Serially recurring and failing parliamentary and presidential elections have fed rivalries within Moldova’s governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI). The upcoming constitutional referendum on September 5, to be followed by new general elections, can only bring the AEI closer to its end.The four parties had... MORE

Moldova is headed for a constitutional referendum on September 5, to be followed by yet another round of double elections, parliamentary and presidential. It will be the third round of double elections (or fourth electoral round, counting the referendum) in just 19 months. Intractable rivalries... MORE

On July 28, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $15 billion loan for Ukraine, as most observers expected (EDM, July 21). Ukraine received the first $1.9 billion tranche almost immediately, Serhy Tyhypko, the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic reform, announced (Ukrainski Novyny,... MORE

According to Belarusian First Vice-Prime Minister, Uladzimir Syamashka, the end of July was scheduled to mark the finalization of an agreement between Belarus and Russia to build the nuclear power station at Astravets in the Hrodna region with construction of the station to start next... MORE

Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, Moscow Mayor, Yury Luzhkov, and Patriarch Kirill flocked to Ukraine last week. While the official goals of the visits were different, each promoted the Kremlin’s ideology of a single Russian worldview and personally congratulated President, Viktor Yanukovych on his birthday,... MORE

The description of Belarusian President, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, as “pro-Russian” has side-stepped the fact that he is a Soviet Belarusian nationalist which developed after 2002, when he rejected the then Russian President, Vladimir Putin’s, offer to unite both countries. One factor behind Lukashenka’s Soviet Belarusian nationalism... MORE

The approach of a new election always leads political analysts in Belarus to revisit a familiar question: is regime change possible or remote? Are Belarusians in general satisfied with the presidency of Alyaksandr Lukashenka? Will the current rift with Russia lead to the downfall of... MORE

Kyiv has made every effort to qualify for a new $14.9 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which it expects the IMF board to improve at the end of July. With no parliamentary or presidential elections on the horizon, and a victory in... MORE

Belarus and Ukraine are the only two post-communist countries where the ruling authorities see the nationalism of their countrymen as something to be denounced and combated. Viktor Yanukovych, is the first of four Ukrainian presidents whose team regard Ukrainian nationalism as an evil that they... MORE

The Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s team is tightening its grip on power. The opposition, still in disarray after Yanukovych’s victory in the presidential elections last February, has offered no resistance. More defectors from the opposition are joining the ruling coalition, some of them lured by... MORE