Latest Articles about Europe's East

UKRAINE’S GAS PREDICAMENT WORSENING

One year ago today (see EDM, June 22, 2005), Moscow’s preparations for a late-autumn gas attack on Ukraine could already be detected. The early alert hardly registered in official Kyiv (except with then-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was soon forced out), let alone internationally; and... MORE

UKRAINE’S STATE GAS COMPANY FALLING RAPIDLY INTO DEBT

The gas deals, signed by Kyiv’s envoys with Gazprom and its offshoot RosUkrEnergo in January and February, are showing their damaging impact even faster than anticipated. The state oil and gas company Naftohaz Ukrainy is rapidly falling into arrears for gas delivered by Gazprom through... MORE

LUKASHENKA SEEKS TO REWRITE HISTORY BOOKS

On June 16, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka opened the new National Library in Minsk. Formerly located across the street from the president's residence, the new building, which resembles a space capsule, is located east of the city on the main road to Moscow and the... MORE

YUSHCHENKO’S PARTY CHOOSING COALITION PARTNERS

As the clock ticks down to June 24, when President Viktor Yushchenko may disband the Ukrainian parliament if no group has been able to form a majority there, coalition talks have intensified dramatically. Now Yushchenko's Our Ukraine is in talks not only with the parties... MORE

NATO MEMBERSHIP ACTION PLAN STILL WITHIN UKRAINE’S REACH IN 2006

Notwithstanding the compromised military exercises and internal political paralysis, Ukraine can still qualify for obtaining a NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the alliance's summit in Riga in November. Technically, MAP status would only imply a relatively small advance from Ukraine's present status under the... MORE

END OF ORANGE COALITION LOOMING?

Talks to establish a government coalition between President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, and the Socialists have apparently fallen through. Our Ukraine has acquiesced to Tymoshenko's demand to give her back the post of prime minister, which she lost in September 2005.... MORE

BUSH VISIT, MILITARY EXERCISES CANCELED IN UKRAINE

The U.S. White House announced on June 8 that President George W. Bush would not go ahead with his tentatively planned visit to Ukraine. The announcement termed the decision a postponement, rather than cancellation, of the visit, and tactfully refrained from citing the reasons behind... MORE

RUSSIA AND WEST APPEAR SET TO CLASH OVER UKRAINE

The Kremlin and the West have ratcheted up their rhetoric over NATO’s possible expansion into Ukraine. The strategically located East European state appears destined to remain an apple of discord between an increasingly assertive Moscow and the Western powers. At stake are the intertwined issues... MORE

HOW “UNITED” IS THE UNITED OPPOSITION IN BELARUS?

The united opposition campaign during the 2006 Belarusian presidential election was a creditable effort, particularly in the weeks leading up to the vote as well during the protests afterward in October Square. Though hundreds were arrested, and the crackdown by the authorities is continuing, there... MORE