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Archive - 2012

November 14th

The Curse of Corruption in Europe's East

By Dan Bilefsky, George Calin

This summer, after the police arrived at the handsome villa of the former Romanian prime minister Adrian Nastase to arrest him on corruption charges, he apparently pulled out a revolver and tried to kill himself. Millions of Romanians watched on television as Mr. Nastase, 62, was carried off on a stretcher, a Burberry scarf wrapped around his neck. He survived, and one week later was behind bars. READ MORE

Former East German prime minister dubs Malta’s handling of Aliyev case ‘scandalous’

Tonio Borg thrust into the limelight of hunt for Kazakh billionaire over Maltese residence permit. READ MORE

NATO Must Monitor Central Asia, Reach Out To Pakistan As Afghan Mission Ends

Afghanistan’s neighbours have conflicting aims for the strife-torn country’s future and NATO should keep a wary eye on Central Asia while reaching out to Pakistan as international troops prepare to withdraw in 2014, members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly were told Sunday. READ MORE

Gazprom gets a boost from Asia as EU sales decline

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom reported sales declines in Europe and its home market, showing the importance of its strategy to expand into Asia. READ MORE

November 12th

Violence mars Independence Day celebrations in Poland

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Police used tear gas and arrested over 100 on the streets of Warsaw, Sunday, to control a nationalist demonstration during Polish Independence Day celebrations. READ MORE

The EU Common Security and Defence Policy. Interests of Latvia

Latvia continues its engagement in the development of the EU Security and Defence Policy by actively participating in the elaboration of the Report on the Implementation of the European Security Strategy. Latvia is convinced that the EU at this moment should concentrate more on its strategic interests and new types of threats, and devote special attention to raising the implementation effectiveness of the security strategy. READ MORE

A Climate Vision for Russia: From Rhetoric to Action

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By Adnan Vatansever, Anna Korppoo

Regardless of many benefits available to Russia from adopting a more practical approach to climate mitigation, the country remains on the outskirts of the international climate policy debate—an important element of foreign policy in this decade. Russian leaders tend to point to the post-Soviet decline of Russia’s greenhouse gas emissions as a major contribution to global climate mitigation efforts. Yet, because the country’s carbon intensity remains very high, that stance undermines Russia’s role as a serious global climate actor. READ MORE

Russia's Putin fires top general amid corruption scandal

President Vladimir Putin dismissed the chief of staff of Russia's armed forces on Friday in a reshuffle of the military top brass, three days after sacking his defense minister following a corruption scandal. READ MORE

NATO obliged to defend all its members, Turkish FM says

Foreign Ministry: Implementation of TANAP jointly with Azerbaijan – important step for Turkey READ MORE

Absolutely different phenomenon

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By Robert Jan

At the dawn of Kazakhstan’s independence only few Europeans could show this country on a map - the exotic country as it seemed to everyone at that time. Today, the republic has received wide acclaim. Along with it – all that is attached to fame, including black PR of detractors.  READ MORE