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Analyses |
On 25 February, after six months of trying, Russia’s state bank Vneshtorgbank (VTB) took over the Bank of Moscow, which manages the Russian capital city’s financial transfers. This is another step towards Vladimir Putin’s ruling clique…
Analyses |
After informal multilateral consultations within the so-called ‘5 + 2 format’ concerning the conflict in Transnistria, which took place on 14-15 February in Vienna, Tiraspol has publicly stated its conditions for resuming formal talks. Its…
Analyses |
On 1 March, Gazprom won the tender for the assets of the bankrupt company Rusia Petroleum, including a licence to exploit the Kovykta, one of the largest gas deposits in Russia. This ends the almost four-year struggle by the Russian gas…
Analyses |
On 28 February, one of the Belarusian opposition activists detained last December, Ales Mikhalevich, reported that during his weeks-long detention he was subjected to torture and was forced to cooperate with the KGB. Other detainees are…
Analyses |
On 24 February, the Russian press agency Interfax revealed data on the average prices of Russian gas in 2010 for certain European countries. They show wide variations in the prices: for example, the United Kingdom paid nearly half as much…
Analyses |
| Joanna Hyndle-Hussein
The votes of the electorate do not forecast an easy victory over the governing right in the upcoming parliamentary elections, however they do confirm that the Polish minority stands a chance of having its own grouping in the Seimas of the…
Analyses |
On 23rd February Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finances Ivan Mikloš presented the Slovakian stance on the Franco-German Competitiveness Pact and the plan of appointing the European Stabilisation Mechanism (ESM). The centre-right…
Analyses |
On March 1st the Hungarian government announced their programme of structural reforms which assumes a significant reduction of the country’s debt (from 80% of GDP in 2010 to 65–70% of GDP in 2014) and substantial limitation of budgetary…
Analyses |
On 27th-28th February Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan paid a visit to Germany. During a meeting with Turks living in Germany he presented a proposal on how they can obtain the ‘blue card’. The document provides e.g. the…
Analyses |
On 1st March federal Minister of Defence Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU) gave up the his ministerial post and other political offices as a consequence of a media scandal related to his doctoral thesis being recognised as containing…