Lithuania has become the first EU country to start implementing the EU’s Third Package of energy market liberalization laws. Estonia is considering a move in the same direction, possibly by October. Meanwhile, Latvia has postponed a decision, awaiting potentially fateful elections. In Lithuania (as elsewhere... MORE

On July 6, Dmitry Medvedev was chairing a routine video-link conference from his country residence near Moscow with ministers and governors about the implementation of presidential initiatives to build kindergartens, helping young families with children and promoting state-sponsored primary military cadet academies for teenagers in... MORE

On July 5, President Dmitry Medvedev took part in a meeting of the presidential council for the development of civil society and human rights, which was held in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. The activities of the law enforcement agencies in the North Caucasus came under severe criticism... MORE

The initial response to the outcome of the discussions on European missile defense at the NATO-Russia Council (NRC) on June 9 was quite negative (EDM, June 21, 22). Senior Russian officials at the talks described the results in that manner. Defense Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov stated... MORE

On June 20, the Forum of the National Unity of Abkhazia issued a statement about the nomination of a candidate for the presidency in the Georgian breakaway territory of Abkhazia. It is expected that Raul Khadzhimba will become the third candidate in the Abkhaz presidential... MORE

In his budget address for 2012-2014 on June 29, President Dmitry Medvedev designated decentralization as one of the Russian Federation’s state priorities. The Russian leader also called for privatization, lowering corporate taxes, the overall diminishing of the state’s role in economic activities and other measures... MORE

At the June 15 leadership summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the rotating chairmanship of the institution was transferred to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). China has been the driving force behind the SCO’s creation and modest success. PRC officials have pushed the... MORE

After the colonization of the North Caucasus by Russian troops in the eighteenth and nineteenth Centuries, Russia established Cossack settlements as a form of influence on the local populations. Serving as fortresses, these quasi-military settlements were tasked with protecting the lowlands from highlanders. In other... MORE

On June 26, the Lifenews.ru website quoted “experts” and North Caucasus law-enforcement sources as claiming that Doku Umarov, the Chechen rebel leader and “emir” of the Caucasus Emirate, had received medical treatment in Turkey and returned to the North Caucasus. The website said that Umarov’s... MORE

Despite continued failures of the peace talks during the last 17 years (since the ceasefire agreement was signed in 1994), every new meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian presidents raises high hopes in Baku for a breakthrough in the deadlocked negotiations. The Kazan summit on June... MORE