Ukraine's parliament has scheduled the next presidential election for October 25, 2009, three months earlier than expected. President Viktor Yushchenko went further, signaling his readiness to step down sooner if an early parliamentary election were held simultaneously. He sided with the opposition Party of Regions... MORE

Turkish prosecutors investigating the Ergenekon criminal network have launched a new wave of arrests including academics, leaders of NGO's, and columnists allegedly part of the Ergenekon criminal network, which aimed to topple the elected government in cooperation with the military. In the latest wave of... MORE

Georgia's extra-parliamentary opposition has launched its third attempt since mid-2007 at "regime change" -a post-modern version of the old-fashioned toppling of governments through other than electoral means (EDM, April 10 and the article above). This new campaign finds Georgia's state institutions considerably better prepared to... MORE

Extra-parliamentary opposition groups continue pushing for regime change in Georgia despite the diminishing numbers at their daily rallies in Tbilisi. All of Georgia's television channels are covering the events -including the leaders' dangerously inflammatory rhetoric- in full detail (Rustavi-2 TV, Imedi TV, April 10-13). Predictably... MORE

On February 11, 2009, Argumenti i Fakti, a tame but still high-profile Moscow based weekly, held a press conference on the Federation Council's (the upper house in the Russian Parliament) coming reform. This ordinary event would have gone unnoticed, if it were not for a... MORE

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's latest attempts to increase political control over the Spiritual Administration of Muslims (SAM) suggests that he is using religion as part of his campaign ahead of the presidential election in July. Bakiyev supported the idea of building a large mosque in... MORE

Opposition groups drew some 60,000 participants (by average estimates) for a rally in Tbilisi on April 9 and threatened to continue rallying on a daily basis. All Georgian television channels covered the advance preparations for the rally, as well as the event itself and the... MORE

Opposition protests against the outcome of Moldova's parliamentary elections triggered the seizure and ransacking of the presidency and parliament buildings by young rioting crowds on April 7 (EDM, April 7). Some 2,530 observers from local NGOs and 620 international observers monitored the elections. The International... MORE

Crowds of young rioters overran, ransacked, and set on fire the presidential and parliament buildings in Moldova's capital Chisinau on April 7. This outbreak may serve to embolden radical groups in Georgia on the eve of their April 9 demonstration, the declared goal of which... MORE

As anticipated (see EDM, March 13, 16) the Communist Party has won Moldova's parliamentary elections on April 5, far outdistancing the parties that ran on anti-communist platforms. On paper at least--and every fourth year in real practice--Moldova is a parliamentary republic. The new parliament will... MORE