The commencement of military operations in Libya has led to some unexpected reactions in Eastern European capitals. It was widely expected that Russia, whose uneasiness with the very principle of humanitarian intervention is well-known, would have used its veto at the U.N. Security Council to block the passage of Resolution 1973. After all, Russia's firm opposition to the Kosovo intervention in 1999 led the United States to work through NATO rather than bring the matter to the Security Council. And Moscow has had a clear track record over the last decade of resisting Western calls for intervention on humanitarian grounds in places like Sudan, Zimbabwe and Burma. Yet Russia chose to abstain from the vote on the Libya resolution, not veto it, and in the absence of Russian resistance, China chose not to be the lone standout on the issue. While there has subsequently been a great deal of criticism -- most notably expressed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin -- emanating from some circles in Russia, there has been no indication that Moscow is prepared to take any drastic steps to register its displeasure. READ MORE

It is easier to know what cannot be than to foretell what will be. There was never any possibility that Iraq would become a secular democracy: toppling Saddam Hussein meant destroying a secular regime, however despotic, while post-invasion politics was bound to reflect sectarian divisions. Similarly, there was never the remot­est prospect of post-communist Russia becoming a western-style economy; 70 years of Soviet rule had produced a military-industrial rustbelt, lacking the most rudimentary preconditions of a viable market system. READ MORE

Ukrainian authorities still count on the revision of gas treaties, concluded during the period when Julia Timoshenko was the Prime Minister. This is regularly indicated by the President Viktor Yanukovych, the Prime Minister Nikolay Azarov and Fuel and Energy Minister Yury Bojko. The subject shall become more urgent when gas discount ends to be valid, which was gained in the result of Kharkov agreements on Black Sea Fleet. And what’s then? READ MORE

A former top minister in Moamer Kadhafi's regime who has fled to Europe in a fishing trawler told AFP in an interview that he believes China and Russia have "lost" the race for oil in Libya. READ MORE