Belarus’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has generated a flurry of activity on the country’s western flank. In charge of this ministry from late August 2012, Vladimir Makei held meetings with the heads of the diplomatic missions of European Union states and the United States (January... MORE

Ukraine has rejected Russia’s demand that it pay a fine for taking less Russian gas from pipelines last year than stipulated by contracts. Kyiv’s position is that the contracts, which it considers damaging to Ukraine, should long ago have been revised. Gazprom can now sue... MORE

More than 20 years after independence, Ukraine’s security forces are over-manned, incompetent and largely remain neo-Soviet in their operating culture. On January 18, the prosecutor’s office accused former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko of being in league with Pavlo Lazarenko (prime minister in 1996–1997) for the... MORE

After a January 27 referendum on the future of Bulgaria’s second nuclear power plant (NPP)  failed to produce a binding result, Sofia announced in a letter to the European Commission its decision to instead construct a new 1,000-megawatt (MW) reactor at the existing Kozloduy NPP... MORE

Perhaps the greatest recent news involving Belarus—news, which all Belarusian regardless of political stripes considered to be great—is Victoria Azarenka’s second tennis victory at the Australian Open on January 26. Her other achievements include winning the Bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,... MORE

Located at the geographic center of Europe, Lithuania is ideally situated to become a regional transportation hub. Two strategic transportation lines cross Lithuania: the North-South highway and railway line connecting Scandinavia with Central Europe, and the East-West Transport Corridor between enormous eastern markets and the... MORE

Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez, three female members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Parti Karkerani Kurdistan – PKK) were murdered in Paris on the night of January 9 (The Kurdistan Tribune, January 10). The three victims held varying levels of seniority. Sakine Cansiz... MORE

In late December, the Swedish defense chief, General Sverker Göranson, stoked controversy by noting that Sweden would only be able to defend itself for a week without outside help (Svenska Dagbladet, December 30, 2012). Generally taking its cues from Sweden, a few weeks later, a... MORE

Shell will extract unconventional gas in Ukraine according to an agreement signed with Ukraine last week. This will be Ukraine’s first big project with a large multinational company in the oil and gas sector, and Chevron is likely to follow suit later this year. With... MORE

On January 24, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjørn Jagland welcomed the Russian government’s decision to allow the publication of a report on the North Caucasus by the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).... MORE