Latest Articles about Europe's East
RESOLUTION OF GONGADZE MURDER BLOCKED
Despite hopes to the contrary, the election of a new president of Ukraine has not sped the investigation into the murder of opposition journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. At the Davos World Economic Summit in January, President Viktor Yushchenko promised that the Gongadze case would be submitted... MORE
YUSHCHENKO TARGETS DONETSK “CLANS”
"I am the president of all Ukrainians, those who voted for me and those who didn't, those who understand me and those who don't," President Viktor Yushchenko said upon his July 15 arrival in the eastern city of Donetsk, which remains largely hostile towards him.... MORE
A SHORT-TERM SOLUTION TO UKRAINE’S SUPPLY OF RUSSIAN GAS
Ukraine appears to have found a short-term solution to the problem of gas supplies from Russia for the remainder of 2005. However, the issue of supplies beyond December 31 -- that is, during the peak heating season, in the run-up to the March parliamentary elections... MORE
RUSSIA-BELARUS: THE COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP II
When Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka bid farewell to the outgoing Russian ambassador, Alexander Blokhin, on July 5, he remarked that the past few years have been an especially fruitful time for bilateral relations, and particularly the most recent year. His comments raise the question how... MORE
KYIV’S ROLE IN IRAQ MAY MAKE IT VULNERABLE TO TERRORIST ATTACKS
Ukraine responded to the July 7 terrorist attacks in London by expanding preventative measures to combat potential terrorists. With Ukraine contributing the fourth-largest contingent of troops in Iraq, the Ukrainian government understandably fears that terrorists could target Kyiv and its metro system. The terrorist attacks... MORE
KOZAK PLAN RESURFACES UNDER OSCE COLORS
Moldova/Transnistria topped the agenda of talks held by the OSCE's Chairman-in-Office, Dimitrij Rupel of Slovenia, with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on July 13. In their concluding press briefing, Rupel resurrected the Kremlin's defunct Kozak plan that would have cemented Transnistria's... MORE
YUSHCHENKO’S PARTY PROJECT A FAILURE?
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's dream of unifying the right-of-center political continuum into a mega-party in order to win the 2006 parliamentary elections has failed to materialize. The party's formal head, Deputy Prime Minister Roman Bezsmertny, intended for the first congress of Yushchenko's party, People's Union-Our... MORE
INTERNAL DIVISIONS MAY DEFEAT YUSHCHENKO’S WTO ASPIRATIONS
The Ukrainian parliament went into summer vacation this week after adopting only six of the 14 legislative acts needed for possible WTO membership. Two related laws were adopted earlier. The government had wanted parliament to consider all 14 laws as a package, but parliament refused.... MORE
OSCE PARLIAMENTARY RESOLUTION SETS STAGE FOR RECOGNITION OF TRANSNISTRIA
On July 8, Moldova's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a protest against the content of the Moldova resolution, adopted at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's (OSCE PA) annual session on July 5 in Washington, and against the procedural maneuvers that were used to push the resolution... MORE
YUSHCHENKO ELECTION COALITION DIVIDED OVER ROLE FOR LYTVYN
As the Ukrainian parliament adjourns today for its summer recess, Western observers are increasingly noting the divisions inside President Viktor Yushchenko's team. However, such commentaries typically focus on the wrong divisions. In a report entitled, "Political Rivalries Threaten Ukraine's Reforms," the Financial Times (July 4)... MORE