Tomorrow (May 18) marks the 69th anniversary of Joseph Stalin’s deportation of the Crimean Tatar nation from their homeland on trumped-up charges of collaboration with the Germans during World War II. And once again, Crimean Tatars and their friends around the world will mark that... MORE

Moldova’s tripartite government, the Alliance for European Integration (AEI), has foundered over its internal contradictions, and will no longer be resuscitated in its previously existing form. Two of AEI’s parties have scuttled Prime Minister Vlad Filat’s government in a sequence of steps: on March 5... MORE

In Belarus, the second Sunday of May is celebrated as the Day of the National Emblem and Flag. “For a true citizen, there is nothing more sacred than the coat of arms and the flag of his or her country. Looking at them, each one... MORE

The Bulgarian general elections on May 12 produced a hung parliament and little hope that the political stalemate would be easily overcome. Political instability is expected to continue during a prolonged period of appointing a new government. The scandals with pre-election wiretapping and the discovery... MORE

Ukraine’s energy sector mirrors the country’s pursuit of a multi-vector foreign policy. Kyiv believes it can extract benefits from East and West without giving up its national sovereignty. Since 2010, President Viktor Yanukovych has taken concrete steps toward achieving energy security for Ukraine that his... MORE

In a stream of statements from Brussels and Strasbourg, European Union leaders sound shocked by the demise of Moldova’s tripartite Alliance for European Integration (AEI), and more generally by the collapse of Moldova’s parliamentary system of government. The EU has portrayed Moldova as the Eastern... MORE

Moldova’s governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI) has collapsed in slow motion, de facto in February and officially on April 22. Interrelated with this development, the Liberal-Democrat Party of Vlad Filat has reversed its position and halted the state-capture efforts of its nominal partner within... MORE

Parliamentary elections in Bulgaria on May 12 are unlikely to ease tensions after weeks of public protests against poverty and corruption brought the government down in February. Nor will the vote open the way for economic reform to increase growth and improve living standards in... MORE

Mixed messages regarding the potential release of the remaining political prisoners have been coming out of Belarus and from those monitoring the domestic situation in that country. On the one hand, the report by Miklos Haraszti, a special rapporteur on Belarus for the United Nations... MORE

On April 23, following his trip to Minsk, Russia’s Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu revealed that Russia plans to create its own military airbase on Belarusian soil near the city of Baranovichi, with the first set of Russian fighter jets due to arrive there later... MORE