Moldova's opposition parties are small and leader-centered. Most of the opposition parties compete against one another for the same segments of the electorate or for overlapping segments. In these cases party labels are also often irrelevant or misleading. For a country that does not have... MORE

Moldova will hold parliamentary elections on April 5, and its new parliament will elect the new president and confirm a new government. Incumbent President Vladimir Voronin's second, final term of office expires in April. The transition process ahead will severely test the country's weak political... MORE

The efforts of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's government to tighten control over the banking sector have failed. In order to qualify for loans from the IMF, the government has had to cancel its orders for the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) to buy government bonds... MORE

NATO and European Union (EU) membership for Romania was meant to consign to history its penchant for territorial claims and its poor record on national minority rights, but this was not to be. Ukraine, the non-NATO member with the greatest level of cooperation with NATO,... MORE

The European Court of Human Rights ruled on March 12 that Russia must pay damages to the families of 13 Chechens presumed dead after being abducted during armed raids in Chechnya between 2001 and 2003, the Associated Press (AP) reported. The Strasbourg-based court said Russia... MORE

To date, there has been little other than optimistic prognoses from Belarusian government circles about the state of the economy. Unlike the situation in neighboring states, Belarus is not facing recession, and economic growth continues. Moreover, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has assured citizens of government protection,... MORE

On March 10 in Moscow, Gazprom and Hungary's Development Bank signed the initial documents for a joint venture to implement Gazprom's South Stream pipeline project on Hungarian territory. The respective chairmen, Alexei Miller and Janos Eros, signed the documents in the presence of Prime Ministers... MORE

On March 10 in Moscow, Hungary's privately-owned MOL oil and gas company signed an agreement with Gazprom Export in Moscow to jointly establish a gas storage company in Hungary. Prime Ministers Vladimir Putin and Ferenc Gyurcsany witnessed the signing. This project is separate from and,... MORE

The Ukrainian parliament on March 6 approved President Viktor Yushchenko's nomination for Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) chief, Valentyn Nalyvaychenko. Yushchenko's choice was backed by 230 votes in the 450-seat unicameral body. Nalyvaychenko was supported by a coalition of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc (BYT),... MORE

Romania and Bulgaria find themselves in the unenviable position of being the poster children for corruption in the EU. Bulgaria is plagued by organized crime gangs roaming the streets of its cities and killing for hire, while Romania is saddled with corrupt politicians who seem... MORE