U.S. WISHES AND RESPONSES OF INDIA "strategic dialogue" in Action
Oil analysts have estimated the loss in value terms for the budget of Iran in the event of India on its "black gold" - about $ 11.5 billion in/ READ MORE
Nationalists in power
The rise of nationalism in that if a country or region depends on the level of drive people, their maturity and ability to develop independently. Without such a foundation in society there will be no national movement, no major party or leader. In this sense, the example of Belgium, is very significant. If you look at the composition of the Parliament, it contains powerful position of Flemish nationalists who want to separate and Francophone nationalists hopeless, despite the proximity to France, where densely rooted nationalism, including in the face of "National Front" Dynasty Le Pen. READ MORE
Consequences of Shale Revolution in the USA
Russian authorities in course of the following month plan to define about liberalization of condensed natural gas (CNG) export. READ MORE
Russia Prepares for War with the US and NATO, While Lacking Resources
Sergei Shoigu, a former long-time emergency situations minister (MChS) and a former Moscow region governor is a well-known and popular figure in Russia—according to recent independent Leveda-Tsentr polls, he is at present more popular than Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.
Poland Vows Own Shield as U.S. Reins in Europe Missile Defense
Poland said Wednesday it would spend 33.6 billion euros ($43.3 billion) to set up its own missile shield, days after the U.S. announced it was ready to abandon the final phase of the European missile defense system. READ MORE
Kazakhstan strengthens cooperation with Nordic countries
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Yerlan Idrisov held talks with the Foreign Minister of Sweden Carl Bildt during an official visit to Stockholm, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry said. READ MORE
Eastern Partnership states should not be made to choose EU or Russia, US strategist says
Well-known US foreign policy strategist Bruce Jackson says it's very dangerous to make neighbors choose between Brussels and Moscow ahead of the forthcoming EU Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius. READ MORE
A New Reality in U.S.-Israeli Relations
U.S. President Barack Obama is making his first visit to Israel. The visit comes in the wake of his re-election and inauguration to a second term and the formation of a new Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Normally, summits between Israel and the United States are filled with foreign policy issues on both sides, and there will be many discussed at this meeting, including Iran, Syria and Egypt. But this summit takes place in an interesting climate, because both the Americans and Israelis are less interested in foreign and security matters than they are in their respective domestic issues. READ MORE
Searching for the One to Blame for Cyprus
Who has invented the tax on Cyprus bank accounts, which the Parliament of the island country doesn’t want to approve? The European Central Bank is trying to lay the blame on the President of Cyprus, and he, in his turn, blames the governments of the Eurozone countries. Meanwhile the issue, as well as the accounts in Cyprus banks have hung up for indefinite period, as they have not yet been able to “break” the MPs. Moscow also tries to take part in the resolution of this problem, which was appointed beyond its will as a “title sponsor” of Cyprus stabilization. READ MORE
NEW OPPOSITION FORCE IN CENTRAL ASIA?
In recent years, Kazakhstan has rocked the whole cycle of high-profile corruption scandals. Often they are involved are those who today is known as an outspoken opponent of the current government. Most of the time to avoid court (because of the timely escape from the country), now consider themselves zealous fighters for democracy in Kazakhstan. Among them are sentenced to significant time for fraud, corruption, murder, the powerful former officials, businessmen and politicians of all stripes. READ MORE
The Putin Doctrine
Much in Russian foreign policy today is based on a consensus that crystallized in the early 1990s. Emerging from the rubble of the Soviet collapse, this consensus ranges across the political spectrum -- from pro-Western liberals to leftists and nationalists. It rests on three geostrategic imperatives: that Russia must remain a nuclear superpower, a great power in all facets of international activity, and the hegemon -- the political, military, and economic leader -- of its region. This consensus marks a line in the sand, beyond which Russia cannot retreat without losing its sense of pride or even national identity. It has proven remarkably resilient, surviving post-revolutionary turbulence and the change of political regimes from Boris Yeltsin to Vladimir Putin. READ MORE
Visit of senior think tankers and policy makers from the Asia-Pacific region
A group of senior security experts, think tankers and policy makers from the Asia-Pacific region took part in a four-day study tour from 4 to 7 March 2013, aimed at promoting dialogue and exploring opportunities for further cooperation with NATO. READ MORE
Piebalgs: Development champions should speak up
Development aid contributes to economic success in both developing countries and in Europe, Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs tells in an exclusive interview. READ MORE
Kazakh Foreign Minister to visit some European countries
Kazakh Minister of Foreign Affairs Yerlan Idrisov will visit a number of European countries in the second half of March, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhanbolat Usenov said at a briefing in Astana on Friday. READ MORE
Vladimir Bespalov: Germany Shall Maintain Neutrality about Presence of Russia in Arab States
Expert-germanist Vladimir Bespalov analyzed economic relations of Russia and Germany as the ground of political dialogue for “NewsBalt”. READ MORE
Talks with Teheran in Almaty: the first results
Negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program held on a neutral territory of Kazakhstan gave the first results. For the first time in the history of this issue, Tehran did not delay with determination of the date for the next round of negotiations. It is important that the initiative of prompt meeting came from Iran. And this step is taken, despite the fact that in June, Tehran expects the presidential election, which could be a cover for a reluctance to enter into any agreements in the near future. All these facts prove that Iran is seeking the lifting of sanctions and is ready to meet requirements of the "six". READ MORE
Ukrainian dilemma
Tentatively in April, President of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus will discuss the issue of Ukraine's accession to the provisions of the Customs Union. According to an UNIAN correspondent, told the president of Ukraine, returning from Moscow. Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yanukovych discussed the format of Kiev with the Customs Union (CU) and agreed to continue to work not only for governments, but also with the involvement of the executive body of the Customs Union. While Moscow is offering Kiev to join the Customs Union, which will reduce the price of purchased natural gas in Russia. In Kiev, still hoping to sign an association agreement and a free trade area with the European Union and offer sectoral cooperation with TC under a "3 +1", but Russia is not satisfied. READ MORE
Shell against the Arctic: the first round loss
On the eve of the New Year the mobile Kulluk drill ship owned by the energy company Shell ran aground in the Gulf of Alaska, near Kodiak Island. This made reconsider the readiness of oil companies to pursue drilling operations under extreme harsh weather conditions. Due to Shell‘s failures Norwegian Statoil is going to postpone the beginning of drilling in the Chukchi Sea, whereas the French Total announced that the risk of an oil spill in such an environmentally sensitive area was too high to start drilling in the Arctic. READ MORE
Kazakhstan and Poland to set up Association of Interregional Cooperation
Ambassador of Kazakhstan Yerik Utembayev attended the session of the Union of the Voivodeships of the Republic of Poland in Warsaw, Kazinform has learnt from the Kazakh MFA's press service. READ MORE
Orban’s Law
Hungary hasn’t yet become an authoritarian state, but if the Prime Minister wishes so, it will. READ MORE
Francis, the humble new pope
The Roman Catholic Church has chosen a new pope and he comes from Argentina. The papacy now enters a new era with Jorge Bergoglio, Latin America's first pope and the first pontiff to come from the developing world. READ MORE
EU-Russian cooperation needed to stop Baltic Sea becoming ‘green soup’
Regional co-operation around the Baltic has helped spur trade growth, but more co-operation is needed, especially with Russia, if the region is to avoid the sea from becoming over-fished and polluted, argue two foreign ministers. READ MORE
Romania and Bulgaria are at the door of the Schengen area. Germany has sent the wrong message at the wrong time
Wrong message at the wrong time: it brings grist to the mill and populist Eurosceptic David Cameron. Romania and Bulgaria do not enter into the Schengen area of free movement. Their case will be, at best, reviewed at the end of the year, and nothing says that member states hostile to the entry of both countries have in the meantime changed their point of view to enable them to access One day in space without borders. READ MORE
Premier: Lithuania not to join the Baltic NPP construction
Prime Minister and leader of the Lithuanian Social Democrats Algirdas Butkevicius claims that Lithuania will not create conditions for the implementation plans in the Kaliningrad region of nuclear plant project. READ MORE
Uzbekistan withdraws from the agreement with International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) of UAE
The Uzbek government terminates the agreement with International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC) of the United Arab Emirates to build a chemical complex in Navoi region, reports KazTAG. The reasons for termination of the agreement, reportedly was that the parties were unable to reach the figures that have been determined by the conditions of the document, so it was decided to proceed with the divorce. READ MORE
Situation in which no progress could be made
Once a very bright individual, whose intelligence we certainly cannot doubt, pointed out:” Democracy involves the right of the blind to be a judge in a beauty pageant. I don’t want to step on the toes of all who advocate human rights and freedom; however, this aphorism reveals the ill of our society. Being driven by our zealousness to teach other nations how to live life, we often neglect them and impose our way of thinking upon them. READ MORE
The UN Security Council has approved tough sanctions against the North Korean regime
The new sanctions against North Korea will affect even the diplomats of the country and will be one of the toughest in the history of the UN. READ MORE
Schengen will be available at the visa centers in Russia and Ukraine
Applications for issuing Schengen visas in Russia and Ukraine can apply not only to the Embassy of Lithuania, but also in the 28 visa centers. READ MORE
Washington put the effort to restore Turkish-Israeli relations
Over the past three years, Turkey and Israel have learned to live in a state of bilateral "no war, no peace" READ MORE
The Coming Atlantic Century
The United States is rising; Europe is stabilizing; and both are moving closer together. That was the principal message earlier this month at the annual Munich Security Conference (MSC), a high-powered gathering of defense ministers, foreign ministers, senior military officials, parliamentarians, journalists, and national-security experts of every variety. READ MORE
History of Shoraz
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
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
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
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
Kazakhstan Establishes Continuing Role in Iran Talks
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
Germany to Continue Leading Europe Despite Domestic Political Uncertainty
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
Known Ukrainian political analyst, Alyona Getmanciuk, believes that the Transnistrian problem is a "spare part" for the authorities in Kiev READ MORE
