Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 18 December 2014
This report is for media and the general public. The SMM continued to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum and the work of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC). The SMM observed no shelling or use of fire-arms, although the JCCC did report on a number of cases. Furthermore the SMM...
EU Slaps New Sanctions on Crimea, Might Drop Them for Yanukovych Cabal
Plus, Poland raises veto threat on UK immigration curbs, and the ruble’s tumble falls hard on Russia’s neighbors. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
US defense cuts may undermine security in Western Pacific
In its January 2012 Defense Strategic Guidance (DSG), the Obama Administration stated that the United States “will of necessity rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific region.”1Yet one month later, the administration released its 2013 defense budget request, including $487 billion in cuts mandated under the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), which provided...
The Lukashenka Code
Book excerpt: Why is the Belarusian leader so reviled in the West yet so firmly entrenched at home? …read more Source: Transitions Online...
What Does Russia Really Want in Iran?
Russian participation in the nuclear talks has demonstrated that despite the depth of the Ukrainian crisis and all the existing conflicts between Russia and the West, there are no reasons to consider Russia a purely destructive force that is bent on harming the West. …read more Source: Carnegie Endowment for International...
The shadow economy in Ukraine is now about 50% of the total
Millions of Ukrainians are confronted with mounting hardships this coming winter as the 8-month-old conflict with Russia-backed separatists drains the treasury of $5 million a day, corruption continues to deprive government coffers of badly needed tax revenue and Russia has canceled energy subsidies that made home heating affordable before...
Weekly update from the OSCE Observer Mission at Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk based on information as of 10:00 (Moscow time), 17 December 2014
This report is for media and the general public. SUMMARY Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Russian Federation (RF). The Observer Mission (OM) continues to operate 24/7 at both Border Crossing Points (BCP)s. Overall cross-border traffic flows increased at both BCPs. The OM continued to observe a significant number of persons in military-style clothing crossing...
New guidebook on co-operation between police and journalists during mass events and crises to be presented in Kyiv on Friday
KYIV, 18 December 2014 – The OSCE Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine, representatives county’s Interior Ministry and the National Union of Journalists will present a new guidebook on Friday in Kyiv on effective co-operation between police and journalists during mass events and crises. The guidebook, Interaction between journalists and police...
The ruble and Russia’s food imports: More than Putin’s life source
Following the downward trajectory of the price of oil, the Russian ruble continues to plummet. And amidst this currency free-fall, it is the political ramifications of the country’s skyrocketing food prices, caused by heavy dependence on food imports that are most troubling. An increase in the price of food that outpaces inflation has the...
Ghost in the Machine
Yanukovych may have left Ukraine, but some of his plans for restricting the Internet live on. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
