January 27th
NATO Military Officers honoured by Russian Chief of Defence

Following the NATO-Russia Council meeting with Military Representatives, Army General Nikolay E. Makarov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, awarded Lieutenant General Jürgen Bornemann, Director General of the International Military Staff (IMS), Colonel Karl Hanevik, Chief of the Special Partnership Branch of the IMS Cooperation & Regional Security Division, and Lieutenant Colonel Peter Van den Broeck, Staff Officer of the same Division, with the medal of the Russian Ministry of Defence "For the Strengthening of Combat Cooperation". READ MORE
New Stage in the History of Kazakhstan

Early Parliamentary elections took place in Kazakhstan. Beforehand the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev underlined that “the elections to Majilis are to become a new step of democratization of Kazakh society and our political system”. And already now we can positively declare that this stage has come. READ MORE
Azerbaijan police foil Iran plot to assassinate Israel ambassador

Police in Azerbaijan have foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate Israel's ambassador and other prominent Jews in apparent revenge for the killing of nuclear scientists in Tehran, officials in the former Soviet state claimed. READ MORE
January 25th
Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle in Washington: "Euro and the Future of Europe"

I am honoured to be the guest of the Brookings Institution today. And I am especially pleased to see so many friends of Europe in the audience.
The famous line from Mark Twain's memoirs about Wagner is also true for Europe: "The music is better than it sounds". And I say that as a great fan of both Richard Wagner and of European integration. READ MORE
Davutoğlu in Moscow: new era in Turkish-Russian relations

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu will pay a one-day visit to Moscow on Jan 25. Davutoğlu and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will participate in the second meeting of the Joint Strategic Planning Group, part of the High Level Cooperation Council (ÜDİK) maintained by the two countries. READ MORE
The Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan to Visit the USA in the End of January

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Yerzhan Kh. Kazykhanov makes his first official visit to the USA in the end of January – beginning of February this year, reported on Mondayan official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Altaj Abibullayev. READ MORE
EU imposes embargo on Iranian oil

European Union foreign ministers have announced a ban on the import of Iranian oil. The new oil sanction against Iran prohibits any new deals and calls for existing contracts to be stopped by July this year. READ MORE
January 23rd
Croatians vote on EU entry

Polls opened in Croatia this Sunday in a key nationwide vote to decide whether the Balkan country should join the European Union. Surveys show that some 60 percent of voters back EU membership. READ MORE
National Review's Latest Attack On Obama's Russia Policy: Grasping at Straws

Writing in National Review, Daniel Vajdic of the American Enterprise Institute mounts a confused and almost incoherent attack on the Obama administration’s Russia policy. Having read Vajdic’s piece several times, I am genuinely unsure of what his actual substantive criticism is. He seems not to be presenting a structured critique of either the formulation or execution of the administration’s policy. Rather, he lays a number of inconvenient and undesirable Russian policies at the feet of “the reset” despite the fact that many of the policies in question actually predate the Obama administration (or even dear Barack’s election to the US senate). READ MORE