Despite Ukraine's September political crisis and the subsequent fall of the Yulia Tymoshenko government, the Tymoshenko bloc in parliament is still a fairly reliable ally of President Viktor Yushchenko's People's Union-Our Ukraine (NSNU). Other allies from the Orange Revolution, including the Socialist Party (SPU) and... MORE

On November 10, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs introduced for the first time a causal link between Moldova's pro-Western orientation and Russia's refusal to withdraw its forces from that country's territory. The Ministry's CIS Affairs Department Director Vyacheslav Kovalenko began a special news briefing that... MORE

Following the election of Alexander Milinkevich as the leader of the united opposition at the Democratic Convention in early October, the Belarusian opposition has begun to elaborate its tactics for the anticipated elections in the summer of 2006. The Political Council created after the Convention... MORE

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has replaced Prosecutor-General Sviatoslav Piskun with Oleksandr Medvedko. Piskun was too close to former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is set to be Yushchenko's most dangerous rival in the parliamentary election next March. Furthermore, Piskun failed to solve a single major... MORE

Both officially and unofficially, Moldova will again top the European security agenda at next month's OSCE year-end ministerial conference. This will again be an exercise in futility, unless the European Union and the United States decide to act on their own, outside the OSCE's framework... MORE

Although the main story in Ukrainian politics this fall has been the rift in the Orange Revolutionary camp, the centrists that once gathered around former president Leonid Kuchma are far more divided. Most of them will have a hard time winning seats in the 2006... MORE

Ukrainian Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn has decided on the format of his participation in the March 2006 parliamentary polls. The much-advertised mega-bloc between Lytvyn, President Viktor Yushchenko's People's Union-Our Ukraine (NSNU), and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland party has failed to materialize. Instead, Lytvyn... MORE

Once reviled by reformers, Ukraine's wealthy business oligarchs are now being described as a "national bourgeoisie" by top government officials. After much controversy and debate, on October 24 Kryvorizhstal, Ukraine's largest steel mill, was re-privatized in proceedings that were transparent and widely praised. The Ukrainian... MORE