 RFE/RL Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova Report 8/3/2010 3:17:53 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  Belarusian Activists Detained For Flying Flag Two activists in the central Belarusian town of Barisau have been detained for publicly displaying the country's historic flag. More  Under Attack In Belarus RFE/RL's resident cartoonist in Belarus, Kaсiaryna Marсinovich, takes on the recent Russian TV documentaries meant to show up Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka. More  Has Moscow Had Enough Of Belarus's Lukashenka? An ongoing conflict between authoritarian Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his erstwhile Kremlin allies has intensified markedly, leading to speculation that Russia may seek to remove him from power. More  Moldovan PM May Run For President Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat has not ruled out a possible run for president if voters decide to change the election rules in an upcoming referendum. More  Will Moldova Be The Next Ukraine? Ex-diplomat Vlad Spanu argues that Moldova stands at a crossroads now, and Western donors should focus on finding ways to help develop the pillars upon which any sustained democratization effort must rest. More  Guest Blogger: Why Russia's Ban On Moldovan Wine Imports Is Bad News For Russians, Too It should be clear by now that Russia is far from being a reliable international trading partner. Additionally, as long as the Russian people continue to tolerate these types of opportunistic and destructive policies implemented by central political leaders on their behalf, Russia – the country and its people – will move further and further away from WTO membership. More  Eastern Europe's Frozen Conflicts Look To Kosovo Ruling While the International Court of Justice says has said its ruling approving Kosovo's declaration of independence is unique to Kosovo, the ruling is being regarded in more universal terms. And nowhere more so than by parties involved in secession crises or frozen conflicts themselves. More  Moldova's Richest Businessman Strikes Back Almost a year after the change of government in Moldova, arguably the country's richest businessman, Anatol Stati, announced he has sued the former Communist president, Vladimir Voronin, for ruining his business in Kazakhstan and blocking a deal to bring cheap gas to Moldova from the Central Asian country. More  Stakhanov Exhibition Opens In Ukraine The Luhansk regional museum in eastern Ukraine has unveiled an exhibition commemorating the 75th anniversary of the Stakhanovite movement that lionized productive workers in the former Soviet Union. More  Security Service 'Summons Ukrainian Blogger' Over Presidential Posts A Ukrainian blogger says he was summoned by the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) for questioning for allegedly threatening the life of the president and insulting him. More  Did Banksy Visit Ukraine? If he didn't, it's a pretty good pastiche. More  Kosovo Ruling Accelerates Erosion Of European Order The decision by a UN court on Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence will not have immediate consequences. But it has become another element in the general erosion of the European order that has been ongoing since the end of the Cold War. And the long-term consequences of this erosion are impossible to predict. More  Ukrainian Official Denies Famine Was Deliberate The new director of Ukraine's National Memory Institute says that while the 1932-1933 famine in Ukraine was "the result of difficult circumstances," it was not artificially provoked. More  Ukraine To Plug Deficit With IMF Loan The IMF has approved giving Ukraine loans worth $15.15 billion to help the country recover from its serious economic crisis. More  The Ambitions Of A Would-Be Orthodox Pope Vitaliy Portnikov says Patriarch Kirill probably evoked greater interest than any previous visit to Ukraine by a head of the Russian Orthodox Church. More  Ukrainian Officials Bar Tatar Protests Kyiv city authorities have prohibited mass gatherings and meetings by Crimean Tatar organizations, RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service reports. More  In Ukraine, 'Rights Violations Increasing' The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union says that corruption and human rights violations in Ukraine are on the rise and turning the country into a "feudal state." More  Ukrainian Nationalist Groups Protest Russian Patriarch's Visit Nationalist groups gathered near the "Ukrainian House" in Kyiv to protest Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill's visit to Ukraine. More  Interview: Ukraine An 'Example Of Democratization' To Region, But 'Threats To Progress Emerging' The Washington-based organization Freedom House, which measures the degree of liberty in countries around the world, says Ukraine is setting an example for its region in the progress it is making in democratization. But Freedom House's director of studies, Christopher Walker, warns of possible dangers ahead. More |