Latest Articles about Europe's East

BELARUS AUTHORITIES MOVE TO SHUT DOWN MAIN OPPOSITION NEWSPAPER

Belarus's main opposition newspaper, Narodnaya volya, did not appear on the streets of Minsk on October 1. On September 20, its assets were seized by the Lenin district court in Minsk, and the printing house and factory responsible for distributing the newspaper annulled their agreements... MORE

IS PORA TURNING AGAINST YUSHCHENKO?

Pora, the non-governmental organization that played a decisive role in Ukraine's Orange Revolution, has adopted a highly critical stance towards the ten-point memorandum signed last week by President Viktor Yushchenko and the leader of the Party of Regions, former prime minister Viktor Yanukovych (see EDM,... MORE

UKRAINE’S PRIME MINISTER: QUIET MAN IN, FIERY LADY OUT

In the person of Yuriy Yekhanurov, who Ukraine's parliament approved as new prime minister on September 22, President Viktor Yushchenko has acquired a quiet professional who should run the economy while Yushchenko will tackle constitutional reform and next year's parliamentary race. Yekhanurov shares Yushchenko's vision... MORE

SIGNS DEAL WITH YANUKOVYCH TO GET PRIME MINISTER APPROVED

The Ukrainian parliament confirmed Yuriy Yekhanurov as prime minister on September 22 with 289 votes. His candidacy had been rejected by parliament two days earlier when only 223 members of the 450-seat legislature voted for him (see EDM, September 21). Without enough votes on his... MORE

MOSCOW UNDECIDED ON POLICY TOWARD CRISIS-STRICKEN UKRAINE

The gloating heard in the Kremlin over Kyiv's political troubles is giving way to concern and apprehension. While fully realizing the utmost importance of the current Ukrainian events, Russian strategists appear to be at a loss as to how exactly Moscow should act in order... MORE

YUSHCHENKO PRIME MINISTER NOMINEE REJECTED BY PARLIAMENT

On September 20 the Ukrainian parliament failed to approve Yuriy Yekhanurov as prime minister, seven days after President Viktor Yushchenko submitted his candidacy. Yushchenko disbanded the government headed by Yulia Tymoshenko on September 8 after a corruption crisis engineered by outgoing state secretary Oleksandr Zinchenko... MORE

DID BEREZOVSKY FINANCE UKRAINE’S ORANGE REVOLUTION?

The legitimacy of Viktor Yushchenko's victory in the Ukrainian presidential election last December has been called into question by reports suggesting that Russian maverick tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who lives in self-imposed exile in London, financed Yushchenko's election campaign. The allegations have even led to calls... MORE

LUKASHENKA AT THE UN: PROPAGANDA AND INVECTIVE

Though the domestic situation in Belarus is tightly controlled by the authorities, the administration of President Alexander Lukashenka has been isolated internationally to an increasing extent. It was designated an "outpost of tyranny" by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and the U.S. administration and... MORE

TURMOIL IN UKRAINE GALVANIZES KREMLIN INTO ACTION

The Kremlin sees the ongoing political crisis in Kyiv that culminated in last week's dismissal of the Yulia Tymoshenko government by President Viktor Yushchenko as an opportune moment to restart the geopolitical "battle for Ukraine." Russian President Vladimir Putin's administration, although bitterly stung by the... MORE