The open letter to the Obama administration (EDM, July 22) carries the signatures of 22 personalities including former heads of state and prime ministers, other statesmen and policymakers from Central-Eastern European countries. Made public on July 16, the letter draws on a concept paper issued... MORE

European Commission (EC) and Ukrainian government experts will meet in Kiev on July 24 to discuss Ukraine's request for a loan to pump Russian gas into underground reservoirs for the winter. As the Naftohaz Ukrainy state-controlled oil and gas behemoth is nearly bankrupt, Ukraine has... MORE

In an open letter to the Obama administration, leading public figures from Central-Eastern Europe are calling in urgent terms for U.S. strategic re-engagement with that region, both directly and through NATO. Released to the media on July 16, and based on a concept paper issued... MORE

Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Afghanistan’s Taliban strongly condemned French President Sarkozy’s declaration that the burka, a sign of “enslavement” and “debasement,” is “not welcome in the territory of the French Republic” (Aujourd'hui en france, June 19; La Croix, June 19). Both groups... MORE

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the second review of its stabilization program for Ukraine on July 10. A visiting IMF delegation recommended that the IMF board grant Ukraine the third $3.3 billion tranche of the $16.4 billion stand-by loan. Kyiv received the previous two... MORE

On July 13 the Nabucco transit countries removed an important obstacle for the strategic pipeline project. Attending a high profile meeting hosted by Turkey, the prime ministers of Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey inked the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA). The ceremony was also attended by... MORE

In line with implementing stricter security policies in Sevastopol and the Crimea, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is adopting tougher policies towards Russian intelligence activities in the peninsula. These follow the August 2008 decrees restricting the movement of Russian Black Sea Fleet vessels in... MORE

July 10 marked fifteen years since Alyaksandr Lukashenka's victory in the second round of the 1994 presidential election in Belarus. Though he has retained power partly by undemocratic means, repressing opponents and monopolizing the media, his success is nonetheless remarkable and worthy of analysis.In the... MORE

U.S. President Barack Obama's first summit meeting in Moscow with Russian leaders did not warrant headlines in the Ukrainian media. The top story, understandably, continued to be the seemingly unending political crisis in the country, as a consequence of which, American-Russian summitry was buried in... MORE

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko may return to the idea of disbanding parliament and call snap elections. The opposition Party of Regions (PRU), which has the largest caucus in parliament, has disrupted parliament's work following its leader Viktor Yanukovych's failure to form a grand coalition with... MORE