Candidate registration for the October 31 Ukrainian presidential election officially closed on August 6. Next, all candidates must collect 500,000 signatures by September 20 (Ukrayinska pravda, August 5). The number of candidates has steadily grown with each presidential election: six in 1991, seven in 1994,... MORE

At its party congress at the end of July, Unity (Yednist) refused to back Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych for the upcoming presidential elections (Ukrayinska pravda, July 24). Unity is headed by Oleksandr Omelchenko, the popular mayor of Kyiv and head of the Kyiv state administration.... MORE

Latvia's Prime Minister Indulis Emsis has made an abrupt decision to remove Sandra Kalniete, an internationally respected diplomat, from the post of European Commissioner in Brussels. Emsis wants to free Latvia's seat on the European Commission for Ingrida Udre, chairwoman of the Latvian parliament, and... MORE

With Ukraine's presidential election just three months away, Russia appears to be stepping up efforts to influence the outcome of the ballot in its neighbor. Ukraine remains the linchpin in the new frontier of Russia-led Eurasian integration. The result of the October 31 election may... MORE

The leader of the All-Ukrainian Party "Liberty," Oleh Tyahnybok, was expelled from the Our Ukraine parliamentary faction on July 20. Tyahnybok was excluded after giving an anti-Russian, anti-Semitic speech at the gravesite of a commander of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), a guerrilla group that... MORE

A Ukrainian ship en route to Egypt was stopped and searched in Istanbul in June. Turkish officials found that the ship contained numerous items not listed on its manifest, including such sophisticated weapons as a radio-controlled missile and launcher (Associated Press, June 4). This disclosure... MORE

The latest survey conducted by the Minsk-based Independent Institute of Socio-Economic and Political Studies in June 2004 suggests that there is a new pool of contenders for the Belarusian presidency (iiseps.by). However, the electorate remains unconvinced that any of the individuals could mount a realistic... MORE

International organizations, as well as an indifferent U.S. State Department, are proving unable or unwilling to deal with "linguistic cleansing" in Trans-Dniester. All players involved are treating the Russian authorities' forcible closure of the last six Latin-script schools as an unwelcome distraction from negotiations toward... MORE

In late July, the Ukrainian Ministry of Families, Children, and Youth unofficially organized a youth forum to rally support for President Leonid Kuchma's candidate in the upcoming presidential elections, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. Each oblast branch of the Ministry received instructions to organize "delegates" for... MORE

On July 26, the office of President Leonid Kuchma made public a presidential decree that amends Ukraine's military doctrine, deleting the goal of NATO membership. Whether deliberately or by coincidence, the change was published on the day of Kuchma's effusive meeting in Yalta with Russian... MORE