Latest Articles about Europe
OPPOSITION COURTS THE BELARUSIAN PUBLIC
Following the election of Alexander Milinkevich as the leader of the united opposition at the Democratic Convention in early October, the Belarusian opposition has begun to elaborate its tactics for the anticipated elections in the summer of 2006. The Political Council created after the Convention... MORE
YUSHCHENKO CHANGES PROSECUTORS
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has replaced Prosecutor-General Sviatoslav Piskun with Oleksandr Medvedko. Piskun was too close to former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is set to be Yushchenko's most dangerous rival in the parliamentary election next March. Furthermore, Piskun failed to solve a single major... MORE
FROM “PEACEKEEPING” TO PEACEKEEPING? THE EU LOOKS AT MOLDOVA
Both officially and unofficially, Moldova will again top the European security agenda at next month's OSCE year-end ministerial conference. This will again be an exercise in futility, unless the European Union and the United States decide to act on their own, outside the OSCE's framework... MORE
UKRAINE’S CENTRIST CAMP IN DISARRAY AHEAD OF 2006 ELECTIONS
Although the main story in Ukrainian politics this fall has been the rift in the Orange Revolutionary camp, the centrists that once gathered around former president Leonid Kuchma are far more divided. Most of them will have a hard time winning seats in the 2006... MORE
UNEDIFYING DEBUT TO 5+2 NEGOTIATIONS ON MOLDOVA
After a 15-month break, negotiations on Transnistria resumed on October 27-28 in Chisinau and Tiraspol, now in the 5 + 2 format. This includes the United States and the European Union as observers to the old five-sided format of Russia, Ukraine, OSCE, Chisinau, and Tiraspol.... MORE
LYTVYN’S BLOC – AN UMBRELLA FOR KUCHMA’S PEOPLE?
Ukrainian Parliamentary Speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn has decided on the format of his participation in the March 2006 parliamentary polls. The much-advertised mega-bloc between Lytvyn, President Viktor Yushchenko's People's Union-Our Ukraine (NSNU), and former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko's Fatherland party has failed to materialize. Instead, Lytvyn... MORE
MOSCOW PUNDITS PONDER THE CHALLENGE OF POLISH CONSERVATIVE NATIONALISM
As a conservative nationalist known for his dislike of Russia prepares to become president of Poland, Kremlin strategists are pondering how the leadership change might affect the perennial rivalry between Moscow and Warsaw for influence in Eastern Europe. Last Sunday's (October 23) presidential run-off in... MORE
YEKHURANOV REFERS TO OLIGARCHS AS “NATIONAL BOURGEOISIE”
Once reviled by reformers, Ukraine's wealthy business oligarchs are now being described as a "national bourgeoisie" by top government officials. After much controversy and debate, on October 24 Kryvorizhstal, Ukraine's largest steel mill, was re-privatized in proceedings that were transparent and widely praised. The Ukrainian... MORE
ALLY CLEARED OF CRIMINAL CHARGE – A TRAP FOR YUSHCHENKO?
The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General's Office closed a criminal case against former National Security and Defense Council (NRBO) secretary Petro Poroshenko on October 20. This was the only case launched against a member of President Viktor Yushchenko's inner circle following the accusations of corruption against his team... MORE
YUSHCHENKO RE-AFFIRMS UKRAINE’S EURO-ATLANTIC GOALS
Last week President Viktor Yushchenko took steps to re-affirm Ukraine's desire for Euro-Atlantic integration. "Ukraine is a European country. I will never accept the idea that it is not," he told London's Royal Institute for International Affairs on October 17 (UPI, October 17). Western governments... MORE