 RFE/RL Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova Report 10/7/2009 5:08:02 PM A review of RFE/RL reporting and analysis about Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova. For more stories on Eastern Europe, please visit and bookmark our Eastern Europe page . |
| Belarus  Belarus Evangelicals Vow To Keep Church After Fine The pastor of the New Life Evangelical Church in Minsk was found guilty of obstruction of justice and fined $150 today, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports. More  Belarusian Police Detain Activist For Distributing Leaflets The leader of the United Civic Party's branch in the eastern Belarusian city of Homel has been detained, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports. More  Belarus A Hair's Breadth Away From The EU. Sort Of. Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka never disappoints. Speaking in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, he warned today that his country will not be "pushed" into choosing between good relations with either the European Union or Russia. More Ten years ago, under mysterious circumstances, politician Viktar Hanchar and businessman Anatol Krasouski went missing in Minsk. Two other men, former Interior Minister Yury Zakharanka and cameraman Dzmitry Zavadski, also disappeared. None of the men have ever been found. There is widespread suspicion within Belarus that the security services connected to Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka were connected to the disappearances. More  The Language Of Pigs On the pages of various Internet forums, the conflict has already moved to a whole new level. Most commonly, you read that those among the protesters who speak Russian are speaking "the language of pigs." You read that they all need to be rounded up into cattle cars and shipped off to Siberia. And it's language that is taken as the main factor in identifying the protesters. And that's frightening. More  Moldova's Near Miss With Nepotism Every leader wants to be surrounded by people he can trust. But former OSCE envoy Louis O'Neill argues that while family is family, the rule of law and common sense need to carry the day in Moldova. More  Averting A PR Disaster In Moldova Acting President Mihai Ghimpu steps back from the precipice in Moldova, where a new pro-EU government hopes to turn the page on a decade of cronyism and backsliding under Communist rule. More  'Reports Of My Death...' In the science of thermodynamics there is a concept called "the bifurcation point." It is defined as the point at which an unstable system has an equal chance of developing into pure chaos or of settling into a higher and more coherent level of order. The Moldovan political system -- although it has nothing to do with the laws of physics -- is essentially at such a point right now. More  New Moldovan PM Filat Talks About Priorities Moldovan Liberal Democratic Party leader Vlad Filat has won backing for a Western-leaning government that is vowing to turn the page on nearly a decade of Communist rule and lead the country out of a financial swamp. Lawmakers on September 25 approved Filat's cabinet representing a coalition that emerged to challenge longtime Communist President Vladimir Voronin in repeat national elections in July. In one of his first interviews after his government won its vote of confidence, Filat cited the m More  Let The Seeds Grow “Of all the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Moldova will be the first that manages to make a serious breakthrough on economic development. It will take about 10 to 15 years, given the current circumstances.” This seems like a pretty debatable position, doesn’t it? More  What If You Hold A Summit And No One Comes? The latest gathering of leaders from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is set to begin in the Moldovan capital, Chisinau. But the mood ahead of the summit is tense. Four out of five Central Asian leaders have declined to attend. Georgia, which formally withdrew from the post-Soviet grouping this summer, will be conspicuously absent. And Moldova's pro-Western prime minister has dismissed the CIS as "not viable," saying Chisinau's future lies with the West. More  IMF, World Bank Revise Loan Conditions In Eastern Europe International financial institutions have been lending billions of dollars to governments in Central and Eastern Europe during the past year to help them weather the global financial crisis. Unlike previous lending by the IMF and the World Bank, the new loans carry fewer, but more focused requirements on economic reforms. More  Cossack Leader Barred From Entering Ukraine The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has said that its decision not to allow a Russian citizen, a leader of the Don Cossacks, to enter Ukraine was legitimate, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More A memorial in Sevastopol to the ethnic Azeri veterans of World War II has been vandalized, RFE/RL's Russian Service reports. More  Moldova May Seek EU Integration With Ukraine New Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat has told RFE/RL's Moldovan Service that Chisinau might seek "common action" with Kyiv in its efforts to join the European Union. More  Tony Judt On 'One Of East Europe's Great Mistakes' The future of the EU, Russia's relations with Europe, the course of American foreign policy. All have dominated headlines in recent weeks, and all are issues that renowned European historian Tony Judt has spent a lifetime analyzing and writing. Judt, who is director of the Erich Maria Remarque Institute at New York University, sat down with RFE/RL correspondent Heather Maher for a broad-ranging interview about the strength of the European Union, Russia's ambitions, and what Central and Eastern Europe should expect from Washington. More  Celebrating Rosh Hashana -- And Boosting The Local Economy -- In Ukraine Every Rosh Hashana, thousands of Jewish pilgrims come to the Ukrainian town of Uman to dance for joy. Why? Because a famous Jewish rabbi asked them to. Although Rabbi Nachman died almost 200 years ago, they still come to pay their respects, and lift the economy of Uman at the same time. More  Ukraine's Options To Counter Russia Are Limited Russia has a limited window of opportunity within which to achieve its objectives in Ukraine, while Kyiv has few options for developing relations with Moscow in a way that ensures its survival. More  What Corrupt People Wear Ukrainian activists in support of HIV positive people have been protesting outside the Health Ministry's building, protesting the high cost of retro-viral drugs. More |
