100 posts
Central Asian state shifts between Moscow and Washington depending on circumstances - Alexei Malashenko
NEW
In what some see as a move to secure military patronage from the United States, Uzbekistan’s president Islam Karimov has warned that the withdrawal of coalition forces from Afghanistan in 2014 will seriously threaten regional security. REA...
Azerbaijan develops Islamic financing
NEW
By Leyla Abdullayeva Azerbaijan may soon become a regional Islamic financing center and play a significant role in...
Address by the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to the People of Kazakhstan
NEW
Socio-Economic Modernization as Main Vector of Development of Kazakhstan. READ MORE...
Atambayev Invites Turkey to Decide on US Transit Center’s Future
NEW
By Aida Kasymalieva, Erica Marat Although the newly-elected Kyrgyz President, Almazbek Atambayev, received signific...
Where the heck is Transnistria?
NEW
The Danish EU Presidency has a small problem. Its foreign minister Villy Søvndal doesn’t know where is Transnistria, and probably would find it difficult to locate Moldova on a map of Europe. Sixty six Brussels-based journalist witnessed the embar...
Direct Road to Europe: Azerbaijan’s Trans-Anatolia Gas Pipeline
NEW
video By Vladimir Socor On December 26 in Ankara, the Ener...
The Winds of Change in Transnistria
NEW
BUCHAREST—The landslide victory of former speaker of the Parliament Yevgeny Shevchuk in the December 25 Transnistrian presidential elections came as a surprise to observers in Moldova, Russia, and the West. Shevchuk, who won 74 percent of the vote...
After Winning Elections Atambayev Focuses On the US Transit Center
NEW
video By Erica Marat Manas-Airbase.jpg Manas-Airbase.jpg Kyr...
President Schmitt Pál: Azerbaijan is great friend and strategic partner of Hungary
NEW
By E.Tariverdiyeva Schmitt-Pal.jpg Schmitt-Pal.jpg Azerbaijan is a great friend and a strategic partner of Hungary in...
Uncertain World: The secure Eastern Partnership
NEW
video By Fyodor Lukyanov The summit of the Eastern Partnership that took place last week in Warsaw, Poland, turned into a bombastic event, complete with the ceremonial exchan...
From criminal schemes to political conjunctivitis
NEW
By Mark Zaguda Mukhtar-Ablyazov.jpg Mukhtar-Ablyazov.jpg Theoretical physicist, political loser - Mukhtar Ablyazov a...
«Le Monde»: Our Dear Kazakhstan
NEW
By Anna Stroganova “Le Monde” writes about another visit of the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev to France – the visit which has not been officially scheduled within the visits of foreign leaders to th...
Defense Minister Akhalaia and U.S.-Georgia Defense Cooperation in Leaked Cables
NEW
Just a month after a U.S. diplomat expressed to President Saakashvili concerns over his selection of Bacho Akhalaia as Defense Minister two years ago, the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi reported to Washington that although it was yet early to make a final j...
“Kazakhstan’s way” of development
NEW
By Marijus Radvilas kazakhstan-flag_2[1].jpg kazakhstan-flag_2[1].jpg 2011 is a landmark year for Kazakhstan. Twenty...
OSCE hosts meeting of Moldovan and Transdniestrian leaders
NEW
bridge.jpg bridge.jpg The Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audrionus Ažubalis, opened a bilateral meeting between the leaders of the sides in the Transdnies...
More for More in the Neighbourhood
NEW
The revolutionary upheaval in the Southern neighbourhood and the failures of reforms in most of the Eastern neighbourhood are begging for a revised EU approach to the neighbourhood policy (ENP). In March the EU presented some ideas on ‘a partnershi...
Academic looks at the Eastern Partnership
NEW
The latest issue of the Journal of Communist Studies and Transition Politics (Volume 27, Issue 1, 2011) takes a special look at the EU’s neighbourhood policy, in particular the Eastern Partnership initiative. Lots of interesting stuff for those...
Post-revolutionary Tunisia
NEW
Having spent most of the week in Tunisia, here are some thoughts and observations. The mood … is very positive. It is not the end of a president (like Georgia in 2003 and Ukraine in 2004), but the end of an era. Since independence in 1956, Tuni...
After Egypt: towards a geopolitics of democracy?
NEW
Egypt is undergoing the greatest moment of political change in a generation. Mubarak’s stale regime has fallen, and with it years of European and American policy. Is it not now time to begin thinking about a new approach to the southern Neighbourho...
Eastern EU Members "go for color" and accept responsibility for Eastern Partnership countries
NEW
For nearly two decades, the Eastern EU Members enjoy the advantage of democracy. Since 2004 all of them are able to enjoy the same benefits as full EU Members. It is time to break that stranglehold of the past of beeing a kind of second-class member...
If this is young Arabs' 1989, Europe must be ready with a bold response | Timothy Garton Ash
NEW
What happens across the Mediterranean matters more to the EU than the US. Yet so far its voice has been inaudibleEurope's future is at stake this week on Cairo's Tahrir Square, as it was on Prague's Wenceslas Square in 1989. This time, the reaso...
On Revolutions
NEW
In 2003 -2005 revolutions in the neighbourhood were all the rage. Georgia, Ukraine and Lebanon have all inspired high-hopes among their own populations, as well as the EU and US. Then, many of those hopes collapsed, the revolutions lost their glitz,...
EU diplomacy on Egypt: Business as usual
NEW
As the story in Egypt unfolds it is interesting (and depressing as usual) to watch EU diplomacy in practice. Especially with all the talk about the "one voice in the world" and the reforms of the Lisbon Treaty (EEAS etc.). Well, "quiet diplomacy" i...
The Second Eastern Partnership Summit under the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU
NEW
Facing the end of January already, I feel a bit obliged to say something about the Hungarian Presidency Programme that leads the EU until the 30th of June 2011. The key events and keywords are: The second Eastern Partnership Summit (EaP Summit) is...
Tunisia is a strategic opportunity for the EU
NEW
It´s very seldom in life that you get a big prize for having done everything wrong. This is what is happening to the EU in Tunisia. In October 2009, Ben Ali rigged the election to get 89% of theRead more…...
And the winner is...not Moldova!
NEW
Moldova is getting less media attention anyway. The elections last Sunday (28 November 2010) were no exception. The parliamentary elections held on 28 November 2010 in Moldova supposed to put Moldova back on European track. However, the election resu...
Eastern Europe’s Tito Option
NEW
Success stories in what the European Union calls “the neighborhood” have been hard to come by. First Georgia, then Ukraine, and most recently Moldova have all been big EU hopes. But, in each case, those hopes were dashed. Unfortunately fo...
Moldova’s thirty-seven inches of democracy
NEW
BUCHAREST — Sometimes, democratic progress can be gauged with a ruler. Last Sunday in Moldova, it measured exactly 94.5 centimeters or almost 37 inches—the length of the ballot paper Moldovan voters were issued when they went to the polls for...
"Neo-Titoism spreads as Brussels’ Influence wanes" by Andrew Wilson
NEW
Success stories in what it calls the neighbourhood have been hard to come by for European Union. Over the last few years Georgia, then Ukraine, and most recently Moldova have all been the big EU hope – but in each case those hopes were dashed by pr...
That's very generous of them
NEW
The EU has announced that it is to give the republic of Moldova 90 million Euros, which according to the latest figures from the World Bank is just under 25Euros each. Which is roughly a week's average wage.Very kind of them.Sadly they are going to g...
Why Moldova Matters
NEW
Although the air outside is hot and dry—part of a heat wave scorching Russia and neighboring Ukraine—it is cool, dark, and slightly damp in the sandstone caverns beneath Milestii Mici, Moldova’s largest winery. Along seemingly endle...
Moldovan Referendum: Suffers Governing Alliance Crushing Defeat
NEW
By Vladimir Socor Polling Station during the September 5th Moldovan Referendum.jpg Moldova’s constitutional referendum, held on September 5, has failed due to lacking...
Russia, Azerbaijan to sign deal on boosting gas supplies
NEW
Russian gas giant Gazprom and Azerbaijan's state oil and gas company will sign a deal to increase supplies of Azerbaijani gas to Russia in 2011-2012 during the Russian president's visit to Baku on Thursday, RIA Novosti reported. READ MORE...
Armenia concerned over Azeri appeal to UN
NEW
The Armenian government is concerned over the Upper (Nagorno) Karabakh conflict being tabled at the United Nations again. READ MORE...
Poland 'Loses' Georgia In EU Diplomatic Race
NEW
Poland appears to have changed its policy of unconditional support for Georgia against Russian intimidation, a recent interview given by the country's president suggests. Warsaw has also reportedly abandoned hope of securing the position of EU Ambass...
Moscow Seeks Political Allies in Moldova Ahead of Referendum and Elections
NEW
The crash of Moldova’s experiment with a parliamentary system of government, predictable though it was, could not have occurred at a worse time for the country. When this experiment had first collapsed in 2000, Moldova still had a margin for...
Blind Love of the EU
NEW
I’ve recently glimpsed the data of the research, conducted by the Caucasus Research Resource Centers back in 2007, which in a broad extent reveals an attitude of the people of South Caucasus countries towards the EU. Expectedly majority of the...
Ukraine Made Moldova a Maritime State by Mistake: Ukrainian Expert
NEW
“Ukraine has to correct the mistakes done in due time in the negotiations with Moldova, which only got worse during the time of “oranges” in power”. Why so unexpectedly Moldova became a maritime state? This issue has to be...
Kazakhstan And The OSCE Can Take The Lead In Kyrgyzstan
NEW
This summer's Kyrgyz-Uzbek clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan presented the gravest threat to Central Asian security since the Tajik civil war of the 1990s. Reportedly, about 3,000 people died and more than 300,000 were displaced in the violence. While s...
Who is winning Eastern Europe's great game?
NEW
By Katinka BaryschThe US is withdrawing from the former Soviet space; the European Union struggles to be taken seriously there. Does that leave Russia free to strengthen its influence in the countries around its borders? Not necessarily, for the situ...
Wild idea for the wild East: pan-European EEC, soft governed by “Europe 10″ including Turkey, Ukraine, Russia
NEW
What the Turkish President and a French Minister told me encourages posting some ideas I had discussed with friends. I describe briefly the context, some practical steps, a daring vision, and next steps. Last week, I spoke at a major French Turkish c...
Wild idea for the wild East: pan-European EEC, soft governed by “Europe 10″ including Turkey, Ukraine, Russia
NEW
What the Turkish President and a French Minister told me encourages posting some ideas I had discussed with friends. I describe briefly the context, some practical steps, a daring vision, and next steps. Last week, I spoke at a major French Turkish c...
Tbilisi Mayoral and Local Elections – Significant Improvements but Media Transparency Still Lacking
NEW
On 30 May local elections took place throughout the country. Georgian voters elected the members of 63 councils (sakrebulos) of local government units (municipalities and self-governing cities), Tbilisi City Council, the Mayor of Tbilisi, who was dir...
Future Transdniester in Ukraine?
NEW
In spite of the fact that any worsening of situation neither in Moldova proper nor in its mutinous province Transdniester did occur recently, the region again has attracted heightened attention. It happened due to changing authorities in Kiev. R...
Georgian Exit Polls Show Incumbent Ugulava Winning Reelection As Tbilisi Mayor
NEW
Polls have closed across Georgia in key local elections that are seen as the first test of the strength of President Mikheil Saakashvili's government since the disastrous August 2008 war with Russia. READ MORE...
Ukraine and Moldova: Time to talk openly
NEW
The Republic of Moldova is the smallest of Ukraine’s neighbors, yet the most roublesome as well. An undemarcated border, the frozen conflict in Transnistria, a Ukrainian community on both sides of the Dnister whose interests are not always defe...
Uzbekistan joins INWRDAM
NEW
Uzbekistan has become a full member of the Inter-Islam Network of Water Resources Development and Management (INWRDAM), Jahon agency at the Uzbek Foreign Ministry announced. READ MORE...
The Next Round of the Great Game
NEW
The April uprising in Kyrgyzstan illuminates the latest phase of the Great Game. READ MORE...
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan: Signs of Real Rapprochement
NEW
Today the foreground of international relations includes the issues of arrangement and holding of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tashkent this June. The Heads of SCO member-states are constantly substantially exchanging views on the...
Poland wants 'friends' group for EU Eastern Partnership
NEW
Poland has invited Russia to be part of a "group of friends" of the European Union's Eastern Partnership with former Soviet republics, Poland's foreign minister Radoslaw Sikorski said Monday. READ MORE...
U.S. And NATO Accelerate Military Build-Up In Black Sea Region
NEW
In the post-Cold War era and especially since 2001 the Pentagon has been steadily shifting emphasis, and moving troops and equipment, from bases in Germany and Italy to Eastern Europe in its drive to the east and the south. READ MORE...
The Specter of Finlandization
NEW
BRUSSELS — A specter is starting to haunt wider Europe — those countries located between the EU and NATO on one hand and Russia on the other. That specter is “Finlandization.” The return of this Cold War phrase reveal...
Saakashvili’s dream is to have easy access to Europe
NEW
Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili believes that Europe must not be a tough target for his country as he said at the debates in Tbilisi's House Of Europe opened specifically for such discussions. Logomachies, as creators of the institution bel...
A new impetus to the relations between the EU and its neighbours in the East
NEW
Lithuania will remain an active participant of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership initiative and will make every effort to ensure its successful implementation, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis said at...
Morning Brief (25-5)
NEW
EU Aid for Palestinians conditional, EU diplomats say. Reuters reports from a press briefing: The European Union could rethink the future size of its 300 million euro ($370 million) aid budget for Palestinians if no progress is made toward peace soon...
EU says not competing with Russia in eastern neighbourhood
NEW
The European Commission assured Moscow that the EU's policy's towards its eastern neighbours is not a form of competition, with Brussels keeping the door open for "project-based" co-operation with Russia. READ MORE...
Tomas Dupla del Moral à Yabiladi.com: L’Union pour la Méditerranée est encore en construction
NEW
Lancé en juillet 2008 à l’initiative de Nicolas Sarkozy, l’Union pour la Méditerranée (UPM) semble faire du surplace depuis. A la veille du second sommet de l’UPM qui se déroulera à Barcelone, le 7 juin 2010, nous avons rencon...
UfM projects in the spotlight at Marseille investors’ forum
NEW
Financial institutions and private investors are invited to the Marseille Provence Chamber of Commerce and Industry on May 27 for the For’UM, a one-day meeting dedicated to the funding of projects under the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), organi...
Eastern Partnership Initiative Brings The EU And Its Eastern Neighbours Closer, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Says
NEW
The Eastern Partnership programme embodies a shift into a new stage of the European Union’s relations with its neighbours in the East and is an important tool for promoting reforms in these countries and their economic integration, and for h...
Caspian region is for Europe one with a preferential treatment - analyst
NEW
News.Az interviews Dr. Friedemann Müller, German Institute for International and Security Affairs (Germany). READ MORE...
Polarizing Politics in Ukraine
NEW
WASHINGTON — The agreement signed last week between Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev in which Ukraine will receive cheaper gas in exchange for extending Russia’s Black Sea Fleet presence in Crimea t...
Two Formats of Partnership
NEW
The Summit of the Visegrad Group, held in Budapest, with the participation of all engaged members with the EU program “Eastern Partnership” gave a good ground to compare the two formats of cooperation and the analysis of some results of E...
Neighborhood Pressure revisited
NEW
On the “Neighborhood Pressure”: The Review of Binnaz Toprak’s Report by Ahmet Kuru by Changing Turkey On the “Neighborhood Pressure”: The Review of “Being Different in Turkey: Alienation on the Axis of Religion and Conservatism” by Binn...
No end in sight to Moldova's political stalemate
NEW
After a walkout by opposition Communists, Moldova's parliament failed to elect a president in its second try since November, plunging Europe's poorest country further into uncertainty. READ MORE...
A new ENP for the new Commission?
NEW
Behind the flow of depressive commentaries related to the appointments of Catherine Ashton and (less so) Herman van Rompuy, there are more EU foreign policy news coming – the announcement of the new Commission’s line-up. One interesting d...
Moldova’s fragile pluralism
NEW
Moldova has got more than its fair share of coverage on this blog (see the most recent post on Moldova’s fin de regime). No need for a new post. But for those who are interested, I will only point to two of my recent publications. The first is...
The Union for the Mediterranean: A zombie organisation
NEW
In March of this year I looked at the Union for the Mediterranean for the last time, and it was clear that this Sarkozian project was deadly frozen. A freshly published Council document reporting about the outcome of a meeting in June of the "Direct...
