Latest Articles about Europe's East
UKRAINE’S NEW GOVERNMENT: DARK BLUE, PALE ORANGE, SOME PINK, TOUCH OF RED
The mere fact that Ukraine finally has a cabinet of ministers since August 4 is an achievement after a seven-month vacuum. (The outgoing cabinet had been dismissed by parliament in January, continued as a powerless caretaker beyond the March elections, resigned officially in May both... MORE
UKRAINE’S NATIONAL UNITY DECLARATION: NO GUIDE TO POLICY OR ACTION
The August 3 Declaration on National Unity, signed by leaders of four political forces -- the Party of Regions, Our Ukraine, the Socialists, and (with reservations) the Communists -- as a basis for a governing Coalition of National Unity, is a declarative rather than a... MORE
YUSHCHENKO, YANUKOVYCH REACH COMPROMISE
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has decided not to disband parliament. Instead, he nominated Viktor Yanukovych, who lost the presidential election to him in December 2004, for prime minister. These were the only two options that Yushchenko faced after the Orange coalition between his Our Ukraine... MORE
YUSHCHENKO’S INITIATIVE REVEALS HURDLES TO UKRAINIAN UNITY
The constitution gives Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko 15 days to endorse the parliamentary majority’s choice for prime minister, and Yushchenko has used this entire interim trying to persuade his rival, Viktor Yanukovych, to accept his conditions in return for the endorsement. Today, August 2, is... MORE
HOW SECURE IS LUKASHENKA?
Having attained through dubious means another overwhelming election victory last March, and having amended the Belarusian constitution yet again so that there are no limits to his term in office, President Alexander Lukashenka appears to be more firmly in power than ever before. Yet there... MORE
YUSHCHENKO LAYS OUT HIS CONDITIONS FOR ACCEPTING YANUKOVYCH
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, who is reluctant to approve the parliamentary majority’s choice for prime minister -- his 2004 presidential election rival Viktor Yanukovych -- has decided to explain his reluctance to the nation. Yushchenko has made public a set of conditions, making it clear... MORE
UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT, CABINET IN LIMBO
No cabinet is emerging in Ukraine to replace the outgoing one of Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov. Meanwhile, President Viktor Yushchenko may disband parliament at any time and call new elections. This uncertainty is apparently Yushchenko’s conscious choice, as he delays the appointment of a new... MORE
VERDICT HANDED DOWN ON BELARUSIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
On July 13 a Minsk court sentenced former presidential candidate Alexander Kazulin to five and one-half years of confinement. The verdict, while unwarranted and harsh, also raises some questions about the outlook of the Lukashenka regime. Why was Kazulin singled out for such treatment at... MORE
TABLES TURNED IN UKRAINE
Long-time opponents of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko allied with defectors from his camp to outplay him in a bid to secure control over the government. The Orange coalition, which was announced on June 20, barely survived two weeks; instead a coalition built around the Party... MORE
YUSHCHENKO’S ENERGY TEAM CONSIDERS CEDING TRANSIT PIPELINES TO GAZPROM
President Viktor Yushchenko’s associates in charge of Ukraine’s energy system are negotiating to cede control over the country’s gas transit pipelines to Gazprom. Although national control over the transit pipelines is generally deemed a major safeguard to Ukraine’s security and independence, and most political forces... MORE