Despite until recently being of no political 'colour', Slovakia's newly-appointed EU commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, will represent the social democratic political family in the EU executive, he told EurActiv Slovakia in an exclusive interview. READ MORE

Did you know that there were elections in Germany a month ago? Were you aware that the German Socialists were soundly defeated? Had you realized that there was now a new government in Germany? No? Then give credit -- both for the victory and the fact that you haven't heard about it -- to Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany. READ MORE

Czech President Vaclav Klaus has finally given up his resistance to the Lisbon Treaty and opened the way for reform of the European Union. READ MORE

COMMISSION ON SECURITY & COOPERATION IN EUROPE:
U.S. HELSINKI COMMISSION
ADVANCING WITH U.S. INTERESTS IN THE OSCE REGION READ MORE

With the war in Afghanistan drawing international attention, the Kyrgyz Republic and other Central Asian countries seem to have fallen off of the American agenda. During his diplomatic visit to the United States, Kyrgyz Foreign Minister Kadyrbek Sarbaev spoke at the Carnegie Endowment about the need to revamp Kyrgyz-US relations. In particular, he stressed that many of the problems plaguing Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan are in fact regional problems, and that multilateral negotiations and mutual concessions can help find solutions to these problems. READ MORE

20 years ago Jacques Delors, then President of the European Commission watched as the Berlin Wall fell. A privileged spectator of such historic change and a player in managing the consequences, he spoke to euronews about the days and weeks that changed the face of Europe. With two decades of hindsight, he told us what he feels about today’s Europe and the Europe of the future. READ MORE

Kyrgyzstan’s growing list of troubles has recently been further complicated by yet another predicament. Tashkent has announced that Uzbekistan is likely to leave the Central Asian power supply cascade in the coming months. According to Tashkent’s official interpretation, Uzbekistan can now provide its population with enough locally generated electricity and does not need to be part of the network created during the Soviet period. This means that Kyrgyzstan’s south and parts of Tajikistan will experience severe electricity shortages due to the break in regional cycles. READ MORE

After years of tension, Britain and Russia are attempting to reset their relations as the British foreign secretary, David Miliband, met with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. READ MORE

Agreements reached by the EU Member States at the European Council attended by the President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė and Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius open up the way for the development of the Baltic Sea region and give a mandate for the European Union to participate in global negotiations in Copenhagen on responding to consequences of climate change and financing the response. READ MORE

Russia has obtained all the permits necessary to build its 'South Stream' gas pipeline through Turkish territorial waters, discarding Bulgaria as one of the project's transit countries, the Russian press writes. READ MORE