Latest Articles about Europe
HUNGARY’S MOL STAYS WITH NABUCCO, BUT PRIME MINISTER WEIGHS SOUTH STREAM ALSO
Gazprom-controlled Kommersant claimed on December 13 that Hungary's MOL energy company has invited Gazprom to join the New Europe Transmission System (NETS), a proposal just launched by MOL to interconnect the gas transmission networks of at least seven Central and South-East European countries within an... MORE
RUSSIA, UKRAINE TRADE HARSH WORDS OVER HISTORICAL MEMORY
On December 14 Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) issued a strongly worded statement complaining of “open nationalist, anti-Russian, and Russphobic feelings and developments in Ukraine.” Attempts are being made, it claimed, to “use difficult periods in our joint history to receive brief political rewards... MORE
Turkish Military Strikes PKK Targets in Northern Iraq
On April 12, Chief of the Turkish General Staff Yaşar Büyükanıt said that a cross-border operation into northern Iraq was necessary to better fight the rebels of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It took eight months, over 200 Turkish casualties and several very important meetings... MORE
TYMOSHENKO VOTE SHOWS COALITION’S LIMITATIONS
The coalition of President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense bloc (NUNS) and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) has failed to ensure Tymoshenko's return to the post of prime minister, from which Yushchenko fired her in fall 2005. This time it is not disagreements within the... MORE
U.S. PROPOSAL TOLERATES RUSSIAN MILITARY PRESENCE IN MOLDOVA
According to a new U.S. proposal regarding Moldova, “Russia would resume withdrawal/disposal of munitions when possible.” Pending that, the OSCE would conduct periodic observation visits at the munitions stockpiles. Thus, the document fails to establish a Russian commitment to, or time frame for, the withdrawal... MORE
The Turkish Generals’ Talk: The Strategic Insights of Turkey’s Struggle with the PKK
In November, Turkish journalist Fikret Bila published a book entitled Komutanlar Cephesi (“The Commanders’ Front”) based on interviews with eight retired Turkish military commanders (Detay Yayıncılık, 2007). Prior to its publication, extracts from the book were serialized in Turkish in Milliyet (see Eurasia Daily Monitor,... MORE
NETS: JOINT GAS TRANSMISSION NETWORK PROPOSED IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
The Hungarian energy company MOL is proposing the unification of gas transmission pipeline systems in Central and Southeastern Europe, within a new and independent regional gas transmission network. The existing systems are nationally owned and operated, mainly under state ownership. MOL is privately owned. The... MORE
Turkey’s Islamic Raiders of the Greater East Seeking Ties with al-Qaeda?
On November 20, police in the Turkish city of Izmir arrested six suspected members of the Islamic Raiders of the Greater East – Front (IBDA-C). The detainees are alleged to have established links with al-Qaeda and to have been only days away from staging a... MORE
NEW YUSHCHENKO-TYMOSHENKO COALITION PASSES FIRST TESTS
The Our Ukraine – People’s Self-Defense bloc of Viktor Yushchenko (NUNS) and the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc (BYuT) have managed to set aside their differences and create a majority coalition in parliament. NUNS accepted Yushchenko’s choice for parliamentary speaker, and dissenters in Our Ukraine (NU), the... MORE
PRAISE AND CONDEMNATION OF STALIN: RUSSIA AND UKRAINE GO THEIR SEPARATE WAYS
On November 24-25 the Ukrainian authorities marked the 75th anniversary of the 1932-1933 famine. President Viktor Yushchenko, Acting Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, former President Leonid Kuchma, and other political leaders attended the ceremony. Writing in the Wall Street Journal on November 26, Yushchenko said, “The... MORE