Latest Articles about Europe

VERDICT HANDED DOWN ON BELARUSIAN PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

On July 13 a Minsk court sentenced former presidential candidate Alexander Kazulin to five and one-half years of confinement. The verdict, while unwarranted and harsh, also raises some questions about the outlook of the Lukashenka regime. Why was Kazulin singled out for such treatment at... MORE

TABLES TURNED IN UKRAINE

Long-time opponents of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko allied with defectors from his camp to outplay him in a bid to secure control over the government. The Orange coalition, which was announced on June 20, barely survived two weeks; instead a coalition built around the Party... MORE

YUSHCHENKO’S ENERGY TEAM CONSIDERS CEDING TRANSIT PIPELINES TO GAZPROM

President Viktor Yushchenko’s associates in charge of Ukraine’s energy system are negotiating to cede control over the country’s gas transit pipelines to Gazprom. Although national control over the transit pipelines is generally deemed a major safeguard to Ukraine’s security and independence, and most political forces... MORE

PARTY OF REGIONS BLOCKS PARLIAMENT

Ukraine still has no new cabinet in place, and the parliament elected in March still has not started work either. On July 4 President Viktor Yushchenko described this situation as a “parliamentary crisis.” It took months to form the majority in parliament required by the... MORE

Jihad Without Rules: The Evolution of al-Takfir wa al-Hijra

The September 11 attacks precipitated the uncovering of extensive al-Takfir wa al-Hijra (Excommunication and Exile) networks across Europe specialized in logistical support to terrorist groups. While the obscure group had been previously encountered by law enforcement, many were surprised at the extent and reach of... MORE

ORANGE TWO GOVERNMENT CAN MEET THE TRANSNISTRIA CHALLENGE

Minister of Foreign Affairs Borys Tarasyuk’s June 26-27 visit to Moldova was the first visit abroad by a senior Ukrainian official since the formation of the parliamentary coalition and designation of a prime minister in the person of Yulia Tymoshenko (June 22). His discussions with... MORE

ORANGE REVOLUTION PARTIES RE-ESTABLISH GOVERNMENT COALITION

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine bloc, the Yulia Tymoshenko Bloc, and the Socialist Party (SPU) have agreed to revive the Orange Revolution government coalition that existed until September 2005, when Yushchenko fired Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. The news of an accord among the three... MORE

INTEGRATION, RHETORIC, AND THE FUTURE OF BELARUS

As the United States and Belarus continue their war of words, accompanied by freezing the actual or imagined assets of each other's leading government figures, Minsk played host to a series of summits. At the same time, Belarus and Russia carried out the largest-ever joint... MORE

TURKMEN GAS PRICE HIKE: IMPLICATIONS FOR UKRAINE

Turkmenistan's proposal to raise the price of gas it sells to Gazprom, from $65 per 1,000 cubic meters at present to $100 in the second half of 2006, holds potentially momentous implications for Ukraine. It can help emancipate Ukraine from the RosUkrEnergo gas deal that... MORE

UKRAINE’S GAS PREDICAMENT WORSENING

One year ago today (see EDM, June 22, 2005), Moscow’s preparations for a late-autumn gas attack on Ukraine could already be detected. The early alert hardly registered in official Kyiv (except with then-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who was soon forced out), let alone internationally; and... MORE