Spot report by the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (SMM), 7 November 2014: shelling and fatalities in Donetsk
This report is for media and the general public. On 5 November, at 18:02hrs, a Ukrainian military representative from the Joint Centre for Control and Co-ordination (JCCC) in Debaltseve informed the SMM about shelling and fatalities on Stepanenko Street, three kilometres north-west of the city centre of Donetsk. On 6 and 7 November the SMM...
Remarks by Ambassador Samantha Power: Reforming peacekeeping in a time of conflict
Good afternoon.I’ve come here today to talk to about UN peacekeeping. There is a lot going on in the world right now, but the urgent, critical issues on our plate should not divert us from an important fact: the United States has a vital interest – and a critical role to play – in strengthening peacekeeping to meet demands that peacekeepers...
Latvian Foreign Minister Comes Out, Putin Says Politics Behind Oil Price Drop
Plus, Belarus expels a rights activist over traffic violations and a right-wing Polish politician says his case proves the ubiquity of police brutality. …read more Source: Transitions Online...
Russia Outflanks the West
How Western conventional military strength is circumvented in Eastern Europe by Russia’s combination of asymmetric hybrid warfare and nuclear threats. …read more Source: Royal United Services...
Success? The Russia/Ukraine/EU gas agreement
2014-11-05Szymon KardaśWojciech KonończukAgata Łoskot-StrachotaWe cannot rule out the possibility that the gas ‘ceasefire’ will be violated before the date specified in the protocol. …read more Source: Centre for Eastern...
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...
