Elections in a World Falling Down
A specter is haunting Eastern Europe, and its name is Russia. Europe and the U.S., too slow to respond, are allowing that specter to change the way Eastern Europe sees the world. Ukraine has held two elections in a row with its sovereign territory being carved up by Russians and Russian-backed forces. Today, as the cease-fire crumbles again and...
Eastern Ukraine: Both sides responsible for indiscriminate attacks
Headline Title: Eastern Ukraine: Both sides responsible for indiscriminate attacks 06 November 2014 …read more Source: Amnesty...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 5 November 2014
This report is for media and the general public. The provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum, and in particular the activities of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC), remained the focus of the SMM’s monitoring activities. There was intense shelling in Donetsk city, whilst Mariupol and its surroundings remained...
Hungary’s Gradual Embrace of Putinism
Hungary’s current Prime Minister not only believes in closer ties with Vladimir Putin, but also would like to replicate his authoritarianism in Hungary. Over the last year, there has been much focus on the crisis in Ukraine, little attention has been paid to Hungary’s undermining of liberal democratic principles under the current...
Newsflash to the new Congress: Tiered readiness is here now
The modern day version of “tiered readiness” has arrived for the U.S. military. While the news has yet to sink in the minds of Washington leaders, the state of affairs across the force speaks for itself.During the defense drawdown in the 1990s, this concept was instituted with units preparing to deploy at peak readiness while the majority of the...
Russian Doctors March Against Harsh Reform; EU Opens EULEX Probe
Plus, SOCAR’s purchase of Greek company comes under scrutiny, and an aged Romanian accused of murdering dissidents says he was only following orders. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
U.S. midterm elections demonstrated commitment to democracy, but role of money increasingly problematic, say OSCE parliamentary observers
WASHINGTON, 5 November 2014 – The 2014 United States midterm elections were another demonstration of the country’s commitment to democracy, as voters could readily inform themselves about their political options and could freely cast their ballots, observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly (OSCE PA) concluded. However, the increasing...
Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 18:00 (Kyiv time), 4 November 2014
This report is for media and the general public. The provisions of the Minsk Protocol and Memorandum as well as the activities of the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination remained at the focus of SMM monitoring. In Donetsk and Luhansk the situation remained tense. In Donetsk the SMM heard shelling from the northern outskirts of the city....
OSCE Ministerial Council to meet in Basel, Switzerland, 4-5 December, media accreditation closing on 14 November
BERN, 6 November 2014 – The 21st OSCE Ministerial Council will take place on 4 and 5 December 2014 in Basel, Switzerland. The event will be held at the invitation of the 2014 OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Switzerland’s Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter. The Ministerial Council is the central decision-making and governing body of the OSCE....
Weekly update from the OSCE Observer Mission at Russian Checkpoints Gukovo and Donetsk based on information as of 10:00 (Moscow time), 5 November 2014
This report is for media and the general public. SUMMARY Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Russian Federation. The Observer Mission (OM) is operating at full capacity. Cross-border traffic flows slowed down slightly at both Border Crossing Points (BCPs) and the total number of border-crossings was the lowest since August. As in previous weeks, more people...
