Latest Articles about Europe
OLIGARCHS WIELD POWER IN UKRAINIAN POLITICS
The leading Ukrainian magazine Korrespondent (June 12) published its annual list of wealthy Ukrainians. The most surprising new information was the estimate of Donetsk oligarch Renat Akhmetov’s wealth. Akhmetov, the head of Systems Capital Management, is worth $31.1 billion, making him the wealthiest person not... MORE
Kurdish Activism in Europe: Terrorism versus Europeanization
Two very different forms of Kurdish activism oppose each other in Europe. The largely unnoticed development of opposing forces could be exploited by European diplomats to terminate terrorist activities carried out by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and soften Europe’s relationship with Turkey. The “old”... MORE
The Next Generation of Radical Islamist Preachers in the UK
In the last few years the British government has imprisoned, exiled or deported most of Britain’s most high-profile jihadist preachers such as Abu Hamza, Omar Bakri and Abdullah Faisal. In 2006, it also passed laws prohibiting the “glorification” of terrorism to prevent new preachers from... MORE
WILL PARLIAMENTARY CRISIS LEAD TO TYMOSHENKO’S DISMISSAL?
The coalition of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYT) and President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine--People’s Self-Defense (NUNS) no longer has a majority in the Ukrainian parliament. Two deputies quit the coalition, so it controls 225 seats in the 450-seat chamber, one seat short of a... MORE
Can Turkey’s Anti-Terrorism Cooperation with Iran Lead to a Strategic Partnership?
Turkish Land Forces Commander General Ilker Basbug surprised some by announcing a partnership between Turkey and Iran in the fight against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) terrorist organization (Cumhuriyet, June 6). In fact, the debate on choosing Iran as a close partner is not new.... MORE
THE RUSSIAN LANGUAGE IN UKRAINE–RESURRECTING THE PAST
The Kremlin has once again raised the hoary issue of the rights of Russian language speakers in Ukraine, apparently as part of its campaign to make Russian the official lingua franca of the CIS and to apply more pressure on its neighbor during a time... MORE
HIGH-LEVEL NATO DELEGATION IN OUTREACH VISIT TO UKRAINE
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer headed a delegation of the North Atlantic Council (NAC), the alliance’s standing decision-making body in Brussels, comprising the 26 member countries’ ambassadors, on a visit to Ukraine on June 16 and 17. The visit was the first high-level... MORE
BELARUS-RUSSIA SUMMIT: PERSPECTIVES
The press services of the presidencies of Russia and Belarus have announced that the leaders of these countries, Dmitry Medvedev and Alyaksandr Lukashenka, will meet in Brest on June 22. It will be the first bilateral meeting of the two presidents. Reportedly, the meeting is... MORE
UKRAINE PREPARING LEGAL PROCEDURES FOR RUSSIAN FLEET’S WITHDRAWAL ON SCHEDULE
Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers is drafting a bill for submission to the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on preparations for terminating the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s deployment in Ukraine in 2017. Concurrently with that draft law, the Cabinet is working on a comprehensive assessment of the economic,... MORE
RUSSIA STALLING TALKS ON FLEET WITHDRAWAL FROM UKRAINE
Moscow opposes Kyiv's suggestions to begin discussing preparations for the withdrawal of Russia's Black Sea Fleet from Ukraine's Crimea, with sufficient lead time to complete the multi-year process by the 2017 deadline. Russia's position seems to imply that the withdrawal process might only get underway... MORE