Latest Articles about Europe
RUSSIAN DIPLOMACY IN LITHUANIA: AGGRESSIVE BUT CLUMSY
Not long after Russia's new ambassador to Latvia, Viktor Kalyuzhny, had piled gaffe upon diplomatic gaffe in lecturing his host country, Russian diplomacy in Lithuania seems to demonstrate the same mix of aggressiveness and clumsiness. On March 15, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a... MORE
UKRAINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER CHARMS WASHINGTON
Ukraine's new Foreign Minister, Borys Tarasyuk, visited Washington, DC, on March 10-11 to prepare for a four-day state visit by President Viktor Yushchenko in the first week of April. Tarasyuk's career includes an earlier stint as Ukraine's foreign minister (1998-2000), ambassador to the Benelux countries... MORE
PRO-WESTERN GOVERNING COALITION POSSIBLE IN MOLDOVA
On March 11, Moldova's Central Electoral Commission released the final results of the country's March 6 parliamentary elections. The outcome, verified by election observers in parallel vote-counting, shows the Communist Party with 56 parliamentary seats (one more than initially announced), the heterogeneous Bloc Moldova Democrata... MORE
SHOULD UKRAINIAN NATIONALISTS MERGE WITH NEW PARTY OF POWER?
Ukraine's two strongest nationalist parties have refused to merge with President Viktor Yushchenko's new People's Union Our Ukraine party (NSNY). Addressing the party's founding congress on March 4, Yushchenko made it clear that he was unhappy about this development (see EDM, March 9). But staying... MORE
RIFT BETWEEN MOSCOW AND BALTIC STATES: IS IT ALL ABOUT HISTORY?
The presidents of Estonia and Lithuania have refused invitations to attend the May 9 ceremonies in Moscow celebrating the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. This move marks the climax of the ongoing "battle over history" between Moscow and the Baltic countries... MORE
WILL MELNYCHENKO TAPES BE USED AS EVIDENCE IN GONGADZE PROSECUTION?
As an Interior Ministry colonel confesses to the murder of opposition journalist and Ukrayinska pravda founder Heorhiy Gongadze, one major issue remains; namely what evidence will the courts accept? (Segodnya, March 9) Former presidential guard Mykola Melnychenko secretly recorded 700 hours of tapes in President... MORE
YUSHCHENKO CREATES NEW PARTY OF POWER
On March 4-5, President Viktor Yushchenko's Our Ukraine bloc transformed itself into a political party, the People's Union "Our Ukraine." The original boc was formed after parliament's April 2001 no-confidence vote removed Yushchenko's government. The bloc, consisting of 10 liberal and center-right parties, came first... MORE
FORMER MINISTER’S DEATH HAMPERS INVESTIGATION INTO GONGADZE MURDER
Former Ukrainian Interior Minister Yuriy Kravchenko, who many observers believe had masterminded journalist Heorhiy Gongadze's disappearance in 2000, was found dead in his country house near Kyiv on March 4. His demise was preceded by President Viktor Yushchenko's March 1 statement about a final resolution... MORE
BANDAZHEVSKY CASE HIGHLIGHTS CHERNOBYL CONTROVERSIES
The protracted case of detained scientist Yuri Bandazhevsky continues to solicit international attention and serves as a reminder of how sensitive the Chernobyl issue remains for the Lukashenka regime. Recently the opposition newspaper Narodnaya Volya focused on the life of Bandazhesvky, the nuclear scientist and... MORE
KYIV LAUNCHES FAR-REACHING REFORM OF INTERIOR MINISTRY
It was inevitable that radical, democratizing reforms would be launched within the Ukrainian Interior Ministry (MVS) after the appointment of Yuriy Lutsenko as interior minister. Already, the new atmosphere inside the MVS has contributed to progress in the Gongadze murder investigation (see EDM, March 2).... MORE