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Latest Articles about Europe's East
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Russia Moving From Conflict-Solving To Conquest-Guaranteeing in Transnistria
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's March 18 meeting with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and Transnistria leader Igor Smirnov (EDM, March 20) was designed to mark a qualitatively new stage in the long-running negotiations on the Transnistria conflict. While continuing to block the conflict resolution negotiations, Russia... MORE
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Can the Far-Right and Liberal Hopefuls Challenge Ukraine’s Leaders?
Recent opinion polls and a local election on March 16 have shown that two stars are rising in Ukrainian politics. The time remaining until the January 2010 presidential election should show whether the two, far-right Oleg Tyahnybok and liberal economist Arseny Yatsenyuk, will prove viable... MORE
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Moldova’s Political Landscape on the Eve of General Elections: Part Three
Moldova's Social-Democrat Party is being led by the tandem of former Prime Minister Dumitru Braghis (1999-2001) and young businessman-politician Eduard Musuc in these elections. The party targets both Moldovan and "Russian-speaking" voters. Accordingly, it promises to seek an association agreement with the EU, a strategic... MORE
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Voronin-Medvedev Accord Demolishes Moldova’s Negotiating Position on Transnistria
Apparently panicking in the run-up to the April 5 elections, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin has hoisted the white flag of surrender on Transnistria in return for a pre-election endorsement from the Kremlin. The president can not run for a third term of office but his... MORE
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Moldova’s Political Landscape on the Eve of General Elections: Part Two
Moldova's opposition parties are small and leader-centered. Most of the opposition parties compete against one another for the same segments of the electorate or for overlapping segments. In these cases party labels are also often irrelevant or misleading. For a country that does not have... MORE
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Moldova’s Political Landscape on the Eve of General Elections: Part One
Moldova will hold parliamentary elections on April 5, and its new parliament will elect the new president and confirm a new government. Incumbent President Vladimir Voronin's second, final term of office expires in April. The transition process ahead will severely test the country's weak political... MORE
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Ukrainian Central Bank to Become More Independent from Government
The efforts of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's government to tighten control over the banking sector have failed. In order to qualify for loans from the IMF, the government has had to cancel its orders for the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to buy government bonds... MORE
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Romanian-Ukrainian Espionage Scandal Exacerbates Already Poor Relations
NATO and European Union (EU) membership for Romania was meant to consign to history its penchant for territorial claims and its poor record on national minority rights, but this was not to be. Ukraine, the non-NATO member with the greatest level of cooperation with NATO,... MORE
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Economic Problems Beset Belarus
To date, there has been little other than optimistic prognoses from Belarusian government circles about the state of the economy. Unlike the situation in neighboring states, Belarus is not facing recession, and economic growth continues. Moreover, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has assured citizens of government protection,... MORE
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Nalyvaychenko Becomes Ukrainian Security Chief After Two Years in Legal Limbo
The Ukrainian parliament on March 6 approved President Viktor Yushchenko's nomination for Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) chief, Valentyn Nalyvaychenko. Yushchenko's choice was backed by 230 votes in the 450-seat unicameral body. Nalyvaychenko was supported by a coalition of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc (BYT),... MORE