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«Today we’re partners, but not friends» - said Russian ambassador to Germany Vladimir Grinin meeting journalists from different countries in Berlin by the end of April. After many years of assurances that the both countries are strategic partners, the opinion mainly expressed by Russian politicians, one should welcome the more sober assessment of Russia-Germany relations. The Russian ambassador is right: no need to prevaricate and sugarcoat reality...
Natalia MEDEN | 05.05.2012 |
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The Nabucco pipeline originally supposed to emerge as a rival to Russia's South Stream and as the first ever direct energy link between Europe and the resourceful Central Asia is about to face a major downscaling. The news immediately grabbed the headlines, but it would be naive to expect that Brussels will altogether abandon its ambitious plan for a southern energy corridor with a gas pipeline traversing the Caspian Sea as the key part...
Aleksandr SHUSTOV | 03.04.2012 |
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Iran’s state-run Press TV announced on February 15 that in response to the EU sanctions Tehran was suspending oil deliveries to France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Portugal and the Netherlands. On the same day Iran`s oil ministry denied the report... The opposing sides are testing each other`s ability to demonstrate a strong political will. Actually, what we see now is a virtual fight but just a single wrong gesture can turn it into a real one...
Vadim VIKHROV | 18.02.2012 |
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The year 2011 will be remembered as a period of unprecedented uncertainty in the his-tory of modern Europe. On the one hand, contrary to widespread apocalyptic expecta-tions, the EU did not crumble and the amplitude of the oscillations in the value of the relatively young European currency did stay within tolerable limits. On the other, it is clear that the integrated Europe's worst crash tests are still ahead and that the difficul-ties confronting the EU are a lot more systemic than circumstantial...
Pyotr ISKENDEROV | 04.01.2012 |
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The 20 th World Petroleum Congress which convened in Doha, Qatar, in December, 2011, became the scene of a continuing dispute between Russian energy minister Serguey Shmatko and European Commissioner for Energy Günther Oettinger as at the moment the relations in the energy sphere between Russia and the EU are stuck at a fairly low point... Russia and the EU appear to be in the process of drifting apart...
Natalia MEDEN | 24.12.2011 |
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In the past few months Kazakhstan, once the quietest country in Central Asia, has turned into a hotbed of extremism... Unrest in Kazakh cities is gaining pace ahead of next month`s parliamentary elections in the country and presidential elections in the years to come. Terror threat has long become a major issue of concern in the country`s domestic policy. And one should not ignore that in the north Kazakhstan has the world`s longest 7,000 km and poorly guarded border with the Russian Federation...
Aleksandr SHUSTOV | 18.12.2011 |
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The rating agencies which are a predominantly US business spare no efforts to undermine the credibility of the European markets... The key US principle – What is good for big money, is good for the nation – actually implies that the money must be US dollars...
Elena PUSTOVOITOVA | 11.12.2011 |
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The developments around the Trans-Caspian Pipeline project supposed to provide an undersea energy supply link between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are about to reach a critical point... An escalation is imminent if drastic steps to advance the construction of the Trans-Caspian pipeline are taken. The US, which at the moment intends to shift some of its military infrastructures from Afghanistan to Central Asia, will likely intervene in the conflict...
Aleksandr SHUSTOV | 29.11.2011 |
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It is hard to tell which of the two emotions – national pride or indignation over obvious injustice – fuels the revival of the Europeans' unique national spirit. This year the process which the European political class is desperately trying to impede manifested itself in a pattern-setting array of political developments... At the moment the cause which is evidently gaining momentum is championed by Marion Anne Perrine Le Pen, the daughter of the charismatic French nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen and an increasingly visible figure on Europe's political horizon...
Elena PUSTOVOITOVA | 26.11.2011 |
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Belief in Washington’s trustworthiness even pervades the Russian government, which apparently, according to Medvedev’s statement, would be reassured by a “legally binding guarantee” from Washington. After the massive lies told by Washington in the 21st century --”weapons of mass destruction,” “al Qaeda connections,” “Iranian nukes” - why would anyone put any credence in “a legally binding guarantee” from Washington. The guarantee would mean nothing. How could it be enforced? Such a guarantee would simply be another deceit in Washington’s pursuit of world hegemony...
Paul Craig ROBERTS | 25.11.2011 |
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