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

Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko declared on November 16 that the Nord Stream pipeline on the Baltic seabed would not be used for diverting gas volumes away from Ukraine’s transit pipelines to Europe. In effect, this statement acknowledges that the Nord Stream pipeline, from Russia directly to Germany, is not a Ukraine-bypass project. READ MORE

The West still expects much from Kazakhstan. READ MORE

NATO has been actively discussing the possibility of establishing a joint European army for a long time. The latest discussion was triggered after The Times published an interview with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on November 15, 2009. READ MORE

In 2008-2009 Arseniy Yatseniuk grew rapidly in popularity and was seen as the rising star of a “new generation of Ukrainian politicians,” with some even touting him as “Ukraine’s Obama” who would inevitably prove “pro-Western.” Evidence of Yatseniuk’s pro-Western stance was seen when he promoted Ukraine’s trans-Atlantic integration as foreign minister in 2007-2008, his election in the first five candidates of the pro-Western Our Ukraine-People’s Self Defense bloc in the 2007 elections and his signature (together with President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko) on a January 2008 letter to NATO requesting a Membership Action Plan for Ukraine. READ MORE

Obama has already shown commitment to the climate by leading a conference at the UN The White House has announced that US President Barack Obama will be attending the Climate Summit in Copenhagen next month, giving the negotiations fresh momentum. READ MORE

Europe is almost a single state now, not only with common finances, common borders and common economic space but also with one president and one foreign minister. READ MORE

The 1992 Maastricht Treaty, which created the European Union and led to the creation of the euro, came as an answer to French concerns over the German reunification process, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, former French State Secretary for EU affairs, told EurActiv France in an exclusive interview. READ MORE

During the hot line, held simultaneously in the Internet, via phone and mobile, replying to the question of the President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Yevgeny Primakov about the work within the framework of Kazakhstan Presidency in OSCE in 2010, President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev declared about the intention to call the Summit of the member-states of the organization. READ MORE

Turkey can play a key role in overcoming existing hurdles to the realization of the Nabucco pipeline project, which will augment Europe’s energy security. In return the EU should assist Turkey on its path to EU membership. READ MORE