Latest Articles about Europe
U.S. Missiles Target Suspect in Transatlantic Airliner Plot
Late in the evening of November 21, a U.S. operated Predator drone struck a house in North Waziristan owned by local warlord Khaliq Noor. Among those allegedly killed were British-Pakistani militant Rashid Rauf and senior al-Qaeda leader Abu Zubair al-Masri (Dawn [Karachi], November 22; BBC,... MORE
Ukraine Recognizes Gas Debt, May Face Higher Price
Gazprom has threatened to more than double the gas price in 2009 if Ukraine fails to pay its debt for previous purchases by January 1. Ukraine’s energy inefficient industry might not survive such an increase amid the global economic crisis. Moreover, RosUkrEnergo may be retained... MORE
The Meeting That Never Took Place
On December 1 a session of the Supreme Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus was scheduled to take place in Moscow. According to propaganda from the two sides, it was to be a significant occasion that, in contrast to the recent past,... MORE
Russia’s Invasion of Georgia Overshadows OSCE’s Year-End Conference
Like many other organizations struggling for relevance or plain survival, the OSCE looks to summitry as a panacea. Unable to deal with Russia’s invasion of Georgia and other Kremlin challenges, the OSCE can instead call a summit for 2009 to accommodate the Kremlin. This might... MORE
Berlusconi, Centrex, Hexagon 1 and 2 and Gazprom
Sergio Berlusconi, the billionaire Italian Prime Minister, arrived in Moscow on November 6 to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and sign an Italian-Russian deal that will involve Russia in constructing third and fourth generation nuclear reactors in Italy. The head of Russia’s Rosatom (the... MORE
Medvedev’s Refusal To Attend Famine Commemorations Worsens Already Poor Relations
Ukraine’s relations with Russia have deteriorated to their lowest level in two decades, with Zerkalo Nedeli (November 22) stating that the Russian authorities and society have never been as negatively disposed toward Ukraine as now, even during the Orange Revolution. The deterioration has taken place... MORE
Polish, Georgian Presidents’ Motorcade Shot at from South Ossetia
At dusk on November 23, machine-gun fire from the direction of a Russian checkpoint forced Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Lech Kaczynski of Poland to cut short a visit with Georgian refugees from South Ossetia. By most accounts, three bursts were fired into the... MORE
A New Ukrainian Russian Gas Confrontation
Just when the outlook for normalization in the Ukrainian-Russian gas relationship appeared on the horizon, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Gazprom head Alexei Miller have upset the gas cart.On November 20 Kommersant Daily reported that Medvedev and Miller threatened to charge Ukraine $400 per 1,000... MORE
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