The art of the statesman is to tell the difference between short-term interests and the demands of the future. The economic and financial crisis  in which we have been plunged seems to have greatly reduced the ability of our leaders  to think in the long term  and measure the consequences of their decisions.

The Copenhagen Summit with representatives of 192 states, including the national leaders and governmental representatives, most probably is the last opportunity to find solutions of problems related to climate change. Its organizers are going to adopt the document committing the world states to stabilize the greenhouse gas concentration in the air.

When I was still a young boy, my country Lithuania was invaded by soviets. In my primary we had to learn several new songs. One among them was Georgian in origin, about a girl whose name was Suliko. The occupation was bad in everything, only that song was nice.

On 27 October the EU abolished weapons embargo against Uzbekistan, since the applied sanctions were not efficient. During four years after events in Andizhan situation on human rights did not improve in Uzbekistan, and the West lost its significant regional partner. What events in Andizhan on 13 May 2005 determined the imposed sanctions?

After June 2008 parliamentary elections in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – FYROM (former Socialist Republic of Macedonia as one of six federal republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), followed by crime incidents and the current political dispute upon the state’s name of Macedonia between Skopje and Athens, Europe is once again faced with the Macedonian problem.

On November 21st, 2009, Ukrainian democrats will be celebrating the fifth anniversary of the start of demonstrations in Kyiv which led to larger political developments that came to reshape our understanding of post-Soviet politics. During the last five years, the 2004 events in Ukraine known as the Orange Revolution have become important reference points in the international study of democratic transition and consolidation.

Elections to the German parliament were successful for the Christian Democrats with the chancellor A.Merkel ahead, and for their allies - the Christian Social Union. Although the Christians collected slightly fewer votes than four years ago, the free democrats were so successful in the elections that the right-center wing parties could form the ruling coalition.

During B.Yeltsin’s presidency, Russia had no opportunity or will to sustain its influence in Central Asia (CA) as during the USSR times. The United States and China took the advantage of this situation. When V.Putin was elected president, Russia tried to regain the lost positions in this strategically important region.

This autumn we are commemorating three, at least, remarkable events of the European past, which occurred, the first one – 70 years ago and two others – 20 years ago. One unfortunate and the other two fortunates – all they were related among themselves.

Russia’s independent journalist, human rights activist and Soviet-time political prisoner Alexander (Sasha) PODRABINEK is receiving death threats after publishing an article in the internet edition www.ej.ru. Pro-government youth gangs raided a newspaper he writes for and are threatening his family.

After the recent murders in the Russian Federation of the journalist Anna Politkovskaya and human rights worker Natalia Estemirova we cannot take the threats emanating from the Kremlin lightly.

By publishing this appeal we hope to stop this new "chronicle of the death foretold".

Vladimir Bukovsky
Eric Chenoweth
Jadwiga Chmielowska
Irena Lasota
Petruska Sustrova

During the presidency of B.Clinton and B.Yeltcin the relationship between the United States and Russia slightly improved after the end of the Cold War. Both, B.Clinton, and B.Yeltcin referred to Russia as a new democratic country seeking to become part of the Western world.

The last years’ developments in the former Soviet Union were fascinating for the specialist and might have puzzled the layman: Why have Europe’s two largest countries developed in such different ways? Russia has returned to authoritarianism while Ukraine seems to be maturing towards a real democracy. How did this happen – in spite of these nations’ similar Eastern Slavic Orthodox cultures and intertwined histories?

Central Asia (CA) is an important region (both from the geostrategic and geoeconomic point of view) where the interests of Russia,China and the West (the United States and the EU) are intersecting. In order to meet national and (often) personal interests, leaders of CA states have to find balance between these two major transnational subjects.

Much can be heard from Western visitors of Ukraine or observers analyzing the post-Soviet region that Kyiv politics today is a "mess." Hardly anybody (least of all, Ukrainians themselves) will disagree. Even lowbrow EU citizens may come up with an opinion on current Ukrainian affairs, and criticize the ensuing political chaos, in Kyiv. Sometimes, Western ignorance mixes with European arrogance to re-produce stereotypes about Ukraine eerily similar to the way in which former KGB officers in Moscow would like to portray Europe’s largest new democracy.

Currently there are no formal reasons for bad relations between Lithuania and Russia. There are only aggrieved Moscow‘s ambitions preventing from normal trans-national relationship. It was not Lithuania to mess this relationship, however, the absence of clear Lithuania‘s policy toward Russia is worrying. The situation becomes even more aggravated when it is not clear what the current Russia is up to.

For effective complex defence of Latvia, the establishment of a permanent division of the National Armed Forces has started in Latgale, reported the official website of the Ministry of Defence.

On 13 January a concert "Together to the victory" was held in Lithuania, where the audience decided to support Ukraine's defence and donated 110 thousand Euros.

Alexander Lukashenko on 9 January signed a decree № 8 "On the establishment of visa-free entry and exit of foreign nationals." The document establishes visa-free entry to Belarus for a period not exceeding 5 days at the entrance through the checkpoint "National Airport Minsk" for citizens of 80 countries, - reported the press service of the President of Belarus.