Latest Articles about Europe's East
DIFFERENCES OVER NATO MAY PROVOKE EARLY ELECTION IN UKRAINE
The Ukrainian opposition has blocked parliament since the end of January, demanding a referendum on NATO membership. The Party of Regions (PRU) and the Communist Party (CPU) are confident that Ukrainians will say no to NATO. They believe public support for membership in the Alliance... MORE
TYMOSHENKO REACHES OUT TO FOREIGN INVESTORS
On February 5 Ukraine was admitted to the World Trade Organization. That achievement will facilitate Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s efforts to attract foreign investment. Kicking off that campaign on January 24 she held a two-hour meeting in Kyiv with 250 foreign investors. Then on... MORE
IS A COALITION BETWEEN TYMOSHENKO AND YANUKOVYCH POSSIBLE?
In a recent television interview Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko raised the possibility of a coalition between her eponymous bloc and the Party of Regions (PRU) of former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych. Tymoshenko later tried to downplay her comment, saying she had been misunderstood. But... MORE
RUSSIA DECIDES TO ABANDON UKRAINIAN STRATEGIC RADARS
In the wake of its request to NATO for a Membership Action Plan (see EDM, January 18), Ukraine is offering its two anti-missile early warning and space monitoring radars for possible use by a European missile-defense system under Western auspices (Interfax-Ukraine, February 1, 2). Located... MORE
TRANS-BLACK SEA PIPELINE: ANOTHER CHANCE FOR GEORGIA AND EUROPE
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has proposed that the European Union and Ukraine join a project for a gas pipeline from Turkmenistan via the Caspian Sea, South Caucasus, and Black Sea to Ukraine and EU territory. Tymoshenko termed this concept “White Stream” when presenting it... MORE
UKRAINIAN MINISTER, MAYOR TRADE ACCUSATIONS OF CORRUPTION
When Kyiv Mayor Leonid Chernovetsky publicly accused Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko of corruption. Lutsenko denied that allegation and punched Chernovetsky in the face. Chernovetsky sued him, and Kyiv prosecutors launched a criminal case against Lutsenko. In return, police, whose boss is Lutsenko, re-opened an... MORE
REPRESSION UNDERMINES DIALOGUE WITH BELARUS
On January 22 Andrea Rigoni, a special rapporteur on Belarus for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), declared that PACE should recommence a dialogue with the Belarusian regime of President Alexander Lukashenka. Her comment denotes the latest stage in a continuing debate... MORE
PUTIN-VORONIN FAREWELL: AN ANTI-CLIMACTIC CODA
Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Vladimir Voronin of Moldova met on January 22 in Moscow for the last time in their presidencies. Voronin was still hoping against hope that Putin might finally deliver a settlement of the Transnistria conflict on terms compatible with Moldovan... MORE
YUSHCHENKO STRIVES TO DOMINATE TYMOSHENKO GOVERNMENT
The political honeymoon between Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko appears to be over. Yushchenko has thwarted Tymoshenko’s planned visit to Moscow, torpedoed planned appointments to her government, disagreed with her privatization plan, and come up with a package of bills aimed... MORE
TYMOSHENKO AND YUSHCHENKO CLASH OVER BATTLING CORRUPTION
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko has made combating corruption and strengthening the rule of law central elements in her government’s policy. She is apparently starting at the highest levels of the government. The issue of the lack of action against corruption led to a physical... MORE