Last week the president of Germany quit his job. Just like that. "I declare my resignation from the office of president," said Horst Koehler, "with immediate effect." And he walked away. READ MORE

Deutsche Welle spoke with Alexander Rahr, a Russia expert at the German Council on Foreign Relations, about the state of Russo-German relations. READ MORE

The eight newest European Union (EU) members (Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania) are committed to eventually adopting the euro. But, all already suffer from the problems that dragged the GIIPS—Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain—into crisis: lost competitiveness, widening external deficits, and deteriorating public finances. However, the “peggers”—Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Bulgaria, who have fixed exchange rates—are in much worse shape than the “floaters”—the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. READ MORE

At special meeting "Security and Economic Cooperation in Eurasia in XXI Century" in Istanbul OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Kazakhstan Secretary of State - Minister of Foreign Affairs Kanat Saudabayev has suggested discussing the issue of establishing the OSCE-CICA Forum. READ MORE

A highly anticipated report by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), Serge Brammertz, on Serbia's and Croatia's cooperation with the court appears less positive than both countries were expecting. But it might just be enough to allow them to move another half step down the path towards EU integration. READ MORE

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Israel may be excluded from the Blue Stream-2 gas pipeline project as it has uncovered its own gas deposits. READ MORE

President Obama’s first formal national security strategy describes a coming era in which the United States will have to learn to live within its limits — a world in which two wars cannot be sustained for much longer and the rising powers inevitably begin to erode some elements of American influence around the globe. READ MORE

Free trade: the lost opportunity of unresolved conflicts READ MORE

On 30 May local elections took place throughout the country. Georgian voters elected the members of 63 councils (sakrebulos) of local government units (municipalities and self-governing cities), Tbilisi City Council, the Mayor of Tbilisi, who was directly elected for the first time, and three vacant Parliamentary seats. READ MORE

Turkey continued its regional diplomacy, following the historic visit by Russian President Medvedev to Ankara. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan paid back-to-back trips to Greece, Iran and Azerbaijan, which underscored Turkey’s rising activism in its neighborhood, as well as highlighting divergence with the United States. READ MORE