Latest Articles about Europe's East

UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION PARTIES CAMPAIGN FOR RUSSIAN LANGUAGE

The Russian language issue has been employed in the run-up to the March 26 Ukrainian parliamentary election probably more actively than in any past poll. Unlike in previous elections, where marginal groups and low-key candidates played the Russian-language card, now such heavyweights as the frontrunner... MORE

RUSSIA HINTING IT MAY ESCALATE TRANSNISTRIA STANDOFF

A Kremlin-dispatched interagency delegation has completed a three-day visit to Transnistria, hinting that it would recommend strong Russian countermeasures against the international trading regime just introduced by Ukraine and Moldova on their common border with Western encouragement (see EDM, March 8, 9). Officials who coordinate... MORE

MOSCOW AGAINST INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ORDER IN TRANSNISTRIA

Russia is reacting aggressively against the introduction of a lawful, internationally approved trading regime on an international border not its own. This fact bears direct relevance to Moscow's bid for admission to the World Trade Organization. In Washington on March 7, Russian Minister Sergei Lavrov... MORE

BELARUS ELECTION CAMPAIGN TURNS VIOLENT

Belarusian authorities have made some concessions to the opposition during the presidential election campaign, but they have also used violence and provocations to ensure that there are no surprises on March 19. The violence began on February 17, registration day for presidential candidates. A scuffle... MORE

UKRAINE STEPS IN TO CLOSE EUROPE’S BIGGEST BLACK HOLE

Ukraine has finally begun cooperating with Moldova and the European Union against rampant unlawful trade across the Transnistria sector of the Ukraine-Moldova border. That 450-kilometer sector, Europe's largest "black hole," forms a major source of the secessionist authorities' income and power as well as a... MORE

MOLDOVAN EX-DEFENSE MINISTER’S TRIAL BOOMERANGS

It was about Napoleon's execution of the Duke d'Enghien, a leader in foreign-supported conspiracies in France, that Talleyrand delivered the comment: "It is worse than a crime, it is a mistake." Moldova's recent sentencing of former defense minister Valeriu Pasat, a leading figure in Russian-supported... MORE

HOW THE BELARUS ELECTION WILL BE WON

The Central Election Commission in Belarus announced on February 17 that four candidates have been officially registered for the presidential election of March 19. These include: President Alexander Lukashenka; leader of the Liberal Democratic Party Syarhey Haidukevich; and two opposition candidates, Alexander Kazulin of the... MORE

IS YUSHCHENKO BACKTRACKING ON THE NOTORIOUS GAS DEAL?

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko finally has noticed the internal and international critique of the January 4 and February 2 gas deals with Moscow that he authorized and has been praising. Signaling a possible turnabout, Yushchenko's press service announced on February 14, "The President said that... MORE