Eastern Europe/Ukraine [Feb 6th 2015]

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 20 Mar 2015 14:00

The domino effect in E.Europe! First the Crimea,now S.Ossetia.Next Transdniester in Moldova and Kaliningrad?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldne ... setia.html
Russia signs integration deal with South Ossetia
Move will effectively make state part of Russia after it broke away from Georgia in 2008

By Colin Freeman, Chief Foreign Correspondent
19 Mar 2015

Russia has extended its control over its southern “backyard” by signing a treaty with South Ossetia, the chunk of pro-Kremlin territory that broke away from Georgia in 2008.

The tiny enclave, which has a population of just 50,000 and is roughly size of Kent, has existed in diplomatic limbo ever since Russian forces occupied it during Moscow’s brief with Georgia six years ago.

Now, in a move denounced as “provocative” by the West, the Kremlin has signed a new treaty that will all but incorporate South Ossetia into the Russian motherland. A similar treaty was signed last year with nearby Abkhazia, on the Black Sea. It also broke away from Georgia during the 2008 war, during which hundreds were killed and around 200,000 people forced from their homes.

The South Ossetia treaty was signed on the first anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, a move that many argue the war in Georgia was a precursor for.

It came as Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, urged fellow EU leaders not to ease off on sanctions against Moscow until a Ukraine ceasefire deal was fully working.

A column of Russian armoured vehicles move on the border with Russia as they leave South Ossetia in 2008 (AFP)

Since the 2008 war South Ossetia, which is landlocked and heavily mountainous, has effectively existed as little more than a garrison state for the Russian military, its economy in near-ruins. Like Abkhazia, it is also heavily dependent on Russian subsidies.

Under the agreement signed in the Kremlin, South Ossetia’s military and economy will to be incorporated into Russia’s. The treaty also promises to make it easier for South Ossetians to get Russian citizenship, and to raise salaries for civil servants and state pensions.

• Crimea, one year on: the Night Wolves howl for Putin

The move is a blow to Georgia, whose largely pro-Western leaders had hoped to entice both enclaves to return to the fold by demonstrating that living standards and personal freedoms were better than in Russia. The treaty means any hopes of reintegration are now much reduced.

The two enclaves, along with Transdniester in Moldova and Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea, are seen by the Kremlin as useful strategic and military outposts in the event of any future confrontations with Nato.

Georgia's president Giorgi Margvelashvili (AFP)

Giorgi Margvelashvili, the president of Georgia, denounced the signing as a “destructive” move against his nation’s sovereignty and said it would further exacerbate tensions. The United States, the EU and Nato also strongly condemned the signing.

“The regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are integral parts of Georgia and we continue to support Georgia’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Jen Psaki, a US government spokesman.

Jens Stoltenberg, the Nato Secretary General, said the Russian move “blatantly contradicts the principles of international law, OSCE principles and Russia’s international commitments”.

Speaking yesterday, Mrs Merkel called for the EU to retain a firm line with Moscow, aware that some member states that are heavily dependent on Russian gas are seeking to ease off on sanctions when they expire in July.

“We cannot and will not lift the sanctions that expire in July or September until the demands of the Minsk agreement have been fulfilled. That would be wrong,” she told Germany parliamentarians.

RSoami · Post by **RSoami** » 20 Mar 2015 18:41

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/econ ... -15pc.html

Putin's war decimates Ukraine as economy shrinks 15pc.

Y. Kanan · Post by **Y. Kanan** » 20 Mar 2015 22:53

Philip wrote:Rise of far-right in Europe: ‘We are heading to new Third Reich’
We are witnessing historical flashback to Nazi Germany as a new generation of white extremists is seeking supremacy and a purer Europe, spreading anti-Islamic sentiment across the region, political analyst Catherine Shakdam told RT...This movement is essentially a white extremist movement. What they want is white supremacy because they are calling for ethnic minorities to leave - whether it’s Germany, or Greece, or France, whatever. What they are looking for is essentially go back to a purer Europe. And again we’re going back to the type of narrative that came out of Germany in the 1930’s.

Rubbish. This is nothing more than the usual self-loathing secular dhimmi brigade trying to discredit these anti-Islamic parties. The liberals condemning them as "white supremacists" know full well this isn't the case. In western politics, there's no worse insult than to be called a white supremacist or even worse, a nazi (gasp!!!!).

This is the same mud-slinging tactic that muslims routinely use when labeling everyone "Islamophobic". The Jews are almost as shameless with their never-ending whine of "anti-Semiticsm" when anyone disagrees with them. Point being this is a lazy debating tactic used when you can't discredit your opponent with facts.

Look past the rhetoric and it's clear these supposedly "right-wing" parties that are gaining steam in Europe are actually quite liberal compared to, say, the republicans in the US. The only truly "right-wing" position they're pushing is to limit further Islamic immigration into Europe. Which is something few of us could fault them for.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 21 Mar 2015 00:31

Good point, Kanan. Have noticed that pattern too. The same stunts are tried with the "right wing" in India -- they are called nazis and worse, ironically by the murderous islamofascist thugs and their "liberal" shariat-socialist friends who do this to gain the upper hand in the narrative, no matter if they are trying to beat down israeli, Indians or Europeans, or Americans. Same pattern repeats itself. This is not to deny the existence of extremist elements but that when these labels are invoked by people who demand shariat in democracies, there is something nefarious in their intent, and it is all rhetoric to gain a narrative upper hand. This is not totally OT, as these islamists are being used as the cat's paw by countries like the US to push their geopolitical interests worldwide, even as they pretend to be fighting a Global Offensive Against Terror (GOAT).

Russia seems to be very much aware of that as they preemptively enact tactics such as criminalizing blasphemy of islam etc., and deny any means for outsiders to stir up trouble in Russian territory using legal means.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 21 Mar 2015 00:55

...war decimates Ukraine as economy shrinks 15pc.

No worries. Money for reconstruction help is coming...

How to make junk CCC-rated Ukbapzi debt Aa+/AAA

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 21 Mar 2015 01:03

So Ukrainians will benefit from reduced interest rates of debt, very similar to some European countries that have debt rated way higher until blackswan/readjustments offered by IMF.

RSoami · Post by **RSoami** » 21 Mar 2015 01:08

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2 ... war-again-

On Thursday, the government appointed a new chief executive for Ukrtransnafta, but Lazorko didn't want to leave. The bodyguards for the new appointee had to fight through a security cordon to get their boss into the office. Kolomoisky's reaction was swift. He occupied Ukrtransnafta's headquarters with a detail of camouflaged men, arriving with an entourage that included legislators.

Pravda.com.ua, quoted a Ukrainian official as saying Kolomoisky told Demchishin that if needed he could bring 2,000 volunteer fighters to Kiev, "because enterprises are being taken away from him."

RSoami · Post by **RSoami** » 21 Mar 2015 01:13

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/ ... A320150320

Kolomoisky is the oligarch who has been arming the volunteer battalions. He can easily turn them against Poroshenko.
Ukraine is a cuckooland.

habal · Post by **habal** » 21 Mar 2015 12:25

kolomoisky is a yehudi oligarch who is considered very close to the core coup group consisting of victoria nuland, yatsenyuck, poroshenko and soros and few other such mischief makers.

sanctions, sanctions, sanctions. So much noise was created about them ..

The Russian economy has begun to stabilize, climbing from its lowest point, according to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. He says the ruble is becoming a stronger currency as it has sustainably grown since the beginning of 2015.

http://rt.com/business/242233-russian-e ... ilization/

RSoami · Post by **RSoami** » 21 Mar 2015 13:44

http://www.strategic-culture.org/pview/ ... ranks.html

Nice article explaining the oligarchs and in particular the struggle between Kolomoisky and Poroshenko for the Ukrainian Pie.

RSoami · Post by **RSoami** » 21 Mar 2015 14:08

More on Kolomoisky and the Oligarch fights.

http://www.odessatalk.com/2015/03/openi ... chy-front/

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 21 Mar 2015 15:24

habal wrote:The Russian economy has begun to stabilize, climbing from its lowest point, according to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov. He says the ruble is becoming a stronger currency as it has sustainably grown since the beginning of 2015.

http://rt.com/business/242233-russian-e ... ilization/

Every time he says that in few days brent falls and that make rouble go weaker

Russia is in midst of Full Fledge Economic Warfare , For long term economic stability and growth Russia has to accept RMB as one of the fiat currency to trade its resource besides Euro/USD.

They can trade RMB with China in return for larger share of Chinese Energy Market and more investment in its economy by China.

China as projected by EIA would be consuming most energy by 2035 followed by India.

Ofcourse no Fiat currency is in good shape these days so converting those Fiat into Gold and increasing Gold percentage greater in 10-12 % of Forex to 30-35 % is something they should do.

Another thing to do is to stop full capital account convertibility , Russia just lost $40 billion last year as capital flight because of Rouble being converted to USD by its citizen , not that the money left the country but its counted as capital flight.

http://trueeconomics.blogspot.ca/2015/0 ... ation.html

No BRICS country has full capital account convertibility option thats one major source to loose forex quickly

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 21 Mar 2015 15:29

Interview with Lavrov

'There are no madmen in EU' to send peacekeepers to Ukraine – Lavrov

http://rt.com/news/242857-eu-peacekeepe ... ne-lavrov/

habal · Post by **habal** » 21 Mar 2015 17:12

Over the last few years US-imposed sanctions have had less and less effect as nations find ways around them. BRICS development bank, AIIB (China's IMF version), alternate SWIFT by Russia & China will make US-sanctions in future essentially worthless, and the biggest losers of sanctions may end up being US companies who're prohibited from trading in certain parts of the world.

Shreeman · Post by **Shreeman** » 22 Mar 2015 14:25

All is going according to plan -- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/opini ... raine.html

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 22 Mar 2015 19:16

Yet President Vladimir Putin of Russia’s adventurism and President Obama’s restrained response are not, as some commentators have suggested, evidence that the world’s security architecture is collapsing.

Just love how the fact it is the Obama Admin and its State dept. that started this tragedy that killed a million people are now pretending to have been "restrained" by its mouthpieces such as NYT -- bunch of duplicitous murderous genocidal scum create US foreign policy in DC. Not to mention NYT is in the same class a pravda when it comes to reporting...propaganda rag.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 22 Mar 2015 20:36

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-2 ... ser-ties-e

Why the heck will India give about 5mn to the Clinton foundation?

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 22 Mar 2015 20:51

It is not the government -- it is wealthy Indian businessmen, including the Ambanis and about a dozen others. That list was posted on some thread recently.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 23 Mar 2015 17:34

The man who with Reagan ended the Cold War warns of a new one and the reasons for the UKR conflict.

http://rt.com/politics/242549-gortbache ... aine-ussr/

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev holds that the roots of the Ukraine conflict are in the breakup of the Soviet Union and he warns against attempts to solve the crisis by military force.

“The deep rooted reason for the turmoil is in the deliberate failure of Perestroika, in irresponsible decisions that were made by the heads of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus in the Belovezha Forest,” Gorbachev wrote in his Rossiiskaya Gazeta column.

The first and only president of the Soviet Union referred to the events of 1991, when the leaders Russian, Ukrainian and Belarussian Soviet republics signed the agreement on forming the Commonwealth of Independent States that replaced the USSR and de facto deprived Gorbachev of his post.

The former Soviet leader also noted in his article that the few years that followed the Belovezha events became a test for Ukraine as Western nations started dragging them into the Euro-Atlantic community openly ignoring the interests of the Russian Federation. Gorbachev stated that all sides lost as a result of these actions because they created the threat of a new Cold War, or even a real war.

Gorbachev urged all involved parties to stop mutual accusations and support any steps aimed at the settlement of the crisis. “There is no military solution to this conflict and there will be no winners in it. It is important to support any constructive steps and any manifestations of a more responsible approach that could lead to peace,” he wrote.

The former Soviet leader also stated that the anti-Russian steps of Western nations, no matter how persistent, were doomed to fail. “Attempts to isolate Russia or ignore it would always be unsuccessful. I am sure that our country will overcome the current period of economic difficulties. But we need to seriously analyze the reasons behind them,” he wrote.

Gorbachev has already expressed the opinion that the military conflict in Ukraine was rooted in the hasty and thoughtless breakup of the USSR. This is one of the ideas of his latest book of memoirs called “After the Kremlin” – released in December last year.

He also reiterated to the leaders of Western nations to stop dragging Ukraine into NATO because these attempts would result in nothing but deeper strife with Russia, and further escalation of the conflict.

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 23 Mar 2015 19:32

Shreeman wrote:All is going according to plan -- http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/opini ... raine.html

Who is this Pot-Head ryan evans ?

"China makes much of its wealth by exporting manufactured goods, and is at least as vulnerable as Russia to international sanctions and other more assertive countermeasures, such as a naval blockade."

what is he smoking ? naval bloackading Russia / China ?

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 24 Mar 2015 07:54

The genocidal twat Zbigniew's recent remarks on Ukraine...apparently america needs to do more to shape the outcome of the war that it started.

http://csis.org/files/attachments/20151 ... emarks.pdf

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 24 Mar 2015 12:55

Hey,why no Western outrage about the spate of "suicides" afflicting the members of the UKR's former regime? Why does Britain,the US,the EU only rant and rave about Litvinov,a stale Russian opposition leader ignoring the more sinister events in the UKR under their own puppet,choco-soldier Prooshenko? With Poroshenko now in disgrace after the defeats by the Donetsk Republic,and increasing public outrage over the huge loss of life,persecuting your opponents from the fromer regime is a classic diversionary tactic. The UKR is now descending into a true neo-Nazi state of terror and if history teaches us any lessons,will receive the same fate as the Nazis did from a resurgent,rampant Russia one day.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/m ... yanukovych

Ukraine's former ruling party hit by spate of apparent suicides
Four members of Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions have died within weeks as investigations into old regime officials mount up

Katya Gorchinskaya in Kiev
Monday 23 March 2015 17.06 GMT Last modified on Tuesday 24 March 2015 00.07 GMT

Before jumping, Mykhailo Chechetov wrote a note. He said he had “no moral strength” to live, and thanked people for their support. Then he stepped out of the window of his 17th-floor apartment, leaving his slippers behind for his wife to find later.

Chechetov was once a senior member of Ukraine’s Party of Regions, which had a strong grip on power until the revolution a year ago. His death on 28 February was the second in a string of apparent suicides by top members of the party which until last year had dominated Ukrainian politics. Four such officials died within several weeks. All of them were under criminal investigation by the incumbent authorities.

The leader of the Party of Regions, the former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, fled the nation at the height of the Maidan revolution, leaving his allies stunned and struggling to accept a new reality. The party started disintegrating rapidly. Many of its members ended up facing trials for corruption, extortion, abuse of office and even murder.

The rampant corruption and venality of the ruling elite under Yanukovych spurred the revolution in February last year, and those in the new government say the old guard are simply receiving just desserts for previous misdeeds. However, some in the former elite claim the process is a politically-motivated witch-hunt. Either way, the spate of apparent suicides shows the psychological toll the process is having on those who ruled Ukraine before the revolution.

Chechetov was accused of fixing the result of a vote in parliament last January for a set of “dictatorship laws” aimed at curbing the civil freedoms of protesters at the height of the revolution. Other cases against him were being lined up, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the interior minister, whose agency handles parts of the investigations.

Chechetov’s funeral in Kiev was accompanied by saxophone music and whispers about continuing probes. Serhiy Larin, a member of the Opposition Bloc, a political heir to the Party of Regions in parliament, says that more than 20 cases involving former party members are currently being investigated.

He said: “Hundreds of people in provinces are called in daily for questioning by investigators. We’re also seeing the general prosecutor turning into a punitive organ. This is how democracy is being destroyed.”

Yet Gerashchenko brushes aside all accusations. He says the Party of Regions for years ruled like there was no tomorrow, never expecting to be punished for its crimes. He said: “These people used to be in power and used to solve all their problems through corruption, but now they understand the inevitability of punishment.” Now they are “cracking up”, he adds.

Serhiy Valter, the mayor of Melitopol in the south-east of Ukraine, was found hanged in his home on 25 February. “Prosecutors asked for 14 years in prison for him. He was extorting from business, and was likely to get a guilty verdict,” Gerashchenko said.

Stanislav Melnyk, a former MP and the top manager of a brewery, shot himself in his home in a suburb of Kiev on 9 March. Just three days later, Oleksandr Peklushenko, a former governor of Zaporizhya in south-east Ukraine, was also found shot in his home.

Gerashchenko explained: “He shot himself the moment he realised that he might get a guilty verdict in court for hiring thugs to break up a protest.

“Just imagine what people in England would do if one party hired thugs to kill another party.”

Separately, Yanukovych’s younger son, also named Viktor, died at the weekend when the van he was driving fell through the ice on Lake Baikal in Siberia. Yanukovych Jr was a Party of Regions MP before the revolution.

There is no evidence to back theories that there may be foul play involved in the spate of suicides, but opposition MPs say the trend points to a wave of intimidation at the very least.

Members of the party who remain in Ukraine are feeling scared and reluctant to talk about the cases against them in public. “Everyone’s afraid. They don’t want to have to jump from windows, shoot themselves – or be helped,” said one former Party of Regions member who has moved to the Opposition Bloc.

Another member of the Opposition Bloc said: “This is pressure with cases that have no bases, and cases are being fabricated like it’s 1937. This is why the weaker ones break up.”

Larin, who believes the authorities are acting selectively and illegally, said: “Endless questioning, pressure from investigators, direct threats – the aim is not the rule of law, but political expediency. This is justice to order.”

On 12 March, the general prosecutor’s office put four Party of Regions members on a national wanted list for the same crime as Chechetov, as well as a Communist party member. The prosecutor said those five failed to show up for questioning in his office.

The party hit back, saying the prosecutor was conducting a “show trial, trying to divert attention of the society from a catastrophic situation in the economy and the social sphere” in recession-battered, war-stricken Ukraine.

Moreover, it said that one man on the wanted list, a former parliament member, Volodymyr Demydko, has been in coma for weeks after prosecutors’ questioning caused a stroke. The party said the government released “deliberate lies” about Demydko when he was accused of failure to testify.

Gennady Kernes, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, was shot in the back during a run last April. He survived, but is now under investigation for kidnapping and torturing political opponents during the revolution. Viktor Shokin, the general prosecutor, said last month that the case is almost ready to go to court. Kernes, however, has insisted it is political.

Ukraine has a history of political prosecutions. Yanukovych jailed his former opponents Yulia Tymoshenko and Yuriy Lutsenko soon after being elected in 2010. The European court of human rights said both cases were politically motivated.

Gerashchenko said the difference is that the charges against Tymoshenko and Lutsenko were trumped up, and they did not feel any guilt.

He said: “If these people (from the Party of Regions) did not feel guilty, they would not end their lives, they would go and fight in courts like Tymoshenko and Lutsenko. They would fight with their heads raised up high.”

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 25 Mar 2015 14:41

Yipee. More war of words. US HoR has voted hugely in favor of arming Ukraine.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-03-2 ... le-situati

Shreeman · Post by **Shreeman** » 25 Mar 2015 18:49

This is not a war of words. It is entrenchment of public sentiment. Repeated such fences make it impossible to walk back. It is another step to cross the "high" wall crossed long time ago.

RSoami · Post by **RSoami** » 26 Mar 2015 10:35

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/ ... ch-crisis-

Ukraine’s Leader Fires Oligarch in Risky Power Struggle

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 26 Mar 2015 14:59

Kyrgyzstan reaches out to Europe – while inching closer to Russia

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/m ... ussia-lgbt

New East network
Kyrgyzstan reaches out to Europe – while inching closer to Russia

EU leaders should encourage president to drop anti-gay laws and free political prisoners, says Human Rights Watch ahead of key meeting in Brussels . Kyrgyz president Almazbek Atambayev, left, with Austrian president Heinz Fischer at the Hofburg palace in Vienna this week. Photograph: Ronald Zak/AP
Hugh Williamson for Human Rights Watch

Thursday 26 March 2015 05.00 GMT

President Almazbek Atambaev of Kyrgyzstan, one of Central Asia’s smaller and poorer republics, is a man in a hurry.

Last week he was in Russia for talks with Vladimir Putin on closer bilateral ties. This week and next he’s in Europe for talks with leaders in Berlin, Paris, and elsewhere to “deepen the political dialogue”, as his spokesperson puts it, between Kyrgyzstan and Europe. He will meet European Council president Donald Tusk and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in Brussels today.

On his returns his agenda will shift gears again, as he oversees Kyrgyzstan’s entry in May into the Eurasian Economic Union, the economic trading club including Russia and other former Soviet countries. And in the autumn Kyrgyzstan will hold elections, which, the president and government hope, will reinforce the former Soviet republic’s reputation as a vibrant parliamentary democracy – the only one among the five Central Asian states.

Atambaev’s busy schedule highlights the challenges Kyrgyzstan faces, in a region already overshadowed by both the Ukraine crisis and concerns over the rising threat of extremism. As Bishkek moves to tie its economy more closely to Russia’s, it also says it remains committed to a democratic political path. It became a parliamentary democracy in 2010, peacefully transferred presidential power in 2011, and has a vibrant civil society.

The European Union and member states have an important role to play as a supportive – but also plain-talking – partner for the country’s economic and political reform process. On human rights, Europe’s leaders need to remind Atambaev of his country’s international commitments, especially to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and restrictions on non-governmental organisations.
Jailed writer Azimjon Askarov. Photograph: Ilya Karimdjanov

The mountainous country of 5.7 million people went through traumatic ethnic violence in June 2010, in which hundreds were killed and thousands injured. The failure to provide justice for the victims of this violence or to hold those responsible to account is major unfinished business. Azimjon Askarov, 63, a human rights defender convicted for alleged involvement in the violence, remains in prison for life, despite an unfair trial and credible allegations of torture in custody.

Yet Atambaev can point to some positive developments. Since 2010 the government has pushed some human rights reforms, such as creating a national torture prevention mechanism. In a meeting with Human Rights Watch representatives earlier this year, a senior government official seemed open to addressing proposals made by other countries, via the UN, for human rights improvements in Kyrgyzstan. Meanwhile the head of the parliament’s human rights committee stressed the need for more discussion of human rights, among MPs, in public and in cooperation with civil society.

On both counts this felt like a breath of fresh air, in a region where human rights are under near-constant attack and in some cases open discussion of the topic could land you in prison.

Europe’s politicians should seize Kyrgyzstan’s openness to discuss human rights and other issues to remind Atambaev of the importance of respect for human rights and rule of law. In this regard, there’s plenty of work for Kyrgyzstan to do.

An anti-gay “propaganda” bill under debate in parliament, would, if adopted, violate free speech and freedom of assembly, and inevitably encourage discrimination and violence against LGBT people.

Modelled in part on a similar law in Russia, the bill aims to silence anyone seeking to openly share information about same-sex relations in Kyrgyzstan.

Another draft bill that would require NGOs that receive foreign funding and supposedly engage in “political activities” to register as “foreign agents” should also be scrapped.

Both drafts have been heavily criticised by the US, UN bodies and others, while in January the European Parliament also issued a resolution against Kyrgyzstan’s “propaganda” bill. Atambaev, who can veto this bill, should not be swayed by MPs who say they are standing up for the country’s “traditional values”. He should side with Kyrgyzstan’s constitution, which bans such discrimination.

Almazbek Atambayev meets Vladimir Putin in St Petersburg on 16 March 2015.

A spokesperson for Atambaev claimed last week that Europe supports Kyrgyzstan’s chosen political path. To that end, European leaders have an excellent opportunity to send the unequivocal message that the country could do more to address long-standing abuses, including by releasing Askarov.

Last year Kyrgyzstan became the first Central Asian country to gain special “partnership for democracy” status with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. And the EU recently praised the “Kyrgyz leadership for efforts to stabilise a parliamentary democracy in the country in a challenging context”.

Now is the time for Europe’s leaders to be clear with Atambaev on the steps necessary to ensure that the warm words don’t dry up.

Hugh Williamson is the director of the Europe & Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch @hughawilliamson

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 26 Mar 2015 18:25

weird we missed this ..this is a big thingy...funnily enough none of the western MSM seem to have reported it...US is conducting "Military exercises" in Eastern Oirope...and has a tank column marching through Czech...I am sure population centres could have been avoided in the transit...but not avoiding seems to be the intent... they are taking this as a PR exercise ...they let kids enter tanks and play with guns...unkil is desperate to restart cold war... Maybe Russia should oblige and conduct naval exercises with Argentina near falkland Island....poodle would shiver at the thought..

http://rt.com/news/243221-czech-us-conv ... -warnings/

Czechs told not to throw tomatoes, eggs at US military convoy

Czech people were told not to throw tomatoes and eggs at a US military convoy rumbling through Eastern Europe, the local media said, citing the laws of the land. Those in love with egg & tomato hurling may get up to three years if convicted.

“Should anyone emerge with the intent to attack the convoy, with [items] such as tomatoes or eggs, it would qualify as disorderly conduct according to Czech legislation (up to 2 years without parole, in recidivist cases up to 3 years) or damage to property (sentences in the range of 6 months to 3 years).”

This statement was aired on Czech TV Nova and cited by the Russian Insider last week, ahead of the planned US military convoy.

Operation ‘Dragoon Ride’, a convoy of US military vehicles, mostly IAV Stryker APCs, started on Saturday. The convoy will make its way through Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, the Czech Republic, with its final destination being Germany. It will cross the Czech Republic between March 29 and April 1 on its way to a base in the German city of Vilseck.

Tuvaluan · Post by **Tuvaluan** » 26 Mar 2015 18:52

The cold war has already been restarted and has been in the works for at least a few years, starting from before the Sochi olympics -- one just has to look at the opinion pieces from the US before that time to see.

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 26 Mar 2015 19:43

other interesting data point is from the above video is that czech media is largely US owned...there largest channel is 50% owned by time warner...basically a redux of the phenomenon observed in desi media...

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 26 Mar 2015 21:58

http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/i ... dChannel=0

International lenders are delaying plans to offer Ukraine billions of dollars on concerns Kiev cannot yet prove the cash will not vanish into a corrupt economy which EU officials fear could remain a "bottomless pit".

Another said that while Ukraine was still hoping to host a donor conference from April 28, the day after the EU meeting, there was little prospect of major institutions attending.

In all, the IMF money, a $15.3 billion debt restructuring, previous pledges and an international donors' conference could mean some $65 billion going into Ukraine, in one of the world's biggest aid programs in recent times.

Shanmukh · Post by **Shanmukh** » 27 Mar 2015 16:30

Some more of Kolmoskii's antics

http://thesaker.is/is-uncle-sam-tossing-kolomoiskii/

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 28 Mar 2015 12:10

I was wondering why Russia recognised the Junta government in Ukraine.
And here is the reason it seems. It can get its money back only from a recognised govt.

http://www.businessinsider.in/Russia-is ... 718505.cms

Russia is digging in its heels on its $3 billion loan to Ukraine.

vijaykarthik · Post by **vijaykarthik** » 31 Mar 2015 15:14

What the heck is this now?
http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/libra ... jin%2e19me

5 IAF An-32 jimbly disappeared in Ukraine and the fellas say they aren't to be bothered.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 31 Mar 2015 16:10

Vijaykarthik, this DDM strike again, crossposting
quote="Shreeman"]

ze planes, le not missing.

just parked and ujeless.[/quote]

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 01 Apr 2015 02:20

Darwin award goes to folks who sent the planes for upgrade to war torn Ukraine!!!

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 01 Apr 2015 09:45

Documentary

Crimea - The Way Back Home ( English Subtitles )

http://sputniknews.com/russia/20150331/1020271172.html

Pratyush · Post by **Pratyush** » 01 Apr 2015 10:08

ramana wrote:Darwin award goes to folks who sent the planes for upgrade to war torn Ukraine!!!

This is unfair, unless we know when the planes were sent. Will cannot judge if their was any danger in Ukriane.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 01 Apr 2015 10:15

Ukraine will lose a lot of mil export orders given the uncertainity that it can deliver,esp. with its armoured forces in a sorry state after the heavy defeats incurred against rebel forces and an economy in shambles. In addition,the loss of rhe Crimean peninsula and Russian moves to relocate all major mil enterprises in former USSR republics and consolidate its manufacturing capability is in full swing.New IL-76 transports are now made entirely in Russia and plans for building new carriers too in Russian yards is on the anvil.These were formerly built in the UKR like our ex-Kiev class Vik-A.

"The truth will out".

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/m ... dependence
Ukrainian investigations into Kiev clashes 'lacked independence'
Probes into protests that led to ousting of president Viktor Yanukovych in 2014 failed to satisfy human rights convention, international report says

Alec Luhn in Moscow
Tuesday 31 March 2015 22.24 BST Last modified on Tuesday 31 March 2015

An international report has found that Ukrainian investigations into the deadly clashes that took place during the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests in Kiev have failed to hold law enforcement officials to account.

The report by a Council of Europe-sponsored international advisory panel, said that the investigations into the demonstrations, which led to the ousting of president Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014, had not satisfied the European convention on human rights. They “lacked practical independence” because in many cases, the police were essentially tasked with investigating themselves, it said.

British lawyer and former president of the European court Nicolas Bratza, who led the international advisory panel, told journalists in Kiev on Tuesday: “In particular, the ministry of the interior had been given an investigative role in crimes which had undeniably been committed by law enforcement officers,”

The violence against protesters during the demonstrations, which were sparked by Yanukovych’s decision to abandon an association agreement with the EU in favour of a bailout from Russian president Vladimir Putin, was a key moment in the ascension of the new pro-western government.

Between 78 and 92 protesters were killed – they are now commemorated as the “Heavenly Hundred” – and more than 1,000 were injured, while 13 law enforcement officers were killed and about 900 injured, according to the report.

Police forces attempted to brutally break up the occupation of Kiev’s Maidan Nezalezhnosti square numerous times between November 2013 and February 2014.

At the same time, violent nationalists spearheaded some clashes, and photos and interviews indicate that at least two protesters fired rifles at police on 20 February, when 50 protestors and three policemen were shot dead. Meanwhile, Russian media have claimed that snipers were employed by the opposition or western intelligence agencies to provoke Yanukovych’s overthrow.

The investigations to find the culprits have been a test for the new government, which has been struggling to complete political and economic reforms demanded by western creditors amid a conflict with Russia-backed rebels in the east.

But the new report’s findings suggest it has not yet been able to root out what Bratza called the “very real problem of impunity and lack of accountability of law enforcement officers in Ukraine.”

Huge obstacles faced Euromaidan investigators, the international panel said. Barricades struck by bullets were removed, and guns and documents that implicated Berkut riot police officers in the shootings disappeared. Police wore masks and no identification markings, and many law enforcement officers and officials fled to Russia, which has reportedly not responded to extradition requests.

But the report also uncovered many discrepancies that did not stem from these circumstances. In one instance, the task of finding documents about the distribution of weapons to police for use against protesters was entrusted to interior ministry officials who had helped prepare those very documents in the first place. The interior ministry was also charged with investigating crimes by pro-Yanukovych street fighters known as titushki, even though interior ministry officials are suspected of arming these men.

The interior ministry played a major role because an independent body capable of investigating police abuses has not yet been formed. Although many interior ministry officials fled after Yanukovych’s ousting, some senior officials have been appointed to new positions in the agency, which “served to undermine public confidence” in the investigations, the report said.

The international panel also found that the prosecutor general’s part of the investigation was understaffed and not working up to international standards, with only three full-time staffers on Euromaidan cases.

Seemingly stung by the findings, the prosecutor general’s office announced two new suspects in the investigation shortly after the report was published on Tuesday: former acting Kiev police chief Valeriy Mazan and his deputy Petro Fedchuk.

Despite the latest findings of continued police impunity, a Reuters investigation last year raised the possibility that the new authorities have occasionally been too zealous in prosecuting former officers, finding “serious flaws” in the case against a riot police commander accused of ordering the shooting protestors.

Bratza said panel has now begun to review the state investigation into violence in Odessa in May 2014, another set of controversial events that resulted in at least 40 people, mostly pro-Russian protesters, being burned to death in a trade union building.

Bhurishrava · Post by **Bhurishrava** » 01 Apr 2015 16:41

http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=28175

Ukraine Rejects Georgia’s Request for Extradition of Saakashvili

A close ally of Saakashvili, former Georgian MP from UNM party, Davit Sakvarelidze was appointed as Deputy General Prosecutor of Ukraine on February 16, joining several other former Georgian officials who took senior government posts in Ukraine, among them Eka Zguladze, who is Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister; Gia Getsadze, who is Ukraine’s Deputy Justice Minister, and Alexander Kvitashvili, who is Ukraine’s Healthcare Minister.

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 02 Apr 2015 11:58

Several eminent western defence experts,diplomats and politicos have warned the West/NATO that they completely misread the importance of the UKR and Russia's "near abroad" in its security concerns and not to underestimate Russian countermoves .If NATO continues to exacerbate the situ and continue its eastward expansion in territories once belonging to the former USSR,Russia has given a clear warning to NATO that it will use nuclear force to safeguard its interests.

Russia threatens to use 'nuclear force' over Crimea and the Baltic states
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world ... 50565.html

Moscow would use a 'spectrum of responses' if Nato moved more forces into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
Ian Johnston
Thursday 02 April 2015

Russia has threatened to use “nuclear force” to defend its annexation of Crimea and warned that the “same conditions” that prompted it to take military action in Ukraine exist in the three Baltic states, all members of Nato.

According to notes made by an American at a meeting between Russian generals and US officials – and seen by The Times newspaper - Moscow threatened a “spectrum of responses from nuclear to non-military” if Nato moved more forces into Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

The Russians told the meeting, which took place in Germany last month, that an attempt to return Crimea to Ukraine would be met “forcefully including through the use of nuclear force”.

And they said if Nato sent arms to Ukraine this would be seen as “further encroachment by Nato to the Russian border” and “the Russian people would demand a forceful response”.

They added that “the same conditions that existed in Ukraine and caused Russia to take action there” existed in the three Baltic states, which like Ukraine have significant numbers of people who regard themselves as ethnically Russian.

Russia was considering taking steps in the Baltics, according to the notes, but this would most likely be “destabilising actions that would be even harder to trace back to Russia than those of eastern Ukraine”.

The notes suggest Moscow would avoid “injections of troops and heavy weapons in favour of other tools”.

“Russia would hope slowly to entice those Russian populations towards Russia without giving Nato a pretext to deploy troops,” the document adds.

If Nato then responded, that would make it “a potential co-aggressor against Russian-speaking minorities in Baltic states”, a situation described as “potentially more dangerous than that in Ukraine to the United States”.