Latest Articles about Europe
GAZPROM’S CHALLENGE TO BELARUS: INTERNAL REACTIONS
On August 2, Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka declared that his country would dip into its reserves to pay its existing debt to Gazprom of $456 million (Itar-Tass, August 2). His decision brought a temporary halt to the current crisis raised by Belarus's failure to meet... MORE
The Threat of Islamic Radicalism to Greece
Al-Qaeda and affiliated Islamist terrorist organizations have extended their reach to many countries in Europe, including Greece (To Bhma, April 20). The war on terrorism has turned Greece into a key entry and transit point for Islamic fundamentalist networks. This is partly due to Greece's... MORE
MOLDOVA’S PRESIDENTIAL INSTITUTION INCREASINGLY DYSFUNCTIONAL
“Politics in Moldova is in fact Geopolitics” (Flux, July 20). This recent observation by a pro-Western party leader in Chisinau has quickly become common wisdom. It defines the real stakes in the political changes resulting from President Vladimir Voronin’s non-transparent negotiations with the Kremlin and... MORE
A NEW FACE OF MOLDOVAN POLITICS
A fragile political consensus -- also known as parliamentary partnership -- on the terms set in 2005 persists in Moldova’s parliament at this time. Its preservation is creditable to the Parliament’s Chairman Marian Lupu, Vice-Chairman and Christian-Democrat leader Iurie Rosca, some centrists, and many Communist... MORE
The Many Faces of the PKK
Kurdish guerrillas have fought Turkish forces for almost a quarter of a century. Focusing attention solely on the approximately 5,500 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters, however, obscures the full dimension of the problems and threats faced by Turkey (Today's Zaman, June 28). An examination of... MORE
POST-SOVIET RAILWAYS LACK FUNDS FOR AMBITIOUS PROJECTS
Post-Soviet railway problems made headlines when Ukraine announced a hazardous materials emergency after a train carrying toxic chemicals crashed on July 16 in the country's Western Lviv region (see EDM, July 23). Fifteen tankers carrying liquid yellow phosphorous derailed, and six caught fire. The train... MORE
DONETSK PROSECUTORS, COURTS STRIKE BACK
Several prosecutors and courts recently decided high-profile cases in favor of individuals who were prosecuted when President Viktor Yushchenko came to power in 2005. At the same time, the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor’s Office and the Prosecutor-General’s Office, which is controlled by individuals hailing from Donetsk,... MORE
UKRAINE’S ELITES REMAIN ABOVE THE LAW
Ukraine’s orange elites are facing a growing scandal surrounding Yuriy Lutsenko, head of the pro-presidential Our Ukraine-People’s Self Defense bloc (NUNS). Lutsenko allegedly lobbied on behalf of Ukrainian New Telecommunications (UNTC) when he was interior minister. Lutsenko’s wife is UNTC’s financial director, and the company... MORE
TRANSNISTRIA SETTLEMENT AND POLITICAL POWER IN MOLDOVA
In his marathon-length speeches on July 20 and 25, defending his non-transparent negotiations with Russia on Transnistria (see EDM, July 27), Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin assailed all of Moldova’s non-communist parties indiscriminately. He accused them in prosecutorial terms of obstructing any solution on Transnistria and... MORE
IN PUTIN WE TRUST: MOLDOVAN PRESIDENT GOES FOR BROKE IN DEAL WITH RUSSIA
In a marathon-length televised interview on July 20, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin admitted to negotiating a “plan” for conflict-settlement in Transnistria with the Kremlin. Broadcast live in Russian on the presidentially controlled private channel NIT, Voronin’s emotional interview was kept out of the official Moldovan... MORE