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Latest Articles about Europe
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Belarus Redoubles Efforts to Connect With the World
While the outcome of this past month’s presidential elections in Belarus continues to be discussed, the major news refrains have become the debate on a Russian airbase in Belarus, rapprochement with the West, the prospects for economic reform, and labor migration to and from Belarus.... MORE
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Another Punished People, the Pontic Greeks, Posing New Problems for Moscow in Crimea
The Soviet government tried to force out the Pontic Greeks from the southern part of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in the early 1920s, and then subjected that community to three waves of deportation to Central Asia in 1937, 1942 and 1949. Now,... MORE
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Kazakhstan Walking Tightrope Amid Russia-Ukraine Divide
At a time when relations between Russia and the West are at an all-time low because of Moscow’s meddling in Ukraine and Syria, Kazakhstan is finding it increasingly complicated to preserve the balance. In the span of a week this month (October 2015), Kazakhstani President... MORE
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Israeli Analyst Calls on Ukraine to Facilitate Peaceful Transition in the North Caucasus
Israeli analyst Avraam Shmulevich has urged Ukrainian authorities to take a more pro-active approach to the situation in Russia. Shmulevich visited Ukraine to consult the newly created inter-party parliamentary group “Za Vilniy Kavkaz” (For a Free Caucasus). In an interview with a Ukrainian news agency,... MORE
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Belarus-West Relations: Ready to Break the ‘Vicious Circle?’
In the last decade or so, Belarus’s relations with the West became popularly characterized as locked in a “vicious circle.” The term was widely used in diplomatic and expert communities to refer to the cyclical nature of the relationship that was, in turn, tied to... MORE
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Alleged Vote Rigging in Belarus and Paralysis of the Opposition
Belarus’s presidential election (held on October 11) appear to have generated two main responses. First, opposition-minded commentators practically unanimously opine that although the incumbent, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, could have won the election hands down even without vote rigging, some 20 percent of votes may have... MORE
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Moldovan Billionaire Plahotniuc Gaining More Political Power
In a country as bereft of leadership talent as Moldova turned out to be, Liberal-Democrat Party leader Vlad Filat’s resignation over corruption charges and his arrest leaves a vacuum in its wake. The charges against Filat, in the form in which they were proffered, have... MORE
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Moldovan Political Leader Filat Arrested in Intra-Coalition Coup
Moldova is theoretically a parliamentary republic, but its parliament was in recess for two and a half months, hiding away from the economy’s collapse, uncontrollable corruption, loss of the political system’s legitimacy, and regime-change movements competing against each other. Western embassies in Chisinau also seem... MORE
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The Multi-Faceted Reality of Italian Foreign Fighters in Ukraine
The clumsy attempt, in mid-September, of an Italian man to allegedly join pro-Russia separatist forces in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donbas, reignited the issue of Western “volunteers” fighting in this worn-torn country. The would-be Italian combatant for the self-styled separatist “people republics” of Donetsk and... MORE
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The Political Situation in Ukraine on Eve of Nation-Wide Local Elections
Ukraine is nearing its third nation-wide election campaign since the fall of Viktor Yanukovych’s kleptocratic regime early last year. The ballot marathon commenced with presidential and parliamentary votes in 2014, and is now being followed by local elections, slated for October 25, 2015 (Kyiv Post,... MORE