Russian energy giant Gazprom wants Lithuania to hold talks on plans to unbundle the gas sector, as doing so would hurt its investment in the country, the company said in a letter seen by Reuters on Wednesday (25 August), which also threatens court action. Lithuania reacted strongly to the pressure. READ MORE

On 27 August at the meeting of foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Norway and Iceland (NB8) in Riga, head of Lithuania’s diplomacy called on the Nordic and Baltic States for greater integration. READ MORE

The UN’s anti-racism committee is to call on the European Union to act to improve the conditions of the Roma, in the light of France’s controversial collective deportation programme. The committee, meeting in Geneva, urged President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government to “avoid in particular collective repatriation”. READ MORE

It is widely known that energy sources such as oil and gas are considered as the main strategic resources. Countries possessing them are able to exert significant influence on the global economy and international politics. Meanwhile, it is clear that a key role in the Central Asian region will belong to water resource and their ownership in the near future. READ MORE

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, stated on Friday that approval of the constitutional reform package to be voted on at a referendum on Sept. 12 will bring significant confidence to Turkey on the world stage as it will confirm the European Union candidate country's commitment to universal democratic values. “It will be a very huge source of power,” Davutoğlu replied when asked what a positive outcome from the upcoming referendum on the reform package would mean in regards to Turkey's role on the global stage. READ MORE

The crash of Moldova’s experiment with a parliamentary system of government, predictable though it was, could not have occurred at a worse time for the country. When this experiment had first collapsed in 2000, Moldova still had a margin for error at its disposal, sheltered as it then was from direct Russian intrusion into its domestic politics. Even so, that first collapse of the parliamentary system ushered in eight years of Communist Party rule (2001-2009). This preserved the parliamentary republic pro forma while operating as a presidential republic de facto. The communists remain the single strongest party by far in the electorate and in parliament; and their leader, former President Vladimir Voronin, remains the most popular politician (although their ratings are in long-term decline) READ MORE

Over seven months since the EU's Lisbon Treaty was ratified, the meaning of its 'Solidarity Clause' remains open to interpretation, write Sara Myrdal and Mark Rhinard of the Swedish Institute for International Affairs. READ MORE