Latest Articles about Europe's East
LUKASHENKA REMOVES KGB CHIEF
On July 17 Belarusian President Alyaksander Lukashenka dismissed the head of the KGB, Stsyapan Sukharenka as well as his first deputy, Vasil Dzemyantsey. Sukharenka's replacement is Yury Zhadobin, formerly head of the president's security forces. Zhadobin's first task is to clean up the organization, signifying... MORE
OLD GUARD BANISHED FROM YUSHCHENKO PARTY LEADERSHIP
Roman Bezsmertny, a high-ranking member of President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine (NU) party, has left its leadership and is not going to run for parliament this year. Bezsmertny’s departure is part of an evolutionary process affecting Our Ukraine. The group of businessmen active in politics,... MORE
AS UKRAINE LOOKS TOWARD NATO, MOSCOW’S MARITIME INTERESTS SHIFT EASTWARD
Legendary Russian General Alexander Suvorov founded Russia’s Black Sea naval base at Sevastopol in 1783. Since the collapse of communism in 1991, Russia’s presence in the Crimean peninsula has increasingly been a bone of contention between Moscow and Kyiv, and Russia is slowly moving to... MORE
YUSHCHENKO’S MULTI-VECTOR ELECTION STRATEGY
On July 4 Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko called a high-level meeting of oligarchs, the third such gathering in his presidency. The first took place in October 2005 after Yuriy Yekhanurov replaced Yulia Tymoshenko as prime minister (see EDM, October 28, 2005). Yushchenko has always maintained... MORE
CHUBAIS’ ”ADVISER“ RELEASED FROM MOLDOVAN DETENTION
On July 9, the Chisinau Court of Appeals released Valeriu Pasat from jail, after serving two and a half years out of a 10-year sentence. Pasat has been an adviser to Russian Unified Energy Systems (UES) chief Anatoly Chubais. Moldovan authorities are keeping the case... MORE
LUTSENKO TOPS YUSHCHENKO’S LIST FOR PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s bloc for the early parliamentary elections scheduled for September 30 has been formally set up. At a July 5 meeting chaired by Yushchenko, representatives of several right-of-center parties signed a declaration proclaiming the Our Ukraine People’s Self-Defense Bloc (NUNS). The bloc’s... MORE
THE LAUNCHING OF A PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT IN BELARUS
On July 3, Belarus officially commemorated Independence Day, and the month also marks the 17th anniversary of the declaration of sovereignty in the late Soviet era. In contrast to previous years, the authorities are now offering a new form of patriotism: the promotion of national... MORE
UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SLASHES EXPENSES WITH EYE TOWARD NATO
When the USSR collapsed in 1991, both Russia and Ukraine claimed the Black Sea Fleet and the historic port of Sevastopol with Ukraine. Eventually an agreement was reached to divide the hardware and allow Russia to lease the port. Ukraine opted to offload much of... MORE
NEW POLITICAL ALLIANCES EMERGE IN UKRAINE
As Ukraine prepares for the September 30 parliamentary elections, the balance of power among political forces is markedly shifting. The pre-democratic “Orange” camp is reconfiguring while the long-dominant Dnipropetrovsk camp is dwindling in influence. On Thursday, June 28, President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine party, headed... MORE
DID YUSHCHENKO BORROWS KUCHMA’S IDEAS FOR CONSTITUTION?
The Ukrainian constitution will most certainly be changed after the snap parliamentary election scheduled for September 30, no matter who wins the vote. Both President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych admit that the constitutional reform of 2004-2006, which increased the power of parliament... MORE