Fri 3 Feb 2012
On 3 February eight European Union countries signalled a sharp drop in Russian gas supplies. It is generally perceived that Gazprom, the largest extractor of natural gas in the world, has begun cutting gas supplies to the EU in order to meet high demand in Russia caused by severe cold weather. The cuts began in Italy on 1 February where volumes dropped by almost 20 per cent, but since then shipments to Poland fell 7 percent, and the Czech distributor RWE Transgaz said deliveries are ‘several’ percent lower than normal. The European Commission added that Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary and Romania have also been affected. According to Russia the gas corporation Gazprom reacted to the cold wave hitting the country by redirecting some gas to meet domestic needs. But there are signs the 2012 crunch could also get nasty.
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Thu 2 Feb 2012
On 2 February The Hague Tribunal chief prosecutor’s office stated that valuable evidence about removal of organs of Serbs captured in Kosovo was destroyed during the term of former prosecutor Carla Del Ponte. The case concerns war crimes committed in Kosovo and northern Albania in 1999 and 2000, when Serb and other civilians are believed to have been kidnapped for their body parts by ethnic Albanian KLA (Kosovo Liberation Army). The Hague Tribunal chief prosecutor’s office added that the pieces of evidence were destroyed with approval of Del Ponte’s prosecution.
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Tue 31 Jan 2012
On January 31 President Nursultan Nazarbaev lifted the state of emergency that was imposed in mid-December in the western Kazakh town of Zhanaozen where clashes between striking oil workers and police left at least 16 people dead. The state of emergency was originally scheduled to end January 5, but Nazarbaev extended the measure until the end of January. The president declared that the state of emergency would now be lifted because the situation in the Caspian Sea town "had taken a normal course." In early January the town was excluded from parliamentary elections amid safety fears over the deadly clashes which had earlier seen some top government officials sack. The lifting of the state of emergency comes just a few days after opposition activists staged a rally to protest the recent election results and the violent suppression of the oil workers in Zhanaozen.
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Mon 30 Jan 2012
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On Saturday 28 January, over 8,000 Tunisians took the streets in the capital to protest against the violence committed by the ultraconservative Salafists, against restrictions on individual and public freedoms and against religious extremism. The protest was called by two opposition parties: the Progressive Democratic Party (PDP) and the Republican Party, jointly with trade union organizations and civil society associations. The march was one of the largest demonstrations since the elections last year.
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Fri 27 Jan 2012
On 26 January the Bosnia’s Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader, Zlatko Lagumdzija, denied reports that the government of the Federation entity may have to be reconstructed following a damaging row between his party and its coalition partner, the Party of Democratic Action (SDA), over politicizing. The Federation of BiH is one of the two political entities that compose the sovereign country of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In March 2011 a government of the federation entity was formed, whereby the SDA and the SDP are the two main political parties. The disagreement between the parties has raised questions over whether the new government of the entity will survive.
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Thu 26 Jan 2012
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On 25 January thousands of Egyptians gathered on the now infamous Tahrir square to celebrate the one year anniversary of the protests that led to the resignation of Hosni Mubarak. The gathering was a combination of a demonstration and celebration. On the one hand the Egyptians are honouring the ‘martyrs of the revolution’, but the protesters are also demanding a speedy handover of power from the interim military authorities. According to a local reporter, for a number of people demonstrating on the Tahrir square really just is about military hijacking the revolution and about Islamist parties and movements now making the gains instead of those who actually initiated the revolution. But other protestors say it is a rocky transition but it still is a transition pointing out to the fact that Egypt had its first free and fair elections in decades which reflects the will of the people.
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Tue 24 Jan 2012
On 24 January the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan stated in parliament that the bill passed by the French parliament on the mass killing of Armenians under Ottoman rule is a result of "racist and discriminatory" attitudes toward Turkey. According to the PM the bill is murdering the freedom of thought, also Erdoğan claimed the bill is a stunt by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to garner support in the upcoming presidential elections, that will be held in April 2012, from the 500,000 or so ethnic Armenians residing in France.
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Mon 23 Jan 2012
On Sunday 22 January Croatians have voted for EU entrance. According to unofficial results (99.99% of the votes have been counted), 66.27% voted ‘ZA’(‘for’) EU entrance at the second referendum in Croatian history, the first being on the decision to succeed from Yugoslavia. Considering the polls over the recent years, the percentage of ‘for’ votes is rather high. The turnout was low with 43.5%, compared to 54% at the general elections in December 2011.
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Mon 23 Jan 2012
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On Saturday 21 January official results of Egypt’s lower house (People’s Assembly) elections were published. The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the political arm of the Muslim Brotherhood, has won the first democratic polls since the ouster of president Mubarak overwhelmingly. As all seats are now allocated, the newly elected members of the parliament could read the oath of office and assemble for the first time on Monday 23 January.
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Thu 19 Jan 2012
On 19 January the Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced the endorsement of possible reforms in the political system in the country during a celebration of the 20th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Belarus and China. However, he added that the potential changes are not stemming from unrest in his country and the reforms are not highly urgent.
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Wed 18 Jan 2012
On 17 January the socialist opposition leader Edi Rama criticised the Supreme Court of Albania about the acquittal of former Prime Minister Ilir Meta. Last year Meta was charged with corruption, but the Supreme Court ruled on January 16 that the charges against him could not be proven due to a lack of evidence. According to Rama the ruling “mocked the citizens of Albania and that this is another step toward an unjust regime.”
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Tue 17 Jan 2012
On 16 January the international election monitors stated that Kazakhstan’s parliamentary elections held the day before failed to meet basic democratic principles. According to a preliminary report of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) several parties had been blocked from the election and public debate was limited in the run-up to the vote. The conclusion of the OSCE goes against the authorities’ statement about the ambition to strengthen democratic processes in Kazakhstan.
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Mon 16 Jan 2012
On 14 January the liberal Mohamed ElBaradei has made public he will not run for President in the upcoming Presidential elections. The former International Atomic Energy Agency director and Nobel laureate declared “the former regime did not fall” after the revolution, referring to the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF).
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Fri 13 Jan 2012
On 12 January the parliament of Bosnia-Herzegovina (BiH) appointed Vjekoslav Bevanda, from the Croation Democratic Union (HDZ) and former finance minister, as the country’s new Prime Minister, ending a 15-month government formation after the parliamentary elections of October 2010. Bevanda was supported in the State Parliament by 31 votes; two MPs voted against him and three abstained. The new PM has until the end of January to appoint a Cabinet according to December’s deal.
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Thu 12 Jan 2012
On 12 January the European Parliament (EP) Foreign Affairs Committee supported the draft resolution urging approval of Serbia’s EU candidate status in March. MEPs also requested the start of the EU negotiations, primarily on the chapters regarding rule of law and judiciary. The draft is supported by the EP under the assumption that the Serbian authorities will by then fulfil the conditions determined at the EU leaders’ meeting in December 2011, namely, implementation of the agreements with Pristina.
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