EU condemns Russian agreement with South Ossetia, Abkhazia

Russia has taken official control of the borders of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in a 10-year deal with the two Georgian breakaway regions. The European Union alongside Nato and the United States have condemned the development as a breach of the 2008 Russia-Georgia peace agreement brokered by the EU. Under the new deal, Moscow extends its responsibility for patrolling the two republics' effective borders with Georgia proper. Nato called the move a "clear contravention" of the ceasefire agreement, a characterisation echoed by the US. Russia, for its part, accuses Nato of its own provocation in the region for planning military exercises in Georgia next week.

Source: EUobserver

Medvedev gives interview for Novaya Gazeta

Last week President Medvedev gave his first exclusive interview to the controversial newspaper Novaya Gazeta (which is renowned for high-profile murders of its investigative journalists, such as Anna Politkovskaya in 2006). According to Albina Kovalyova this has to been seen as one of the most eye-catching in a series of moves that could be deemed “democratic” and are meant to give some hope to Russia’s beleaguered liberal-minded constituency.

During the interview (English translation at the webpage of President Medvedev), the president was asked about the elections in Sochi, Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s trial, and the real transparency of the government member’s earnings. But in response to all of Novaya Gazeta Chief Editor Dmitry Muratov’s provocative questions, Medvedev provided vague, generalized answers. For example, when asked whether the current Khodorkovsky trial has a foreseeable result, Medvedev replied that “for members of the government and for the president, there cannot be any predictions regarding any court case, including the one that you have mentioned.” [Для государственных служащих и для президента никакой предсказуемости в любом судебном процессе, в том числе упомянутом Вами, нет и быть не должно.] When asked about the recent disclosure of government salaries (another of his recent “democratic” initiatives), the president admitted that there was no way of checking whether what government officials and their families declared was true, but restated the importance of such public disclosure. He hopes that his could eventually turn into a “tradition” that could make the government feel more responsible. “It is the first step in the right direction,” the president said.

Medvedev did not use the word “democracy” to describe the direction he wants his country to go in, but he stressed the importance of a civil society that could play an active role in Russia. This, together with his newly-proclaimed desire to build a Russian equivalent of London’s Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, suggests that he is interested in implementing some democratic values.

It remains unclear whether Medvedev's interview for Novaya Gazeta was a political move for the benefit of the government or a genuine gesture of support for the paper. Perhaps a combination of the two, it certainly got the attention of his critics, who will now be watching for actions that will back up his vague gesture “in the right direction.”

Recount Confirms Communist Win in Moldova

On 5 April parliamentary elections took place in Moldova. The Communists won 50 percent of votes in the election, followed by the centre-right liberal Party with almost 13 percent of the votes, and the Liberal Democratic Party with 12 percent. A recount in Moldova's disputed election, ordered after violent protests against a Communist victory, have not brought any changes in the standing of parties in parliament.

Opposition parties demand a new election. They say their concern is fraud with voters' lists which they allege contain the names of dead voters and Moldovans working abroad but unable to come back into the country to vote.

The riots in Moldova puzzled a lot of Russian commentators. Even those who are usually ready to answer any question, interpreting any event in the former Soviet Union as a result of the continued rivalry between Russia and its erstwhile Western enemies, were at a loss to explain the events in Chisinau, where a crowd of angry youths seized the buildings of the parliament and the president’s residence, only to ransack and surrender them in a few hours. [see: Moldova: Worse Than a Revolution]

Voronin, Europe's only Communist leader, has long called for further integration with the West while preserving Moldova's longstanding ties with Russia. In power since 2001, he has moved closer to Moscow in recent years and praised the Kremlin's efforts at resolving an 18-year-old separatist rebellion in Russian-speaking Transdnieistria, one of the former Soviet Union's "frozen conflicts."

Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova is Europe's poorest country and home to another frozen conflict involving Russia, in the eastern region of Transnistria, similar to the Georgian disputes with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Some two thirds of Moldovans are of Romanian origin, speaking almost the same language. Most of Moldova's territory used to belong to Romania before the Soviet Union carved it out.

Russian interests are still very much present, as the separatist region of Transnistria, in Moldova's eastern part bordering Ukraine, is home to some 2,000 Russian troops and military equipment.

Source: EUobserver and BalkanInsight

Update [23/04/2009]: Topolanek calls for EU-led investigation in Moldova

Albania and Croatia - new NATO members

Yesterday Albania and Croatia have completed the accession process, and have joined the Alliance as members.
Since 1949, NATO’s membership has increased from 12 to 28 countries through six rounds of enlargement. Albania and Croatia, which were invited to join NATO at the Bucharest Summit in April 2008, formally became members when the accession process was completed on 1 April 2009.
The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia has, like Albania and Croatia, been participating in the Membership Action Plan (MAP) for a number of years to prepare for possible membership. At Bucharest, Allied leaders agreed to invite the country to become a member as soon as a mutually acceptable solution to the issue over the country’s name has been reached with Greece. A number of other important decisions concerning enlargement were taken at Bucharest. Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro were invited to start Intensified Dialogues on their membership aspirations and related reforms. Allied leaders also agreed that Georgia and Ukraine – which were already engaged in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO – will become members in future.
A flag-raising ceremony marking the accession of Albania and Croatia will be held at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on April 7th.

See also: NATO enlargement

Macedonia elections 2009

Last weekend Macedonia held presidential and municipal elections. Many watched these elections with apprehension, as irregularities in voting caused violent demonstrations during the last elections in June of 2008. This year the OHRID Institute together with the OSCE Mission in Skopje, implemented pre-election project named: Election Awareness and Party Responsibility 2009.

The ruling party's presidential Georgi Ivanov took a convincing lead in the first round of Macedonia's elections, with twice the number of votes as his nearest rival in early vote results. With 15 per cent of the ballots counted, Ivanov had 38.49 per cent, more than twice as much as his nearest rival. The turnout among the 1.8 million registered voters was 51.68 per cent, the election commission said. The Social Democrats' candidate, Ljubomir Frckovski had 18.4 per cent and was closely followed by the independent runner and controversial former interior minister Ljube Boskoski, with 17.3 per cent.

A second round will bring Ivanov and Frckovksi face to face on 5th April next.

Georgi Ivanov – VMRO DPMNE - political science professor at Skopje Law Faculty; a newcomer on the political scene. Ivanov’s biography states that he founded two NGOs, the Macedonian Law Studies Centre and the Institute for Democracy, Solidarity and Civil Society. The later is particularly active as a think tank, assessing contemporary politics in the country. He became best known for criticism of the Ohrid peace agreement, which ended the ethnic Albanian insurgency in 2001 by granting more rights to this community. He was especially against new territorial divisions agreed in 2004 – part of the decentralization plan envisaged in the 2001 deal. Ivanov reiterates regularly support for EU and NATO membership as Macedonia's strategic goals.

VMRO DPMNE [Внатрешна македонска револуционерна организација – Демократска партија за македонско национално единство - Democratic Party for Macedonian National Unity] centre-right; Christian Democratic orientation; supports Macedonia's admission to NATO and EU. The party, founded in 1990, sees itself as heir to the original VMRO, the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organisation, a 19th-century national liberation movement in the Ottoman Empire.

Ljubomir Frckoski – Social Democrats - former interior and foreign minister in the Social Democrat governments during the 1990s; teaches International Law and International Relations at the Faculty of Law in Skopje. As a politician and expert he participated in some of the most important events in Macedonia’s recent history.

Frckoski was one of the experts involved in preparing Macedonia’s first constitution in 1991. From 1990 until 1997, he was a minister in the Social Democrat government, as minister without portfolio until 1992, interior minister from 1992 to 1996, and then foreign minister from 1996 to 1997.

He has slated the government for alleged populism and nationalism, and for leading the country away from its strategic goals in EU and NATO. Frckoski belongs to the French Institute of International Relations, is a member of the International Law Association and is a former Secretary General of the Human Rights Forum. In 2002 he was elected a member of the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance for the Council of Europe.

SDSM [Социјалдемократски сојуз на Македонија - Social Democratic Alliance of Macedonia] centre-left; successor to the League of Communists of Macedonia. The SDSM is the leading opposition party, standing for liberal economic policies, a generally pragmatic approach and for co-operation with the international community. The Social Democrats are seen as moderates who take a conciliatory attitude towards ethnic minorities. With that in mind, they passed a law on decentralization that then opened the way towards eventual EU membership.

Overview of the elections: Macedonian Information Agency and BalkanInsight

Fight for control over the Union of Cinematographers of Russia

Nikita Mikhalkov, a charismatic film director and an outspoken Putin loyalist, appears to be winning the fight for control over the Union of Cinematographers of Russia, one of the few remaining influential artistic guilds in Russia. Mikhalkov has been the chairman of the Union since 1997 but was dislodged from his position last December. Under his leadership, a certain rebirth of Russian cinema did indeed take place, but critics point out that most of the profits went to the commercial sector of the Russian cinema industry and to foreign cinema studios.

In December a group of other famous cinema directors elected the 83-year-old Marlen Khutsiyev as the new chairman. Mikhalkov declared the December “gathering” illegitimate and proposed to convene a new congress on March 30, where his supporters are expected to take hold of most of the seats in the Union’s new leadership. Mikhalkov said he would not run for reelection himself.

Read more: Passions Escalate in the Russian Film Milieu as Mikhailkov and Khutsiyev Fight over a Leading Role in the Industry

Czech government falls

The Czech parliament on Tuesday (24 March) by a razor-thin majority voted down the government led by Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who currently holds the EU presidency.The vote of non-confidence gathered the necessary 101 votes out of 200 to topple the administration, with four votes from the governing party going with the opposition.
The government will have to resign, but the constitution does not provide a deadline by which new elections need to take place, with EU officials expecting some sort of deal with the opposition so that the current cabinet can stay on until the end of the Czech EU presidency, on 30 June.
The centre-right ODS party led by Mr Topolanek along with the opposition Social Democrats are expected to meet President Vaclav Klaus in the coming days to negotiate a solution.According to the Czech constitution, the president is obliged to accept the resignation of the government and consider two possible solutions: early elections or a new government under political consensus of the parliamentary majority.
The current government, formed by the ODS, the Christian-Democrats and the Greens only retained 96 of the 200 deputies in the lower chamber, depending on the good will of independent MPs. Two former ODS members, Vlastimil Tlusty and Jan Schwippel, as well as two other MPs recently expelled from the Green party, Vera Jakubkova and Olga Zubova, voted with the opposition, AFP reports.
In its motivation for the non-confidence vote, Social Democrat leader Jiri Paroubek said the Czech government was "a disgrace" for the EU because it has no clear position on the union and is unable to ratify the Lisbon treaty in the Czech Republic. Mr Paroubek said the Topolanek government is "sticking to its EU presidency as the only possibility to justify its existence" and is "closing its eyes" to the impact of the global economic crisis.Commenting on the vote, Mr Topolanek admitted the collapse of his government could undermine the EU presidency.
"I believe it can complicate our negotiating power ...partners in Europe have grown used to us negotiating hard. In this sense it can happen that our position will be weakened," he told reporters after the vote. He re-iterated that he would be in favour of early elections this summer if no new government is formed.
The EU commission on Tuesday said it maintained "full trust" that the Czech law would allow the country to continue conducting its EU presidency "as effectively as it has done until now."
"It is for the Czech Republic's democratic process under the constitution to resolve the domestic political issues. The commission is confident that this is done in a way which ensures the full functioning of the Council presidency," a commission statement reads.
source: EUobserver