Fata Morgana of Western Europe

After the catastrophe of the First World War, social democratic forces in Western Europe that previously existed there experienced a radical transformation under the influence of the Russian Bolsheviks.

The First Step

Things will be the same for a long time to come. Nothing will change, because no one really wants any changes. Most people simply need things to stay as they are

Is European Culture a Fantasy?

Is European culture a fantasy? Is it more or less so than European politics? These are the questions that cross my mind over and over again when I try to think of how to reverse the ongoing tragedy of the EU – namely, its silent and slow demise, which is a fact of reality, to my dismay.

Criminals in Politics

Politics has always been about a watershed between legitimate and illegitimate figures in power

Voting Wrong…

Finally, someone has uttered the sacramental words I have been waiting for so long. “This country needs censored democracy” a leading Ukrainian economist said in an interview. Below, I will explain what “censored democracy” is, but now I sadly admit: after a good laugh at sarcastic appeals for grandchildren to hide their grannies’ passports to keep them from voting in elections or posters of an old woman saying that her cat will inherit her house after she found out that her grandson voted for the Party of Regions, the public and some opinion leaders have begun to think that democracy, as it is, does not work in Ukraine.

Who Really Controls the Donbas?

In their struggle for power, Ukraine’s oligarchs formed a fraternity of common political interests, joining forces rather than promoting personal ambitions. Once the ultimate political goal was reached, their egoistic motivations became the priority.

Language Myths in Eastern and Southern Ukraine

In the minds of Ukraine’s leadership and entire political class sits a deep conviction that eastern and southern Ukraine does not understand or accept Ukrainian and that the language irks and outrages everyone there, meaning it is better to not even speak it in those regions.

Estonia: The Second World War Finally Over in 1994

Unlike many other nations in the Second World War the foreign troops did not leave Estonia in 1944 or in 1945, but in 1994.

Following Reagan

Mitt Romney offers a more aggressive tone in relations with Russia and plans to focus more on the problems of Central and Eastern Europe

A Big Silence

A journalist exposed a conman: the latter had stolen USD 150mn on a single shady oil rig deal. His first reaction: “a journalist can be bought – someone paid him for the publication”. For the most part, the internal world of crime is unknown to me, but all of a sudden, my interest is piqued: does he really believe this? He does indeed