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Europe's East

Foreign Ministers Of Baltic States And Germany: We Aim For Success Of The Eastern Partnership Summit In Vilnius

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius, the Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs Urmas Paet, Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs, and the German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle issued a joint statement on Eastern Partnership. READ MORE

Prime minister: Lithuanians have ‘little interest’ in their country’s EU presidency

By Ewald König

Despite a high rate of approval for the European project, Lithuanians appear to have little interest in the country’s first stint at leading the rotating presidency of the EU, starting 1 July, Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius told  READ MORE

Former Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski's advice to his compatriots: Be more sensitive in dealing with Lithuanians, otherwise you'll come across as arrogant

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By Eglė Digrytė

Former President of Poland Aleksander Kwaśniewski is perplexed about why the Poles and the Lithuanians, just recently strategic partners, are at each other's throats over matters like spelling of names and learning official language. “I said many times [to Lithuania's Polish community]: you're Lithuanian citizens so you have to be loyal to your country and you have to speak Lithuanian,” the politician, who still remains a popular politician on this side of the border, said during an interview to 15min. READ MORE

Polish PM calls again for abolition of political party state financing

The governing Civic Platform (PO) party will have a draft legislation ready next week that will eliminate political party financing from the state budget, Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters Wednesday. READ MORE

Czech PM Petr Necas resigns over major corruption scandal

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The Czech Republic is in political chaos after a spectacular police raid that prompted Prime Minister Petr Necas to announce his resignation. Necas will stay on as caretaker leader until a new government is named. READ MORE

Baltic Breeze: Lithuania Is The First Baltic State To Take Over The EU Council Presidency

Taking over the EU Council Presidency, Lithuania will focus on pursing credible, growing and open Europe, country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Linas Linkevičius said at the launch event of the Official Guide to the Lithuanian EU Council Presidency, hosted by the Permanent Representation of Lithuania to the EU together with Hill+Knowlton Strategies on 13 June. READ MORE

LITHUANIAN PRESIDENCY APPROACHING: INSTITUTIONAL COOPERATION IS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE COMMON EU GOALS

Lithuanian foreign affairs vice-minister Vytautas Leškevičius, while presenting the principal goals of the Lithuanian Presidency of the European Union (EU) Council in the Conference of Committee Chairs of the European Parliament (EP) in Strasbourg, stressed the importance of the cooperation of the EU institutions. READ MORE

Geopolitical Journey: The Search for Belonging and Ballistic Missile Defense in Romania

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By George Friedman

During the Cold War, Romania confused all of us. Long after brutality in other communist countries declined, Romania remained a state that employed levels of violence best compared to North Korea today. Nicolae Ceausescu, referred to by admirers as the Genius of the Carpathians, ruled Romania with a ruthless irrationality. Government policies left the country cold and dark, and everyday items readily available just a few kilometers south in Bulgaria were rarities in Romania. At the same time -- and this was the paradox -- Romania was hostile and uncooperative with the Soviets. Bucharest refused to submit to Moscow, and this did not compute for many of us. Resistance to Soviet power, in our minds, meant liberalization, like what we saw in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. But not in Romania; Romania played a different game. READ MORE

Ambassador Ion Stavila: The main thing in Transdniestrian settlement is not to stand still

On May 23, Odesa hosted the next round of negotiations on the Transdniestrian settlement in the 5+2 format (Chisinau and Tiraspol as the parties to the conflict, Russia, Ukraine and the OSCE as mediators, and the EU and the United States as observers). This is the second meeting that was held as part of Ukraine's chairmanship of the OSCE in 2013. READ MORE

President: Access to Baltic Sea important for Kazakhstan

Access to the Baltic Sea is important for Kazakhstan, the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev said at a press conference on Monday following a meeting with his Latvian counterpart Andris Berzins in Astana. READ MORE