_22__2012.jpg)
Ukraine Chooses Shell and Chevron to Extract Shale Gas
The Ukrainian government has chosen Shell and Chevron to develop its shale gas fields. Their first drilling results are expected in 2013-2014. Whether or not these results match expectations will be a test for Ukraine’s ability to cut its umbilical cord to Russian gas. Without... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Russia_Ukraine_joint_cooperation_-_EDM_May_15__2012.jpeg)
Growing Ukrainian-Russian Arms Export Cooperation
Although President Viktor Yanukovych publicly portrays his foreign policy as multi-vector – balancing between Russia and the West – in reality, there has been a substantial shift in Ukraine’s orientation toward Russia (see EDM, November 3, 2009, January 20, 2010, January 29, 2010). Yanukovych’s multi-vectorism... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Alexander_Lukashenka_state_of_the_nation_-_EDM_May_9__2012.jpg)
Belarus: The End of a Cycle
On May 8, Alexander Lukashenka delivered his annual address to the National Assembly and to the Belarusian people. Mr. Lukashenka postponed the address, which was originally scheduled for April 19, ordering speechwriters to edit parts of the text that focused on privatization and foreign policy.... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Arseny_Yatsenyuk_-_EDM_May_7__2012.jpg)
Ukraine’s Two Main Opposition Parties Join Forces for Parliamentary Election
Ukraine’s two largest opposition parties – Fatherland, which is headed by the imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and the Front of Change (FZ) whose leader is the former parliamentary speaker and former foreign minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk – have agreed to join forces for the... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Ukraine_hryvnia_-_EDM_May_2__2012.jpg)
Russia’s Growing Influence in Ukraine: Economics and Energy
The Ukrainian government is negotiating the issue of ruble-denominated government bonds, making the country no longer reliant on IMF assistance. Ukraine’s 2010 IMF assistance package of $15.6 billion was suspended in March 2011 because of Ukraine’s refusal to continue with IMF reforms, in particular raising... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Alyaksandr_Lukashenka_-_EDM_May_1__2012.jpg)
Return of EU Ambassadors to Minsk
The release of two political prisoners over the Orthodox Easter weekend, followed by the gradual return of the European Union ambassadors to Minsk (they departed en masse on February 28) has prompted supposition about the effectiveness of the relatively harsh sanctions against the Belarusian regime.... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Valery_Ivashchenko_-_EDM_April_23__2012.jpg)
Ukraine’s Former Defense Minister Ivashchenko Jailed
The Pechersky district court in Kyiv on April 12 sentenced Valery Ivashchenko, who was acting Minister of Defense from June 2009 until April 2010, to five years in jail. This is despite the European Union’s warnings that more persecution of ministers from the former government... MORE
![](/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Dmitri_Rogozin_and_Moldovan_president_-_EDM_April_20__2012.jpeg)
Rogozin Details Preconditions to Transnistria Conflict-Resolution
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin visited Chisinau and Tiraspol for the first time on April 16-17 in his additional role: as Russia’s presidential envoy “for Transnistria,” and chairman on the Russian side of the Russia-Moldova inter-governmental economic commission. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime... MORE