On August 2 in Sochi and August 8 in Sukhumi, Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, took personal credit for the military dimension of Russia’s modernization campaign. He also stated that the August 2008 conflict with Georgia catalyzed Russia’s decision to equip its forces with advanced military... MORE

Optimism that the April 27 Black Sea Fleet base extension treaty would calm Russian-Ukrainian relations in the Crimea have been dashed by Moscow’s Mayor, Yury Luzhkov. On July 19, Luzhkov stated that he had not changed his mind about Sevastopol being a Russian city. Ukraine’s... MORE

Serially recurring and failing parliamentary and presidential elections have fed rivalries within Moldova’s governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI). The upcoming constitutional referendum on September 5, to be followed by new general elections, can only bring the AEI closer to its end.The four parties had... MORE

Moldova is headed for a constitutional referendum on September 5, to be followed by yet another round of double elections, parliamentary and presidential. It will be the third round of double elections (or fourth electoral round, counting the referendum) in just 19 months. Intractable rivalries... MORE

On July 28, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $15 billion loan for Ukraine, as most observers expected (EDM, July 21). Ukraine received the first $1.9 billion tranche almost immediately, Serhy Tyhypko, the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic reform, announced (Ukrainski Novyny,... MORE

According to Belarusian First Vice-Prime Minister, Uladzimir Syamashka, the end of July was scheduled to mark the finalization of an agreement between Belarus and Russia to build the nuclear power station at Astravets in the Hrodna region with construction of the station to start next... MORE

Ahead of the OSCE summit under Kazakhstan’s chairmanship, Russian officials are resurrecting the agenda of “OSCE reforms” to reconfigure the organization in line with Russian foreign policy objectives. The reform proposals date back for the most part to 2004 and have been promoted since then... MORE

On July 30 in Berlin, Gazprom’s Vice-President, Aleksandr Medvedev, deprecated the EU-backed Nabucco project and claimed that Russia would imminently proceed with the rival South Stream. “There is complete certainty about South Stream. We have enough gas to supply 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) every... MORE

Over the course of the past three years, Bosnia-Herzegovina has seen the organizational rise of the radical Wahhabi movement, which is now at its strongest point since the war. Strings are being pulled and recruitment is being initiated by prominent Wahhabi clerics in Western European... MORE

The United States and the European Union have imposed on July 1 and July 26, respectively, a new round of sanctions of unprecedented severity, presuming to hinder Iran’s uranium-enrichment program. Other parties, however, are wasting no time opening loopholes in these sanctions’ main dimension, pertaining... MORE