Vattenfall has sold its German power grid to Belgian and Australian firms. The move appears to be part of a continuing trend of energy groups shedding highly-regulated power grids in favor of more profitable markets. READ MORE

The rise of Yanukovych to power will become another challenge for Ukrainian democracy. It's obvious, he won't promote it, as democratic values are strange for him by nature and during his activity within opposition, he has hardly changed his views on policy and democracy. History is full of examples, when democrats became autocrats and there are only few of them, when it happened vice versa. Right after the elections Yanukovych allowed himself to say that he would rule the country for the following 10 years. READ MORE

It’s been two months since Kazakhstan become the Chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). This is a mission of honor, but also a responsible one. Stagnation within the regulation of conflicts in South Caucasus, unmastered wave of tension between Russia and West, continuous arguments on democratic ideals and the status of Kosovo, and the current economic crisis. This is an incomplete list of problems, with which OSCE entered 2010 – the year of Chairmanship of Kazakhstan in the Organization. READ MORE

During his working visit to Estonia on 19 March, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis met with Estonia’s Prime Minister Andrus Ansip, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet, Members of Parliament and Lithuanian businessmen working in Estonia. READ MORE

The recently criticized Lithuania‘s diplomacy could remind that in principle it was its initiative to join the EU efforts in order to stop increasing the number of states not respecting the territorial integrity of Georgia, to start the dialogue between the EU and Belarus, to enhance the political development of the Eastern Partnership and to accelerate the financial and political assistance to Moldova. However, in the six Eastern EU neighbors the political and economic situation is nearly the worst from the time of declaring their independence. READ MORE

Everyone already knew that Abkhazia's 'independence' is a farce. But on 17 February the slightest remaining illusions about this so-called independence vanished. On that day the de facto Abkhaz President was received by the Russian leadership as head of a ‘sovereign’ state and then signed an agreement with Russia which gave up even the farcical claim to independence the breakaway region previously had. READ MORE

Nursultan Nazarbayev has recently paid a visit to Tashkent. Last time in April of 2008 the similar bilateral meeting resulted in a scandal, when Islam Karimov without hesitations harshly reacted on the initiative of Nazarbayev to create the CAU: “the initiative to establish the Central Asia Union is not acceptable for Uzbekistan. I want to declare it once and for all, for there will be no speculations on this subject.” This time everything was different... READ MORE

Turkey and Azerbaijan have proven unable to conclude their negotiations on natural gas cooperation, which have been in progress for over one year. Turkish-Azeri gas talks include several issues involving the revision of the price Turkey pays for its imports from Shah Deniz-I, the determination of the volume and price for its imports from Shah Deniz-II, and agreement on the volume and conditions for the transit of Azeri exports to Europe through Turkish territory. READ MORE

The globalised economy and the rise of new economic giants demand a radically reformed international system, says Robert Hutchings. But it will nevertheless fall to Europe and America to fashion these new structures for global governanceDespite the many calls for a “new Atlanticism” or a “new transatlantic bargain,” the U.S.-European relationship is still imprisoned by old habits and ways of doing business. Yet, it is an inescapable reality that almost all the new challenges lie outside the traditional NATO relationship, and many of them are in areas where U.S. and European views have long diverged. READ MORE

“Asia is not dead… Only its boarders have changed for good. Now Baku lies within Europe and this is not a coincidence. As there are no Asians in Baku anymore.” The kind of evaluation to the geopolitical situation established in the first quarter of the previous century was given by one of the main characters of a cultic novel “Ali and Nino” of Safar-han Shirvanshir. Another character of “Ali and Nino” was an officer of Russian imperial army, and later a creator of a new national army of Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (1918-1920) Ilyas-bek made a conclusion that only the “reforms of European type” will secure the country of external danger. READ MORE