On January 1, 2010 the presidency in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe will be passed in rotation to Kazakhstan. In this connection during an annual Eurasian media forum, which took place in Moscow recently, there was an opinion expressed that in the close future the emphasis in OSCE activities will shift – instead of the human rights issues the priority will be given to the security issues. It is noticing that though Kazakhstan’s leader Nazarbayev is known for his authoritative methods, his country can’t impose its policy or vision of problems on other OSCE countries, even when Russia and Belarus support Kazakhstan as their Customs Union partner. READ MORE

While oil exploration company RWE Dea often drills in the sands of Libya or under the waters of the Caspian Sea, a new project has the company looking for the black gold in a pine forest in Northern Germany. READ MORE

Leaders of the three Baltic States, President Dalia Grybauskaitė of Lithuania, President Valdis Zatlers of Latvia, and President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, met in Vilnius today and agreed that Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia would stand united in their aspiration towards energy independence and would seek European funding for regional energy projects. READ MORE

With the turn of a ceremonial valve, China’s president, Hu Jintao, opened a big natural gas pipeline from central Asia to China on Monday, significantly increasing China’s access to the fuel and providing the first major alternative to exporting the region’s gas through Russia. READ MORE

Fielding questions from viewers on state-controlled television channels on November 13 Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced that on November 27 the leaders of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan would gather in Minsk to sign final agreements on a Customs Union. READ MORE

The OSCE may learn learn a lot from Kazakhstan. This was said at the conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, where the agenda of Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the Organization was presented. As the Kazakh Embassy's press service reports, leading American and European experts on the OSCE presented their final report on the results of the work "Kazakhstan's chairmanship in the OSCE - challenges and opportunities". READ MORE

Ukraine will ensure the transit of Russian gas to EU countries and hopes for the EU support to introducing market principles in gas sector, President Viktor Yushchenko has said following the 13th Ukraine-EU Summit in Kyiv. READ MORE

Moscow has reiterated pledges to improve Russian energy security by promising sizable investments to develop its hydrocarbon sector and power supply networks. However, the economic viability of such solutions appears to remain a matter of debate as Moscow’s ambitious plans require huge investments. Russian authorities have long pledged to replace obsolete and wasteful Soviet-era energy technologies and solutions by what officials describe as “energy-efficient” facilities. READ MORE

President Traian Basescu has been re-elected in a neck-and-neck runoff against challenger Mircea Geoana. But his rival's party says there has been election rigging and will contest the result. READ MORE

Climate-change skeptics are barking up the wrong smokestack. The shell game being played isn't with the science, it's with the solutions -- specifically, the carbon emissions targets that enlightened world leaders are pledging to meet. That's where the numbers don't add up. READ MORE

Considering the rapprochement of Russia and Uzbekistan observed in the middle of the first decade of the ХХIst century, the number of Russian companies, and first of all Gazprom and LUKOIL, managed to become leaders within Uzbekistani oil and gas industry and to “book” a number of biggest gas fields in the Republic being supported by the Government of the Russian Federation. READ MORE

Foreign ministers from Europe's main security organization met in Athens to try to work out a response to Russia's proposal for a new Euro-Atlantic security pact. READ MORE

Next year, in accordance with a decision made at the 15th OSCE Ministerial Council in November 2007, Kazakhstan will preside over the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). Thus, a former Soviet republic will occupy this position for the first time. Under the circumstances, it would be natural to expect Kazakhstan to do all it can to consolidate its positions on the world arena. Its officials have already announced their intentions to include illegal immigration and drug trafficking on the OSCE agenda, problems that are particularly relevant for all CIS countries. READ MORE

Ron Asmus is currently executive director of the Brussels-based Transatlantic Center. He is also responsible for strategic planning at the German Marshall Fund of the US. READ MORE