During a February 15-16 visit to Lviv, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko optimistically predicted that the investigation into his near fatal poisoning in September 2004 would soon be finalized. "There is greater optimism now on this issue," he said. "I don't think it's a complicated case,"... MORE

"Ukraine is the start, next up is Moldova," Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski told the Wall Street Journal on February 17, referring to Poland's active role in shaping European Union policy in the region. Citing the Russian military presence and transnational crime haven in Transnistria, the... MORE

Among the political goals announced by Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko is a plan to unify the political parties that comprise the "Our Ukraine" bloc into a single political party (Ukrayinska pravda, February 13). Yushchenko signed a "declaration of principles" regarding a new Our Ukraine party... MORE

Speaking at the high-level NATO conference in Munich on February 12-13, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld singled out for praise Lithuania's contribution to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer had similarly commended Lithuania's contribution to ISAF... MORE

On February 10, entrepreneurs staged a one-day strike in various cities across Belarus to protest the introduction of a value-added tax (VAT). The authorities reacted by detaining strike leader Anatol Shumchanka, head of the public organization "Perspektiva," for a 10-day period. However, the businessmen have... MORE

On February 10 Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko visited the heavily industrialized and densely populated Donetsk region, whose representative, Viktor Yanukovych, finished a disputed second in the 2004 presidential election. Yushchenko has been notoriously unpopular in Donetsk, scoring around 3% there both with his Our Ukraine... MORE

As Ukraine's newly formed government prepares to thoroughly revamp the moribund socio-political system it inherited from the corrupt Kuchma administration, Russia is warily pondering its policies toward a new Ukraine. While a group of liberal-minded experts argue that Kyiv's Europe-oriented political course is not inimical... MORE

Since the December election of President Viktor Yushchenko, Ukraine's Prosecutor-General's Office has launched a variety of new investigations, some already leading to criminal charges. One of Yushchenko's fundamental reforms will be institutionalizing the rule of law in a country that had continued the Soviet tradition... MORE

The chairmen of the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian parliamentary foreign relations committees, along with prominent historians and political scientists from the three Baltic states, have decided to convene an urgent videoconference to restore the sense of common purpose in handling the challenge of the May... MORE

Responding to Moldova's appeals after years of procrastination, the European Union has decided to institute an EU Special Representative to Moldova, with a focus on Transnistria conflict settlement (AP, February 8). The decision must be welcomed as progress. But it follows the EU's style of... MORE