Europe & Eurasia

Baltic states invited to join Nordic defense organization

By AFP

From AFP:  Nordic nations on Friday invited the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to join a body that aims to smooth cooperation among the region’s armed forces, the Estonian military said. Lieutenant Commander Ingrid Muehling told AFP that the Baltic trio were formally asked to join NORDEFCO at the close of a two-day […]

UK-Nordic-Baltic Summit to develop “alliance of common interests”

By George Parker and Andrew Ward, the Financial Times

Hungary’s Media Law Draws EU Protests

By James Joyner

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was greeted with protests from some EU parliamentarians when he addressed them as its rotating president of the European Council.   Spiegel: Orbán began his speech to the European Parliament at 10:36 a.m. on Wednesday morning. He had hardly had time to greet the assembled deputies before being interrupted by […]

Belarus lashes out over EU Sanctions

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday ordered the government to respond to the European Parliament’s sanctions against him and scores of other officials. "If anybody attempts to impose economic or any other sanctions against the country, we should respond and prepare counter-measures," Lukashenko told a government meeting. … Earlier on Thursday, the […]

Nordic Alliance: Mini-NATO or Polar Fog?

By Andrew Rettman, the EUobserver

From Andrew Rettman, the EUobserver:  Proposals for the five Nordic countries to create a mini-Nato alliance are "dreams in Polar fog" but may be useful for "keeping an eye on Polar bears and Russians", according to the former US ambassador to Norway, Benson Whitney.

Executive Suspended for Criticizing E.U. Satellite

By Kevin J. O'Brien, the New York Times

From Kevin J. O’Brien, the New York Times:  The chief executive of the largest satellite company in Germany was suspended on Tuesday for telling American diplomats that the Galileo satellite project in Europe was redundant, cost-inefficient and designed to benefit French business interests, according to cables published by WikiLeaks.

Ukraine and Russia Negotiating “Gas for Fleet” Agreement

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti:  The Russian and Ukrainian finance ministries will draw up a draft agreement within two months on the extension terms of the lease of the Sevastopol port to Russia, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Tuesday. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev signed an agreement to extend the […]

PM Erdogan: Turkey will not “wait at the EU’s door like a docile supplicant”

By Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Newsweek

China’s buying spree raises hope, and fear in Europe

By Charlemagne, the Economist

From Charlemagne, the Economist:  On his tour of Europe this month, China’s vice-premier, Li Keqiang, announced his country’s plan to buy cheap European government bonds, as Chinese companies purchased shares in European petrochemical ventures, tens of thousands of cars and even a few million euros’ worth of Spanish wine and ham to top off the […]

Bulgarian lawmakers push to have 35 ambassadors with KGB past fired

By RIA Novosti