Germany's presidential election has long looked like a done deal. But the opposition has found a candidate who could manage to upset the traditional structures - and cause trouble for the government in Berlin. READ MORE

The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has shared with Ambassador Robert Bradtke, the U.S. Co-Chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group, the concern of the Armenian American community that the OSCE's weak response to Azerbaijan’s recent attack on the Mardakert region of Nagorno-Karabakh will effectively encourage continued belligerence from Baku, ANCA website reports. READ MORE

First results from Sunday's referendum on Kyrgyzstan’s new constitution show voters to be  overwhelmingly behind a charter that seeks to give the country’s parliament greater power whilst limiting that of the president. READ MORE

North Germany Experiences Energy Deficit that is Still Covered by the Energy Imported from Poland. READ MORE

Interests of Kazakhstan and Lithuania within the sphere of energy are mutually complementary, thinks Kazakhstan Ambassador to Lithuania Galymzhan Koishybayev. "We are energy suppliers, and Lithuania is a consumer and a transiting state of this energy", - he underlines. He estimates the level of relations between the two states as “pretty high”. According to his words, Lithuania as the EU member can “play the role of a bridge between Kazakhstan and general European bodies”. Kazakhstan is the 9th biggest country in the world, its population is more than 15 million people. READ MORE

As global financial market recovers, Europe’s major commercial banks are getting more interested in financing the Nabucco gas pipeline project, which will pump Caspian and Central Asian gas to European markets. The consortium on the Nabucco gas pipeline project are holding talks with international financial institutions, including European Investment Bank and EBRD, to attract financing for construction of the 7.9-billion-euro pipeline. READ MORE

Turkey will not accept any new framework of relations to the EU except full membership, Turkish President Abdullah Gül told EurActiv in an exclusive interview. READ MORE

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates stirred the ire of both the European Union and Turkey when he suggested that Turkey was moving east because it was being shut out from the EU. Critics say there is some truth to it. READ MORE

"For decades, we've talked and talked about the need to end America's century-long addiction to fossil fuels... Time and time again, the path forward has been blocked -- not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor." READ MORE

The European Commission has called an emergency meeting. READ MORE