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Archive - Mar 2013

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March 8th

History of Shoraz

By Guy Begg

Malta is becoming a place where criminals feel at ease even those who are wanted. Recently, the island nation was embroiled in a corruption scandal involving Rahat Shoraz, either a spy, or simply criminal, lurking on the comfortable shores from his Central Asian enemies. And finally it appeared a chance that this person will go to jail. READ MORE

Мerkel Looks East for Austerity Allies in Hollande Talks

By Tony Czuczka & Patrick Donahue

German Chancellor Angela Merkel reached out to the ex-communist east as she pushes plans for a more competitive Europe, saying the euro area won’t become a “closed club.” READ MORE

March 6th

Polish Foreign Minister says Lithuania cannot have both LNG terminal and gas pipeline to Poland

Lithuania should choose between a liquefied natural gas terminal and a gas link to Poland, as both projects would not pay off, Poland's Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has said. READ MORE

Russia and Central Asia: Missed Opportunities and New Prospects

By Alexei Vlasov

What is Russia's role in Central Asia? How do those in Central Asia perceive Moscow's policies? What is at the core of this relationship: labor migration, multimillion loans, or Russia’s security umbrella? READ MORE

March 4th

Kazakhstan Establishes Continuing Role in Iran Talks

By Richard Weitz

The February 26–27 round of the nuclear negotiations involving Iran and the P5+1 group (all five permanent UN Security Council members and Germany) in Almaty went as well as might have reasonably been expected. Nobody expected a breakthrough and none occurred. Yet, the sides met at a high level for the first time in months and they discussed detailed proposals as well as principles. The six powers suggested the consideration of a series of steps that would see increasing sanctions relief (the initial proposal was easing a ban on trade in precious metals like gold and relaxation of an import embargo on Iranian petrochemical products) in return for increasing constraints on Iran’s nuclear program (beginning with a suspension of uranium enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 percent at its Fordow underground facility). READ MORE

Azerbaijani FM: Country massacring innocent Khojaly civilians cannot be called civilized

Armenia which was trying to present itself as a civilized country, proved otherwise by committing such a terrible crime in Khojaly in the late 20th century, Foreign Ministry's spokesman Elman Abdullayev said at the briefing on Friday. READ MORE

Is the EU beholden to lobbyists?

How much influence do interest groups have on EU legislation? Experts are divided, but the online platform LobbyPlag sees a lot. Sometimes, they say, MEPs even copy and paste directly from lobby proposals. READ MORE

March 1st

Germany to Continue Leading Europe Despite Domestic Political Uncertainty

By Stephen F. Szabo

Germany’s federal election in September is about more than that country’s future; it’s about Europe. Germany has emerged from the multiple crises of the eurozone as the continent’s pivotal power. U.S. President Barack Obama understood this early in his tenure and it has also been openly acknowledged by the likes of Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, who called for more German leadership in a speech in Berlin. Germany’s indispensability is also acknowledged, albeit less openly, in Britain and France, both of which are still coming to terms with Germany’s preponderance of economic and political power (and its lack of comparable military power). And in countries such as Greece, Spain, and Italy, anti-German sentiments are a grudging acknowledgement that these nations’ fates are determined in Berlin as much as in their own capitals. READ MORE

NATO Defence Ministers agree to expand exercises and multinational cooperation

NATO Defence Ministers agreed concrete goals for more ambitious training and exercises to maintain the lessons of interoperability at their meeting in Brussels on 21 February. READ MORE

Ukraine: Stake meeting in Lviv in the eyes of the EU

video

By Tatiana Bernevec

Known Ukrainian political analyst, Alyona Getmanciuk, believes that the Transnistrian problem is a "spare part" for the authorities in Kiev READ MORE