The ruling centrist and oligarchic elites that supported President Leonid Kuchma over the last decade are now rushing to adapt to the reality that Viktor Yushchenko is Ukraine's new president. The Supreme Court and Central Election Commission threw out complaints by his opponent, former prime... MORE

Already the opposition victory in the presidential election in Ukraine has had repercussions in neighboring Belarus. In turn, the Lukashenka regime has taken several repressive measures against real and perceived opponents in Belarus. Several observers have made the link between the events in Kyiv and... MORE

A left-of-center coalition government took office in Lithuania on December 15, capping complex power-sharing negotiations in the wake of the October parliamentary elections. The coalition includes two mainstream, "establishment" parties, the Social-Democrats and New Union/Social Liberals, governing jointly since 2001; and two populist parties, Labor... MORE

Ukraine is undergoing radical change in anticipation of a Yushchenko victory in the repeat presidential runoff on December 26. Challenger Viktor Yushchenko will have eight months to undertake sweeping and radical reforms before his powers are reduced when constitutional reforms go into effect in September... MORE

Responding to Moldova's calls for Russian troop withdrawal and an international solution to the Transnistria conflict, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has released a torrent of verbal abuse and warnings against Moldova. On December 15, Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement terming Moldova's... MORE

Ahead of the December 26 repeat presidential runoff, which will again pit opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko against Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych, debate has resumed over Yushchenko's mysterious illness. On December 11, the Vienna-based Rudolfinerhaus clinic announced that Yushchenko had definitely been poisoned by dioxin, a... MORE

With two weeks remaining from the OSCE's 2004 budgetary authorization, Moscow threatens to block adoption of the 2005 budget unless the organization introduces Russian-proposed "reforms." Those proposals seek to: boost the OSCE's role in the military-political and security sphere, where Russia can and does manipulate... MORE

Display of Russian military muscle, Moldovan appeals for support, European Union incoherence, and OSCE insistence on staying in play through collaboration with Russia were the highlights of the discussions on Moldova at the OSCE's year-end meeting in Sofia on December 6-7. As in Georgia's case,... MORE

One of the biggest ironies of Ukraine's democratic "Orange Revolution" is that it will cause difficulties in the European Union, an organization that claims to embody "European values." Had former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych won the presidential election, it would have resolved the EU's dilemma:... MORE

At the OSCE's year-end meeting in Sofia on December 6-7, Russia ruled out any regional statement on Georgia or Moldova, and vetoed the political declaration's text that read: "Some of the commitments made at the 1999 Istanbul Summit regarding Georgia and Moldova have not yet... MORE