On May 8, Alexander Lukashenka delivered his annual address to the National Assembly and to the Belarusian people. Mr. Lukashenka postponed the address, which was originally scheduled for April 19, ordering speechwriters to edit parts of the text that focused on privatization and foreign policy.... MORE

On May 3, Moscow criticized Turkey’s plans to explore natural gas deposits around the divided island of Cyprus, under the protection of Turkish naval and air power. Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry’s chief spokesman, Aleksandr Lukashevich, cautioned Turkey that its actions “may exacerbate the situation on... MORE

The Republic of Cyprus, a European Union member country, is proceeding with development of the Aphrodite offshore field. This is the first of 12 offshore gas and oil blocs that Cyprus plans to tender out to international companies. Bidding for the other 11 blocs was... MORE

Ukraine’s two largest opposition parties – Fatherland, which is headed by the imprisoned former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and the Front of Change (FZ) whose leader is the former parliamentary speaker and former foreign minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk – have agreed to join forces for the... MORE

Two separate trials are currently underway in Germany that have highlighted the particular role of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) as a feeder group for German jihadists who end up working alongside al-Qaeda. The first is a case in Koblenz involving Ahmad Wali Siddiqui,... MORE

The Ukrainian government is negotiating the issue of ruble-denominated government bonds, making the country no longer reliant on IMF assistance. Ukraine’s 2010 IMF assistance package of $15.6 billion was suspended in March 2011 because of Ukraine’s refusal to continue with IMF reforms, in particular raising... MORE

The release of two political prisoners over the Orthodox Easter weekend, followed by the gradual return of the European Union ambassadors to Minsk (they departed en masse on February 28) has prompted supposition about the effectiveness of the relatively harsh sanctions against the Belarusian regime.... MORE

A month ago, thousands of Salafis from various organizations demonstrated in downtown Tunis in support of the Qur‘an. Tens of individuals among them also brazenly climbed the famous clock tower and waved the black flag of Islam. Yet, among these Salafi organizations in Tunisia, there... MORE

The Pechersky district court in Kyiv on April 12 sentenced Valery Ivashchenko, who was acting Minister of Defense from June 2009 until April 2010, to five years in jail. This is despite the European Union’s warnings that more persecution of ministers from the former government... MORE

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin visited Chisinau and Tiraspol for the first time on April 16-17 in his additional role: as Russia’s presidential envoy “for Transnistria,” and chairman on the Russian side of the Russia-Moldova inter-governmental economic commission. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime... MORE