September 6-16 saw a frantic period of activity in Belarus, as candidates applied to the Central Election Commission to be registered for the October 17 election to the House of Representatives. Unlike the parliamentary race in 2000, all opposition parties except for the Conservative Christian... MORE

On Saturday September 18, opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, the front-runner in the October presidential elections, spoke in front of 70,000 supporters in Kyiv upon his return from Vienna. Yushchenko warned the authorities, "We will not be poisoned!" Bullets or KamAZ trucks would not destroy those... MORE

For the first time since 1991, a Moldovan president has boycotted a CIS summit, proclaiming a one-directional European orientation rather than balancing between Europe and Russia. Vladimir Voronin recently allowed Moldova's official media to criticize Russia for blocking a political settlement in Trans-Dniester and appealed... MORE

Opinion polls are again at the center of Ukraine's 2004 presidential elections. The gap between Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych continues to remain stable at 5-8% (Ukrayinska pravda, September 9). Throughout the year Yushchenko's ratings have increased from 21 to 30% and Yanukovych's... MORE

The pro-presidential majority in the Ukrainian parliament collapsed when 15 out of the 30 deputies in the moderate Democratic Initiatives-People's Power faction defected. The disintegration is a major blow to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's election campaign. Yanukovych described the move as "treacherous," caused by the... MORE

On September 7, Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka announced that a referendum would be held on whether he may run for a third term in office on October 17, the date of the parliamentary elections. Though many analysts had predicted such a decision, its timing was... MORE

In late August, the Belarusian authorities brought a new criminal case against Mikhail Marynich, an opposition leader who has been held in a KGB detention center since April 26. Marynich had been Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, but he was removed from his position, ostensibly... MORE

On September 8, Romanian Foreign Minister Mircea Dan Geoana declined an invitation to visit Ukraine to discuss recent bilateral problems. Ukraine's Foreign Ministry spokesman Markian Lubkivskyi reiterated Ukraine's interest in dialogue with Romania. But how sincere is the Ukrainian side in its stated desire for... MORE

Is a Georgian-style democratic revolution possible in Ukraine? While clearly refuting any similarities between Georgians and Ukrainians, the authorities are also increasingly nervous. A U.S. STRATFOR intelligence commentary that predicted Ukraine was approaching a Georgian-style revolution was widely discussed in the pro-presidential Ukrainian media. The... MORE

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited Ukraine in mid August to discuss Ukraine's military contingent in Iraq. Since August 2003, Ukraine has had 1,576 troops in Iraq deployed 130 km south of Baghdad in the Polish-run sector. An additional 146 troops are to be... MORE