Latest Articles about Europe
Tactical and Strategic Factors in Turkey’s Offensive Against the PKK
A Turkish military offensive in the ethnic-Kurdish provinces of southeastern Turkey began in mid-September. Turkey's autumn campaigns against the militants of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) usually do not begin until October, but the current campaign is designed to reinforce Turkey's position in negotiations with... MORE
MOLDOVA QUITTING BACK-CHANNEL NEGOTIATIONS WITH KREMLIN, SEEKS RAPPROCHEMENT WITH TIRASPOL
Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin is pulling back from the bilateral, non-transparent negotiations with the Kremlin, on which he had embarked in September 2006. Concessions offered by Chisinau incrementally in the negotiating rounds with Russian Security Council Secretary Yuri Zubakov and, periodically, with President Vladimir Putin... MORE
ORANGE REVOLUTION BACK ON TRACK AFTER UKRAINE ELECTION
Ukraine’s September 30 parliamentary elections mark a resurrection of the Orange Revolution. The two orange forces, the Yulia Tymoshenko bloc (BYuT) and Our Ukraine-People’s Self Defense (NUNS), together won 45% of the votes. Their expected 230 seats (out of 450) should be enough to create... MORE
GAZPROM THREATENS TO REDUCE SUPPLIES TO UKRAINE
On October 2 Gazprom warned Ukraine via mass media that it would reduce gas deliveries from November onwfard, unless Ukraine pays $1.3 billion dollar worth of arrears to Gazprom. According to company spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov, these arrears accumulated for gas supplied during the nine-month period... MORE
Swedish Cartoonist Forced Underground by Salafi-Jihadi Campaign
Barely a year after Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad as a sponsor of terrorism led to a worldwide controversy and violent anti-Western riots across the Middle East, a new cartoon affair is quietly developing. The current crisis began when Swedish cartoonist Lars Vilk published... MORE
UKRAINIAN ELECTION OVER, BUT ITS OUTCOME UNCLEAR
Ukraine’s September 30 early parliamentary election produced a hung parliament, just like the regular election in March 2006. Like last year, the Party of Regions (PRU) of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych scored more votes than other parties. The Our Ukraine-People’s Self-Defense bloc (NUNS), backed by... MORE
OMV VERSUS MOL: A TEST CASE FOR THE EU AND ITS ENERGY POLICY
The Austrian government and the state-controlled OMV energy champion have launched a campaign in European media and with EU authorities in Brussels for a hostile takeover of Hungary’s fully private-owned MOL energy champion. Members of the Austrian government, such as Economics Minister Martin Bartenstein and... MORE
AKHMETOV EXPANDS STEEL AND IRON HOLDINGS ON THE EVE OF UKRAINE’S ELECTIONS
Ukrainian steel manufacturer Renat Akhmetov and Russian businessman Vadim Novinsky, principal owner of Smart Group in Ukraine, have announced a merger agreement amounting to a takeover of Smart by Akhmetov. This move should position Akhmetov clearly as the dominant force from now on among Ukraine’s... MORE
ESTONIA WILL NOT ALLOW THE NORD STREAM PIPELINE ON ITS SEABED
Estonia's government has turned down the Russo-German company Nord Stream's request to survey the seabed off the Estonian coast. The survey was to precede the construction of the Russian gas pipeline on the Baltic seabed to Germany for Gazprom. The Estonian coalition government took the... MORE
NORD STREAM PROJECT: BILATERAL RUSSO-GERMAN, NOT EUROPEAN
The publics in the Baltic states and Poland generally feel that Moscow and Berlin or interested German circles -- have unjustifiably consorted over the heads of countries situated between Russia and Germany to launch the bilateral gas pipeline project, Nord Stream. At the same time... MORE