Latest Articles about Europe
Were Ukrainian Arms Supplies to Georgia Illegal?
A Ukrainian parliamentary commission investigating arms supplies to Georgia has claimed that they were illegal. The commission chairman, Valery Konovalyuk from the pro-Russian Party of Regions (PRU), insists that President Viktor Yushchenko was aware that Ukraine supplied arms to Georgia illegally. The Security Service of... MORE
Changing Priorities in Belarus
Several recent events suggest that changes are underway in Belarus as it emerges from isolation and begins new dialogues with the countries of the European Union. According to sociological surveys, the electorate remains behind the president; and after a brief shock engendered by sharp price... MORE
Lithuania Refuses To Acquiesce in EU Negotiations with Russia
The European Union announced the start of negotiations on a new, expanded partnership agreement with Russia at a summit in Nice on November 14. Following Russia’s invasion of Georgia and within days of threatening to target missiles at EU member countries allied to the United... MORE
Ukraine Moves To Stabilize Financial System
Ukraine has secured a big loan from the IMF in order to stabilize its finances amid the global crisis. To qualify for the loan, parties in parliament agreed to set aside their differences and pass stabilization laws proposed by President Viktor Yushchenko. Thanks to this,... MORE
The Shadowy Side of Gazprom’s Expanding Central European Gas Hub
OMV, the Austrian oil and gas group, and Russia’s Gazprom, along with the Vienna Stock Exchange and Centrex Europe Energy and Gas AG (CEEGAG) have agreed to cooperate in developing the Central European Gas Hub (CEGH) located in Baumgarten, Austria, Kommersant daily reported on November... MORE
Yushchenko Uses Security Service Against Former Orange Allies
The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) is targeting the president’s former Orange ally, the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc (BYuT), as part of a strategy to undermine Tymoshenko’s popularity ahead of the January 2010 presidential elections. The campaign uses methods similar to those used by former President Leonid... MORE
Belarus Facing Recession
Since the mid-1990s, Belarus has frequently cited its economic successes: high growth rates (over 10 percent in the first half of 2008), impressive increases in industrial output, and an economy that has managed to thrive even while closely controlled by the state. President Alyaksandr Lukashenka... MORE
Austria’s OMV To Share Key Terminal With Gazprom
On November 5 Austria’s OMV energy company advanced toward a final agreement with Russia’s Gazprom to share the Baumgarten gas terminal near Vienna. That terminal, however, is the designated end point and regional distribution center for the Western-backed Nabucco gas transport project. Sharing Baumgarten with... MORE
Is Yushchenko’s Top Aide Backing Ruthenian Separatist Movement?
The leaders of Subcarpathian Ruthenians (pidkarpatski rusyny) have urged Kyiv to grant autonomous status to their native area, Ukraine’s westernmost Transcarpathian Region. There was no official reaction from the Ukrainian government, but several parties accused them of separatism; and a criminal investigation has been launched.... MORE
YugoRosGas—Another Gazprom Scandal
Russian Gazprom’s opaque European network of subsidiaries and silent partners, which have been mired in numerous scandals over the past decade, is once again involved in what appears to be a major scam. This time it involves YugoRosGas, a gas middleman operating in Serbia with... MORE