Latest Articles about Europe's East
VORONIN REQUESTS NATO IPAP, WESTERN SUPPORT TO RESOLVE TRANSNISTRIA
On June 7 in Brussels, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin addressed the North Atlantic Council (NAC, the main decision-making body of NATO) in ambassadorial session, as part of NATO-Moldova consultations within the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program. It was the first-ever official visit by a Moldovan... MORE
IS UKRAINE RESUMING DOUBLE-VECTOR DISCOURSE FOR OIL’S SAKE?
On his visit to Kazakhstan in search for oil supplies, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko held out the prospect of Ukraine's participation in the Russia-led project of a Single Economic Space (SES, which also includes Belarus and Kazakhstan). Without mentioning Ukraine's quest for increasingly closer relations... MORE
CRIMINAL CHARGES FILED AGAINST FORMER UKRAINIAN PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC PARTY
Criminal charges have been filed against the People's Democratic Party (NDP), led by former Ukrainian prime minister Valeriy Pustovoitenko. NDP's bank accounts have been frozen. The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office revealed that one million hryvni (approximately $200,000) was transferred from Ukrainian Railways to the NDP at... MORE
IS BELARUS A DICTATORSHIP?
Several recent events have brought Belarus close to a dictatorship, a term used rather freely to describe the administration of President Alexander Lukashenka, but hitherto incorrectly. Over the past eleven years, despite the heavy hand of the authorities, there have remained important outlets for the... MORE
UKRAINIAN POLICE GO AFTER YANUKOVYCH, MEDVEDCHUK
As Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Lutsenko promised several months ago, investigators have finally targeted the very top figures from the previous government. Police have summoned former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and former presidential administration head Viktor Medvedchuk for questioning over several graft cases. Earlier the... MORE
FORMER SECURITY CHIEF REVEALS DETAILS ABOUT VIOLENCE DURING UKRAINIAN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
In February, Oleksandr Turchynov, a close ally of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, replaced Ihor Smeshko as chief of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU). Smeshko recently provided new details about violence during Ukraine's 2004 presidential elections in a long interview published in the May 27 issue... MORE
ANALYSTS TURN A CRITICAL EYE TOWARD YUSHCHENKO’S EARLY RECORD
Ukraine watchers are abuzz about a May 25 article in Lvivska Hazeta, in which the paper's Moscow correspondent called upon Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to dismiss Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. According to an eyewitness account published in Zerkalo Tyzhnia/Nedeli on May 21, Yushchenko did call... MORE
ATTEMPT AT MASS PROTEST IN KYIV DEMONSTRATES OPPOSITION WEAKNESSES
The former Ukrainian authorities, now in opposition to President Viktor Yushchenko, are trying to attract public attention to their problems. The popular Eurovision Song Contest, held May 19 in Kyiv, provided an opportunity to play to the visiting international media. Protesting against "political persecution," the... MORE
RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN OIL SUMMIT: AN UNEASY, FLEETING COMPROMISE
On May 19 in Kyiv, President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and other senior Ukrainian officials met in an emergency conference with Russia's Ambassador Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian state pipeline monopoly Transneft chairman Semyon Vainshtok, and top executives of Russian oil companies and their branches... MORE
VICTORY DAY EVENTS SHOCK BELARUS
The 60th anniversary of Victory Day, commemorated on May 9, brought about two controversial and quite unexpected events for Belarus. The first was Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka's failure to appear at the grand celebrations in Moscow as anticipated. The second was the renaming of the... MORE