President Dalia Grybauskaitė and EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger discussed the progress made by Lithuania and all Baltic countries in integrating themselves into the EU's energy system and the creation of regional gas and electricity markets during their meeting in Vilnius on Friday. READ MORE

EU leaders in December signed Croatia's accession treaty, trumpeting the move as a sign the EU's enlargement programme is alive and well despite the euro crisis. READ MORE

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is visiting Vilnius, praised Lithuania for its fast economic growth and the way the Baltic country dealt with its debt. READ MORE

The Problem of Development of Shtokman Field has Many Components. READ MORE

Vladimir Putin is getting most of what he wants out Kyrgyzstan, including a lease extension on a Russian airbase and part ownership of a torpedo plant, while America's star there is on the wane. READ MORE

In October 2010 the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel announced that multiculturalism in Germany has “utterly failed”. This announcement reflected general moods in the crisis-driven EU, but the most important thing was that these words were said by the leader of Germany– she always tried to avoid sharp statements toward foreign-born people. READ MORE

While sitting drinking a coffee, catching up with friends in a Kiev hotel last week, I suddenly heard Turkish voices. Turning around, I was taken aback to see a sea of Turks taking over the lobby. Then I remembered that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was due to speak at the annual Yalta Security Conference the following day. It seems the preceding days were full of other meetings with representatives of the Ukrainian government and Ukraine’s president, Viktor Yanukovych, and a number of other ministers that Erdoğan had brought with him in his large delegation. This included Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, Economy Minister Zafer Cağlayan, Minister of Transport and Communication Binali Yıldırım and Minister of Energy Taner Yıldız. READ MORE

In early September, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev accepted the credentials of the new US ambassador Richard Morningstar. Thus, the period of instability in the work of the US embassy in Baku was finished. After the mission of Ann Dercy came to an end in July 2009, the position of the American ambassador was free for more than a year. Later the president of the US Barack Obama appointed to the position an experienced diplomat, the former co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group Mathew Brayza by-passing the Senate. However, due to an active resistance of the Armenian lobby in the Senate Brayza’s career ended sooner than it should: he managed to work only for a year, after which his functions were not prolonged. READ MORE

Fencing off the EU from neighboring countries such as Ukraine and Turkey would lead to a loss for Europe, 66th U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (2005-2009) has said. READ MORE

In his first official bilateral visit to Kazakhstan since April 2008, President Islam Karimov and other senior Uzbekistani officials discussed a range of important bilateral, regional and international issues with their Kazakhstani counterparts in Astana on September 6–7, 2012. These topics included boosting two-way economic ties, discouraging other Central Asian countries from taking actions that threatened their water supplies, and discussing how to manage the ongoing civil war in Afghanistan. READ MORE

Voters in the Netherlands have backed two pro-European centrist parties, while the anti-immigrant Geert Wilders’ Eurosceptic party took heavy losses. READ MORE

Washington and Beijing have given the start to the armament race, which most probably, shall turn into confrontation of the Cold War times between the USA and the USSR. Literally for last several weeks it has become evident: the both parties adopt decisions which inevitably take them to the course of a long-standing confrontation not only in diplomatic but also in military sphere. By this within confrontation the rivals are ready again to make a stake at the power of nuclear weapon, which is fraught with global consequences. READ MORE

«Gazprom» Figured Out the Way to Prevent Gas Production Reduction. It became known to Vedomosti that gas purchases from independent producers have been suspended for indefinite period. READ MORE

The Kyrgyz parliament has started hearings on the revision of agreements determining the status and maintenance of Russian military facilities located on the territory of the Central Asian state. READ MORE

«‘In 2012, the unequal relationship between India and Pakistan is spinning sharply out of control. Terrorists attack the Indian parliament and kill two ministers and 12 MPs. There is no doubt that Pakistan had a hand in this, and in a month India goes to war. Pakistan threatens to use nuclear weapons if India does not stop the invasion. Indian troops close in on Lahore, and Pakistan launches Ghauri missiles with nuclear warheads aimed at Delhi... A long-range radar for missile defense detects the Ghauri missiles 30 seconds after their launch. Five minutes later... the missile defense system launches interceptor missiles. Four Pakistani Ghauri missiles explode in the sky and fall harmlessly to the ground in pieces... The city of Delhi is saved. India carries out a nuclear counterattack that, in the words of one military officer, ‘will put an end to Pakistan once and for all.’ Science fiction? Not entirely.» READ MORE

Polish national strategy pivots around a single, existential issue: how to preserve its national identity and independence. Located on the oft-invaded North European Plain, Poland’s existence is heavily susceptible to the moves of major Eurasian powers. Therefore, Polish history has been erratic, with Poland moving from independence — even regional dominance — to simply disappearing from the map, surviving only in language and memory before emerging once again. READ MORE

Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski has a five-point plan for economic reforms to help Poland better endure the European crisis as Poland must still fight to improve its own competitiveness within the EU while relying on deeper integration to aid the EU as a whole. READ MORE

Hungary’s recent extradition of a convicted axe murderer to Azerbaijan has caused a scandal. At home, the killer was pardoned and celebrated. It’s rumored that Hungary and Azerbaijan brokered a deal for the extradition. READ MORE

Top ranking representatives from Turkey, Turkmenistan, Azerarbaijan and the European Union sat at the table yesterday to discuss adding Turkmenistan, reportedly the holder of world’s fourth largest natural gas reserves, to a $7 billion project that will carry the Azeri gas to Turkey. READ MORE

If the U.S. and Israel begin massive air attacks on Iran, Tehran can clearly respond to these actions. Border countries can be the target of some missiles, which it will use in the conflict. That is why, it is necessary to place modern radar systems in the countries bordering with Armenia and Iran, as well as along the coast of the Caspian Sea. READ MORE

The statements of Chinese Prime Minister Wēn Jiābǎo sounded after the meeting with the Head of German Government Angela Merkel, should give some optimism regarding the destiny of eurozone. China is ready to proceed investing into state bonds of European countries that have become the victims of debt crisis. The words of Wēn Jiābǎo that the People’s Republic of China shall coordinate its actions with the European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, to help the eurozone to «solve the dilemma it has faced», should be the relief for Mrs. Merkel, provided there wouldn’t be one little «no». For the help to become real, European partners should follow some conditions. READ MORE

A divisive energy policy debate is playing an increasingly prominent role in the presidential election campaign, reflecting long-simmering themes that emerged in the 1970s. READ MORE

Like many other regions around the world, Central Europe (CE) was profoundly affected by the global economic crisis. This article discusses the way CE countries have been handling the effects of the global crisis in the region by looking into changes in the macroeconomic indicators over the past 2 years. READ MORE