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Russia, Poland at loggerheads over Gazprom move In Short: Poland sees its energy security seriously threatened by a recent request by Russia's natural gas giant Gazprom to re-negotiate its long-term gas delivery contract with Warsaw. Brief News: Russia's Gazprom has expressed its intention to revise its gas supply contract with Warsaw. The contract expires in 2022. According to Gazprom, it is normal business procedure to regularly revise pricing conditions of gas supplies. However, Poland, which receives 42% of its gas from Gazprom, sees no reason to re-negotiate the terms of the 1996 supply agreement. Gazprom's move follows protests by Warsaw...

Moscow denies its Baltic gas pipeline will bypass Poland 2005-10-06, 09:57 Russian authorities informed that the new pipeline to be built on the bottom of the Baltic sea would have links to a number of European countries including Poland. The Russian ambassador to the European Union said that the new pipeline should connect not divide. Financial analysts, however, stress the fact that regardless of the political importance of the project, its financial side is one big mystery – there is no source of financing and it is unclear if Russians can provide sufficient amounts of gas to make the whole...

The failure of various forms of statism in the Third World, the bankruptcy of communism in the former Soviet bloc and China, and the high long-term unemployment and relative stagnation in Western European countries with overregulated economies has forced a revision of the development paradigm in favor of the market and private property -- in short, a more limited state. But the battle over ideas and policies is far from over. As a matter of fact, it will never end, as the forces of statism regroup rather than capitulate. This is why it is so important to analyze which policies...

Legal analyses show that Russian-German gas pipeline may be illegal From Poland A.M. Even though there is still a chance for halting the construction of the gas pipeline between Russia and Germany through the Baltic Sea, the Polish government has not undertaken any legal action to block the construction. According to analysts, in order to block the investment the new government should first of all call into question the agreement signed between the two countries. Legal analyses have revealed that the document violates certain free trade principles. Robert Amsterdam from the Amsterdam & Peroff law office claims that Poland could...

Tricky Question Goes down the Tubes Vladimir Putin and Gerhard Schroeder Insure Themselves against Politic Risks in Ukraine. First Persons Russian President Vladimir Putin flew to Berlin yesterday and met with both candidate for chancellor and was on hand for the signing of the agreement between Gazprom and the German concerns E.ON and BASF on the construction of the North European Gas Pipeline. In addition, Putin commented with glee on yesterday's events in Ukraine. His comments were somewhat mystifying, in the opinion of Kommersant special correspondent . Gazprom head Alexey Miller looked like the ca that ate the mouse as...

Russia: Putin, Schroeder Ratify Pipeline Deal By Claire Bigg Russian and German energy firms today signed a deal to build a $5.7 billion pipeline under the Baltic Sea to link the two countries. The signing comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin is in Berlin to meet German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder today. The pipeline will allow Russia to boost its gas exports to the lucrative Western European market without paying transit fees to Poland and Ukraine. Poland yesterday attacked the deal for having been made without consulting the rest of the European Union. Moscow, 8 September 2005 (RFE/RL) -- President Putin...

MOSCOW (AFX) - Russia is withdrawing its signature from a land and sea border treaty with Estonia that the two countries signed in May, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, adding that the two sides would have to restart negotiations. 'Since the Estonian side has not fulfilled its obligations, we withdraw our signature from this accord,' Lavrov said, quoted by Russia's RIA-Novosti news agency, during a visit to Helsinki. 'There will be no accord... In order to regulate border issues, we will have to restart negotiations,' Lavrov said, adding that he hoped the dispute would not affect relations between Russia...

Polish Air Force will be responsible for protecting the airspace of three Baltic States - NATO members: Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania. Poland will send 4 MiG's-29 (2 one-seat versions, the rest 2-seat version) and 59 members of ground crew. Their base will be Siauliai airfield. Two Mig's will be constantly ready for action, the rest stays on alert. This dispatch is a part of NATO obligations.

Poland to patrol Baltic airspace in 2006 Poland will take over the mission of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to patrol Baltic airspace in 2006, the Lithuanian defense ministry said Tuesday. Poland will be the first new NATO member since 1999 to send its air force to take over the alliance's mission, according to a statement released after a meeting between Lithuanian army commander Vladas Tutkus and Poland's air force chief Ryszard Olszewski. NATO forces have patrolled Baltic airspace since March 2004. Its members take turns at deploying patrol aircraft from the Zokniai air base in northern Lithuania. Norway...

Estonia unveils Nazi war monument An Estonian town has unveiled a controversial monument to honour those who fought with Nazi forces against the Soviet Union in World War II. The monument depicts an Estonian soldier in German military uniform. The local authorities in the western town of Lihula said they wanted to honour those Estonians who had to choose between the two sides. But the Estonian Prime Minister, Juhan Parts, described the monument as a provocation. An investigation is underway into whether it could incite political hostilities. 'Less evil one' About 2,000 people attended the unveiling ceremony on Friday. "This...

Russia has warned Nato it will not tolerate the US-led military alliance stationing troops or equipment in the Baltic states once they join Nato next month. Sergei Yastrzhembsky, President Vladimir Putin's special foreign policy envoy, who was at Nato's headquarters last Friday, told the FT it would be "very negative" if the alliance had "any footprint regardless of the size" in Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania. "Nato should consider the national concerns of Russian policy," Mr Yastrzhembsky said. "We understand a Nato footprint in Bulgaria or Romania as bases for aviation in the fight against terrorism. It is difficult to see...

Spy plane shot down in Baltic found (Filed: 20/06/2003) A Swedish spy plane flying a mission on behalf of British intelligence which was shot down by the Russians in 1952 has been found at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, ending one of the enduring mysteries of the Cold War. After a three-year search by Swedish historians it was confirmed that wreckage discovered in the sea off the country's east coast was of the DC3 shot down with its crew of eight by a Russian fighter. The aircraft was half-buried in sand. The crew's remains were not found. When the...

No Big May Day Celebrations in Lithuania TodayBy Andrew L. Jaffee, May 1, 2003 You won't find any big May Day celebrations today in downtown Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. This country suffered brutal Russian communist occupation for 46 years. How many other peoples suffered (or are still suffering) under "socialism?" Why aren't Lithuanians celebrating May Day? There are still those die-hards clinging to the Marxist dream of a proletarian paradise. Today, those dreamers are celebrating May Day. In Berlin and London today, the dreamers got violent. Strange that people in developed, democratic societies overloaded with social programs and...

If we are to believe the Moscow media, during February and the first half of March 2002, relations between the United States and Russia changed – and changed greatly – from bad to worse. The most recent issues of the leading Moscow newspapers and magazines are oversaturated with anti-American sentiments. For example, the weekly Moscow News (usually a very liberal, "pro-American and pro-democratic" magazine for intellectuals) published an article in its March 12-18 issue called "Let's put the Bush gang on trial! It is fashionable, among Russian politicians, to be anti-Western this season." The article quoted such Russian politicians as...