NATO and the EU: Centrifugal Forces and Fragmentation?

Even before the adoption of the New Strategic Concept and the Lisbon Summit, one of the major concerns of the new allies, namely us from East-Central Europe, was the necessity that NATO retains the capacity to honour its fundamental obligation to guarantee the security of its members. That was so because, on the one hand, for us, the main motivation in pressuring the Alliance to accept our membership was exactly that of getting access to the most important security guarantee offered by the most powerful political-military organization in the world

Nino is No Saint

I was expecting bad news this year before Georgia’s Independence Day on May 26. Reports from Tbilisi sounded like war communiqués. Some of the implacable people who called themselves the opposition announced a quick mass “revolution” that would topple the “dictatorship.”

Taxes and Nothing Else

A contemporary state has a number of functions. Even in the most liberal form it must: a) protect its citizens; b) secure conditions for their life and development; c) guarantee their rights and freedoms.

Getting Around Gazprom

Lithuania has found an alternative to Gazprom, but Ukraine is still searching.

The Ukrainian Opposition Should Not Gloat But Modernise Itself

The popularity ratings of Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Regions are falling dramatically

The Royal Glamour

It is estimated that almost two million people watched the wedding of Prince William, the grandson of Queen Elizabeth, and Kate Middleton

Why Do You Need This?

Lately, the Ukrainian government has been confirming all the negative stereotypes that surround it. The detention of Yuriy Lutsenko, the arrest of Yulia Tymoshenko, and the imprisonment of other representatives of the previous government - all on obscure grounds – are hardly anything other than show-off repression

Mental Abyss

Ukraine is mysterious and full of surprises country. Let’s face it. Then it will become easier to tolerate some things – For instance, public statements by Ukrainian top officials. Otherwise, they seem to be living in a different world which has nothing to do with the problems and the needs of average Ukrainians, or they might just be jeering their voters

The Weak Union

The future of the United Kingdom has been thrown into doubt by elections that have swept into office Scottish nationalists committed to independence for Scotland, ending 300 years of union with England.

New Gas Performance

After the Kharkiv treaties were signed, the issue of gas and the price of the fuel, which traditionally dominated Ukrainian-Russian relations, receded into the background. The current government has lamented the bad inheritance it received from the previous Prime Minister, Yulia Tymoshenko, but was at the same time content to receive its “discount” from the Kremlin