On August 2, Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka declared that his country would dip into its reserves to pay its existing debt to Gazprom of $456 million (Itar-Tass, August 2). His decision brought a temporary halt to the current crisis raised by Belarus's failure to meet... MORE

“Politics in Moldova is in fact Geopolitics” (Flux, July 20). This recent observation by a pro-Western party leader in Chisinau has quickly become common wisdom. It defines the real stakes in the political changes resulting from President Vladimir Voronin’s non-transparent negotiations with the Kremlin and... MORE

A fragile political consensus -- also known as parliamentary partnership -- on the terms set in 2005 persists in Moldova’s parliament at this time. Its preservation is creditable to the Parliament’s Chairman Marian Lupu, Vice-Chairman and Christian-Democrat leader Iurie Rosca, some centrists, and many Communist... MORE

Post-Soviet railway problems made headlines when Ukraine announced a hazardous materials emergency after a train carrying toxic chemicals crashed on July 16 in the country's Western Lviv region (see EDM, July 23). Fifteen tankers carrying liquid yellow phosphorous derailed, and six caught fire. The train... MORE

Several prosecutors and courts recently decided high-profile cases in favor of individuals who were prosecuted when President Viktor Yushchenko came to power in 2005. At the same time, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutor-General’s Office, which is controlled by individuals hailing from Donetsk,... MORE

Ukraine’s orange elites are facing a growing scandal surrounding Yuriy Lutsenko, head of the pro-presidential Our Ukraine-People’s Self Defense bloc (NUNS). Lutsenko allegedly lobbied on behalf of Ukrainian New Telecommunications (UNTC) when he was interior minister. Lutsenko’s wife is UNTC’s financial director, and the company... MORE

In his marathon-length speeches on July 20 and 25, defending his non-transparent negotiations with Russia on Transnistria (see EDM, July 27), Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin assailed all of Moldova’s non-communist parties indiscriminately. He accused them in prosecutorial terms of obstructing any solution on Transnistria and... MORE

In a marathon-length televised interview on July 20, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin admitted to negotiating a “plan” for conflict-settlement in Transnistria with the Kremlin. Broadcast live in Russian on the presidentially controlled private channel NIT, Voronin’s emotional interview was kept out of the official Moldovan... MORE

In his July 20 interview and July 25 press conference, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin revealed some elements of his plan with the Kremlin on Transnistria: 1. RussianTroops “When the country is reintegrated, no foreign soldier must remain, no military structure of any state,” Voronin said.... MORE

Almost 200 people have been hospitalized following a poisonous chemical spill in Western Ukraine. A cargo train en route from Kazakhstan to Poland derailed in Lviv Region late last Monday, July 16, and six tanker cars loaded with toxic yellow phosphorus cracked, generating a fierce... MORE