Among the European Union’s six Eastern Partnership countries (Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan), Moldova is moving closer to the EU at the fastest pace. The government, led successively by Vlad Filat (prime minister, 2009–2013) and Iurie Leanca (foreign affairs minister 2009–2013, prime minister... MORE

Russia has temporarily derailed the European Union–Ukraine Association Agreement (AA) and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) deal at the EU’s Vilnius summit, November 28–29. Moscow achieved this success through economic pressures on Ukraine and threats to escalate such pressures, which the EU could... MORE

Ukraine failed to sign the Association Agreement (AA) and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement with the European Union at the Vilnius summit (November 28–29) under the EU’s Lithuanian presidency. The negotiations had been completed and the documents initialed in March 2012, ready... MORE

To balance its contradictory goals—advancing Georgia’s Western orientation while conciliating Russia—Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s government initiated a “reset” of Georgia-Russia relations from the moment it took office in November 2012 (see Part One, EDM, November 25).Twelve months later, Georgian Dream leaders have no significant Russian... MORE

Georgia’s Western orientation is the legacy of former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s government (2003–2012), which ended the predecessor governments’ equivocations. A tradition-bound society with almost no historical experience of Europe, very limited comprehension of European norms and values, and isolated during the past two centuries within... MORE

Georgia’s new prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili, took office on November 20, casting anathema on the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party, and warning it of more criminal investigations to come. His fierce introductory speech as head of government came across as an attempt to intimidate... MORE

The European Union–Moldova association and free trade agreements, to be initialed in Vilnius and signed next year, should enable Moldova’s existing government to win the 2014 elections against the Communist Party and fend off Russian pressures. With that in mind, EU officials and the Moldovan... MORE

The European Union and Moldova are fully set to initial an Association Agreement (AA) and a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) at the EU’s Eastern Partnership Summit on November 28¬–29 in Vilnius, under the EU’s Lithuanian presidency. Moreover, uniquely for Moldova at the... MORE

The Croatian authorities’ pressures on Hungarian MOL (see EDM, November 14) are not a novel development. In 2011, the government (led by the Croatian Democratic Union at that time) imposed a legal cap on MOL’s stake in INA at 49 percent. When the European Union’s... MORE

The Croatian government and the Hungarian MOL oil and gas group have entered into negotiations over the future of INA, the main oil and gas company in Croatia and the largest business entity in the country. MOL (itself Hungary’s largest business group, 25 percent state-owned)... MORE