Latest Articles about Europe's East
OUR UKRAINE QUITS CABINET — BUT HINTS AT RETURN
The pro-presidential Our Ukraine bloc will be in opposition to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s cabinet, Our Ukraine’s formal leader, Roman Bezsmertny, declared in parliament on October 17. He urged the four ministers representing Our Ukraine in the cabinet to resign, and the next day President... MORE
OSCE’S BELGIAN CHAIR PROPOSES REFORMED PEACEKEEPING IN MOLDOVA
Like other chairmanships of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in recent years, the 2006 Belgian Chairmanship is partly staking its success on showing some decisive progress on Transnistria conflict-settlement during its term in the chair. In the run-up to the organization's December... MORE
YUSHCHENKO PICKS DONETSK MAN FOR SECURITY CHIEF
On October 10 President Viktor Yushchenko appointed one of Ukraine’s most influential businessmen, Vitaly Hayduk, as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC). Yushchenko had reportedly been about to choose either opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko or former prime minister Yuriy Yekhanurov for this... MORE
RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN “INTERNATIONAL” GAS CONSORTIUM BACK ON THE AGENDA
On October 10, President Viktor Yushchenko’s office issued two policy announcements regarding control over Ukraine’s gas transit pipeline system: regarding national ownership in the morning and regarding a Russian-German-Ukrainian consortium in the evening. Meeting in the morning with Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych to discuss government... MORE
YUSHCHENKO’S PARTY CONSIDERS OPPOSITION OPTION
The Our Ukraine bloc of six right-of-center parties, which supports President Viktor Yushchenko, has withdrawn from talks on joining the government coalition with the Party of Regions (PRU), the Socialists, and the Communists. Roman Bezsmertny, the formal leader of Our Ukraine (NU), announced that it... MORE
UKRAINE IN SEARCH OF A REGIONAL POLICY
Ukraine’s independence from Russia is the single largest geopolitical gain to the free world and Ukraine’s neighbors, resulting from what Russian President Vladimir Putin bemoans as “the 20th century’s greatest geopolitical catastrophe.” Ukraine’s independence has transformed the politics of European security generally and the international... MORE
YUSHCHENKO, YANUKOVYCH WRESTLE OVER GOVERNORS
As President Viktor Yushchenko struggles to adapt to a situation in which his party controls neither the cabinet nor the parliament -- and the prime minister is not his ally, let alone his appointee -- he may also lose control of the regions. Prime Minister... MORE
VORONIN’S SIX-POINT PLAN TO PUTIN: A CALCULATED RISK
The only European country without a definite status between the West and Russia, Moldova has made its choice in the West’s favor conclusively, but is too weak to implement its choice without hands-on Western political and diplomatic assistance. This moment is one of maximum weakness... MORE
OLD THINKING INSPIRES NEW RUSH TO NEGOTIATIONS ON MOLDOVA/TRANSNISTRIA
Following the September 17 referendum that approved Transnistria’s secession from Moldova and goal of joining Russia in a Soviet-style 97% vote, Moldova is being pressed into negotiating with Transnistria without even a decent interval. The forces behind such pressure are a familiar constellation: Moscow and... MORE
LUKASHENKA: WHY THE UNION STATE DOES NOT EXIST
In the past week, 83 journalists from 73 different Russian media outlets visited Belarus. They hailed from 48 regions of Russia and were given a tour of enterprises and collective farms in Hrodna and Mahileu oblasts. At the end of the tour they were invited... MORE