The past two years have seen a steady rise in Russia’s willingness to deploy its navy into the Mediterranean, to Syria, and Cyprus in order to demonstrate Russian power, support the Bashar al-Assad government, check Turkish designs on Syria and Cyprus, and thwart Western intervention... MORE

On July 1, in Astana, President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron signed a joint declaration on strategic partnership between Britain and Kazakhstan. A large business delegation accompanied Cameron. He became the first serving British prime minister to visit Kazakhstan, although... MORE

The gas producers’ consortium at Shah Deniz in Azerbaijan has selected the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline project (TAP, Greece-Albania-Italy, led by Norwegian Statoil) to deliver Azerbaijani gas to Europe. This decision eliminates the Nabucco-West pipeline project (Bulgaria-Romania-Hungary-Austria) from consideration. The decision was communicated to the two rival... MORE

As part of their agreement of intent to expand the Nord Stream pipeline system into northwestern Europe (see EDM, April 11), Russian Gazprom and Dutch Nederlandse Gasunie have further agreed to cooperate on “other infrastructure projects in northwestern European countries” (Gazprom press release, April 10).... MORE

On April 8 in Amsterdam, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte witnessed the signing of an agreement of intent to expand the Gazprom-controlled Nord Stream pipeline system into the Netherlands and potentially onward to the United Kingdom. The CEOs of Gazprom... MORE

Denting Russian Gazprom’s monopoly, Ukraine is procuring small but growing volumes of natural gas from Europe. The German Rheinisch-Westfaelisches Elektrizitaetswerk (RWE) is providing the volumes through its subsidiary, RWE Supply & Trading.  Ukraine’s neighbors Hungary and Poland are providing the transit services. The three countries... MORE

The Cyprus issue has dominated political debates and intrigues in Moscow through last week, turning into a test of sorts for Russia’s ability to respond to acute external challenges. The financial disaster on the island that has become so intimately familiar to many Russians has... MORE

The Cypriot financial meltdown has rocked Moscow. Russia provided Cyprus in 2011 with a 2.5 billion-euro ($3.2 billion) low interest loan and believed the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) should join in the bailout of a euro-zone member nation. Until now, the... MORE

Muhammad Merah, a 23-year-old Frenchman of Muslim faith, killed seven innocent victims and severely wounded another one in March 2012. The murder spree shocked France.  The perpetrator left them bewildered. Those who knew him could not reconcile his cold-blooded violence with the mild manners he... MORE

Visiting Moldova on August 22 (see accompanying article), German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared twice unambiguously that Moldova does have a “European perspective”—albeit in a “step-by-step process”; and “we shall accompany you along this path” (www.bundeskanzlerin.de, August 22, 23). Potentially, this opens the possibility of Moldova’s... MORE