Europe's lagging energy efficiency standards are emerging as a key issue ahead of a February meeting of EU heads of state. READ MORE

NATO’s first ever theatre ballistic missile defence (TBMD) capability has been handed over to NATO’s military commanders. The handover took place at the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre (CAOC) in Uedem, Germany, in the presence of NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Claudio Bisogniero, and civil and military authorities from NATO and host nation Germany. The NATO Combined Air Operations Centre demonstrated how this interim capability allows NATO commanders, for the first time ever, to do limited ballistic missile defence planning and exchange information with national ballistic missile defence assets. READ MORE

World leaders have been voicing their concern about the events unfolding in Egypt, and the crisis has been a talking point at the World Economic Forum in Davos. READ MORE

The Eastern Partnership was only recently given a start, so it would be pre-mature to give prognosis of its future development. However, it seems that to make EaP effective, Azerbaijani civil society should be included into official negotiations at the bilateral level. Otherwise, the Eastern Partnership may transform into a purely Baku-Brussels elites’ interests based enterprise, leaving the needs of the wider population aside. In dealing with Azerbaijan, the EU should also take into account the abundant oil and gas resources which constitute a structural obstacle to democratization in Azerbaijan and contribute to a great alienation of the elite from population. The EU should also get more involved in the resolution of the Karabagh conflict to speed up regional integration in the South Caucasus. READ MORE

Thousands of anti-government demonstrators were crowing the streets of Egypt’s biggests cities Saturday, repeating demands that President Hosni Mubarak stand down. READ MORE

A conversation with the Director of energy programs of the Nomos center Mikhail Gonchar. READ MORE

Nick Clegg's plan for a May referendum on changing the electoral system is being threatened by a power-struggle in the House of Lords. READ MORE

The election of Viktor Yanukovych as president of Ukraine caused a return of the traditional ‘rocking chair’ politics between Russia and the EU in their Ukrainian policies, while the basic problems of the country remain unsolved. The Ukrainian elite is itself to be blamed for their country’s desolate economic standing. Russia is trying to take advantage of Ukraine's structural dependency in its economic and energy policy, in order to let its own businesses take over central areas of the Ukrainian economy. The EU, on the other hand, failed to develop any functional Ukraine policy in the past. In order to avoid further political and economic stagnation in the country, Brussels must finally start working out new neighbourhood policy instruments. READ MORE

Adoption of Conclusions on the Strategy “Energy 2020” and Priorities within Energy Infrastructure for 2020. READ MORE

The world's four main emerging economic powers, known by the acronym BRIC ‹ standing for Brazil, Russia, India and China ‹ now refer to themselves as BRICS. READ MORE