Latest Articles about Europe's East
PACE ASKS FOR FULL INVESTIGATION OF GONGADZE CASE
On October 5 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) issued a resolution requesting that the Ukrainian authorities deal with different aspects of the investigation into the murder of journalist Heorhiy Gongadze (assembly.coe.int). However, the Ukrainian authorities will not honor that request. The... MORE
MOLDOVA: TWO STOOLS FOR THE WEST, TWO GILDED CHAIRS FOR MOSCOW AND TIRASPOL
The United States and the European Union have accepted the status of observers to the "five-sided" format of negotiations toward conflict-resolution in Moldova. That format, created by Yevgeny Primakov in 1997 and abandoned by Moldova in 2004, had pitted Moscow, Kyiv, Tiraspol, and the OSCE... MORE
BELARUS OPPOSITION CHOOSES ITS CANDIDATE
On October 2 about 1,000 delegates attending the Congress of Democratic Forces of Belarus, meeting at the Palace of Culture of the Minsk Automobile Factory, elected Alexander Milinkevich as the single candidate for the presidential elections of 2006. Milinkevich received 399 votes, defeating his closest... MORE
UKRAINE’S NEW PRIME MINISTER RETURNS EMPTY-HANDED FROM MOSCOW
Yuriy Yekhanurov paid his first visit abroad as Ukrainian prime minister to Moscow on September 30, barely eight days after his confirmation by parliament and only two days after the appointment of most of his ministerial team. The alacrity of the visit reflected -- as... MORE
WILL NEW PRIME MINISTER MAKE CRIMEA ANY BETTER?
Following recent events in Kyiv, Ukraine's only autonomous republic, Crimea, has dismissed its prime minister. The two events were not directly linked. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko fired Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in early September because her populism and huge ambitions had started to undermine trust... MORE
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
WILL YUSHCHENKO FOLLOW THE PATTERN OF SERBIA’S KOSTUNICA — OR DJINDJIC?
This week has been both good and bad for Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. Good, because his new government headed by Yuriy Yekhanurov is taking shape. The new government is set to be more market-reform minded, a step favored by foreign investors. But these positives come... 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