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Noteworthy for experts, Moldavian President Vladimir Voronin recently got into a quite unexpected public conflict with Traian Basescu, President of Romania, the country the Moldavian authorities regard as their closest ally. The conflict was unexpected as Basescu just reiterated that their states are both Romanian, a traditional belief with Romania, which Voronin suddenly disproved by saying that most people in Moldavia consider themselves Moldavians. Asked by REGNUM to comment on the historical context of the conflict, President of the Institute for Eurasian Studies Valery Tursunov says: "Romania's “imperial” ambitions with respect to Moldova and likewise Northern Bukovyna and Transylvania are...

MOSCOW, December 28, (RIA Novosti) - Although relations with the American administration and the European Union are normal, international politicians have begun airing the idea of restricting Russia's influence, Gleb Pavlovsky, president of the Fund for Effective Policy (FEP), noted at a news conference on Tuesday. He called the idea the "Kwasniewski doctrine", because the Polish president was the first to voice it. "Russia rejects this doctrine - we are not accepting in any degree the policy of curbing Russia's influence. This is beyond the boundaries of geopolitical correctness," Pavlovsky said. The expert believes that Russia passes through "periods of...

Russian President Vladimir Putin ate crow today for his decision to support a Ukrainian candidate opposed by millions of opposition demonstrators. This isn't his first major political mistake in the region. It is becoming something of a habit. Russian President Vladimir Putin could wind up paying a heavy political price for his meddling in the Ukrainian elections. After the Ukranian election, Russian President Vladimir Putin was one of the first world leaders to demonstratively congratulate Ukrainian prime minister and presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovich. At the Russia-European Union summit in the Netherlands last week, Putin expressed his solidarity with the disputed...