Europe’s Seven Deadly Sins
Or, seven reasons why Europe gets the Russia-Ukraine crisis wrong. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Misha Takes Over Odessa
The sensational appointment of Mikheil Saakashvili to run Odessa will shake up both Ukraine and Georgia. …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
Restless in Odessa
For the Ukrainian Government, the EU summit in Riga, Latvia, last Friday was a bitter pill. EU leaders dashed hopes for fast a track to Ukraine’s membership. Kiev received non-committal promises about a visa liberalisation program and pledges of €1.8 billion in loans (national debt has almost reached 100% of GDP). But even this is dependent...
Why an EU-Turkey Customs Union Upgrade is Good for Turkey
Introduction The European Union (EU) and the Turkish government have decided to work toward upgrading their Customs Union.[1] The decision comes at a time when two major U.S.-led projects, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), are slowly but surely progressing. The Obama administration...
The Indispensable Partner? Turkey in the Evolving Triangulation with the United States and Europe
Introduction Despite recent questions surrounding its allegiance to Western defense, and the continuing cynicism accompanying an elusive EU membership quest, Turkey remains in important respects an indispensable partner of the United States and the EU in a strategically relevant region. Discussions at the 11th meeting of the Trilateral Strategy...
Russia’s Military Preparations Raise Concerns in Europe, Ukraine
MOSCOW— Russia this week held surprise, massive military exercises as members of NATO, the wester… …read more Source: American Security Council...
Stronger OSCE field presence, civil society co-operation and human rights focus recommended at PA seminar
COPENHAGEN, 28 May 2015 – The OSCE needs a strengthened presence on the ground, closer co-operation with civil society and a rededication to human rights commitments to help realize its goal of achieving comprehensive security, said participants in the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Helsinki +40 seminar today in Belgrade. (PHOTOS available...
Due to decentralisation, raion and oblast councils will get executive committies
Legal Research Fellow of the Razumkov Centre Viktor Musiyaka told the UNN news agency about possible alterations of the local government under decentralization. If decentralisation is introduced at the level of raions and oblasts, instead of administrations, there will be councils, within which executive committees will be created. Locally, there...
The 12 People Who Ruined Ukraine
Image credit: ThinkstockOther Mediavia PoliticoWhen Russian President Vladimir Putin sat down to plot his invasion of Ukraine in February 2014, he didn’t have to start from scratch. Generations of Russian rulers have invaded Ukrainian lands to starve, deport and enslave the native populations, and Putin has drawn avidly from their...
Russia Sends Troops, Equipment to Ukraine Border; Probe Questions Azerbaijan Privatization
Plus, Putin says the FIFA arrests are U.S. overreach and another Kremlin critic falls gravely ill. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
