Latest Articles about Europe's East
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
UKRGASENERGO: A NEW RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN VENTURE TO DOMINATE UKRAINE’S GAS MARKET
A not-so-silent majority in Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers, forces ranging from core Orange constituencies to the Party of Regions and groups as diverse as the liberal press and industrial interests, are waging rear-guard actions against the agreement signed on February 2 by Prime Minister Yuriy... MORE
RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN DELEGATION IN MOLDOVA/TRANSNISTRIA SHORT-CIRCUITS THE NEGOTIATING PROCESS
In his state-of-the-nation address to parliament on February 9, President Viktor Yushchenko claimed for Ukraine the role of "regional leader," one "serv[ing] as the basis for integration processes in the region of Central and Eastern Europe." By way of substantiating that claim, Yushchenko went on,... MORE
OUR UKRAINE, PARTY OF REGIONS LOOK FOR COALITION ALLIES, MAY FIND EACH OTHER
Just a year ago, the idea of a union between president-elect Viktor Yushchenko and his arch-rival Viktor Yanukovych, defeated and disgraced by vote-rigging accusations, would have been bizarre. But current realities make quite possible a coalition between Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and Yanukovych's Party of Regions... MORE