The acronym BRIC was coined by Jim O’Neill in his now-distant 2001 paper, but Brazil, Russia, India and China are still considered to be at a similar stage of economic development. The truth is, however, that the BRIC countries are not that alike. They have quite different economies – and quite different issues.

B is for Brazil

Brazil has in the last decade turned itself into a place where it is very expensive to do business. And government is to blame. Not only has the tax burden risen from 22% of GDP in the 1980s to 36% today, but the tax system is ridiculously complex. Unfortunately most of the money goes on pensions and wasteful spending on the unreasonably big government and not on the reforms and innovations.

The other problem is tiresome overregulation, even record low interest rates are of no use to the economy. Business leaders believe that uncertainty over regulations holding vital investment in infrastructure.

R is for Russia

Russia faces serious political problems and its economical structure may no longer be regarded as that of a BRIC country.

The major source of problems, of course, is the 2008 economic crisis. The Russian economy experienced the highest capital flight among the BRICs in the last decade. In August 2011 alone, USD 500 million was taken out of Russian investment funds, and the drop continues. The Russian Ministry of Finance estimated capital flight for 2011 to more than USD 80 billion, and that major capital investment cannot be expected before 2013.

According to Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, in one week in September 2011, investors withdrew 315 million dollars from Russian capital market, which is double the capital flight from China and India for that week.

Even the Russian press has noticed that the Goldman Sachs prognosis of a lower global growth rate for 2012/2013 has made Russia look like an outsider within BRIC.

Despite the fact that Russia is the largest oil exporter in the world and the second best in natural gas, it is not what is happening with the other BRIC countries.

I is for India

India lacks a big export industry. In this situation it is unlikely to see essential growth in exports in the near future. What is even more important that India has a substantial account deficit and to cover it $50-70 billion in investments is needed every year.

Unlike the other BRIC countries, India is still desperately poor. Widespread corruption and lack of jobs in the country with rapidly growing population are also the reasons to worry.

C is for China

China’s validity in BRIC has never been questioned. It is not only China’s rapid growth but also political weight on the international stage that put it ahead and above the other three.

And even though China’s economy may be slowing, it is still the best investment destination of the four big emerging markets. The thing is – market should stop thinking of China as a 10 percent galloping state. China is getting past being just about quantity. So the growth may be slowing but it is still at a very high rate.

The GDP of China’s economy has increased from $1.57tn to nearly $6.3tn, rising to number 2 in the world ranking. What is even more important, China has transformed into a state that exports capital and manufacturing from mainly agricultural country. And now it has more and more possibilities to strengthen further its influence on the international arena.

The magnitude of Chinese economy and Beijing’s ability to drive the economy away from troubles make it less sensitive than huge but less controllable states like India, the oligarchic Russia or overregulated Brazil. So is China just another brick in the wall? Not quite, not quite.

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The relationship between the European Union and Ukraine was for a long period of time mostly shaped by the European Neighborhood Policy. Between 2009 and 2011, an Association agreement was negotiated. This agreement aims at economic integration, including a deep free trade area, but it will not be ratified until Ukraine deals with concerns over a “stark deterioration of democracy.”

At the same time, on the Eastern front, Kyiv is also having consultations on the subject of the removal of trade barriers. Ukraine is taking a closer look at the possible benefits of Kyiv joining a Russia-led Customs Union (CU). However, since the establishment of the CU, the share of trade turnover of all participating countries has not changed. Figures remain unchanged from 2005 claims a study conducted for 3.2 million rubles that was ordered by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia. Moreover, according to provided data, the dynamics of the main indicators of the CU and Ukraine in 2009-2011 show that the integration effect is maximal for Russia and minimal for the Ukraine.

Nevertheless, according to the Russian Ministry, the technical regulation system of the Customs Union could improve trade not only with the member states of the CU, but also greatly simplify harmonization with the European Union. This is a very controversial statement, especially taking into account multiple assertions by western diplomats, that it would not be possible.

One of the critics is the current Chairman of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, Elmar Brok, who stressed that Ukraine should decide whether to join the Customs Union or the European Union. “The position of European institutions is clear. Ukraine cannot have a free trade zone with the Customs Union and the EU simultaneously,” he said.

The European Union thinks that Ukraine is just bluffing about their intentions of joining the CU. A full membership in the union would require a change to the Constitution, which is impossible without the support of the opposition. So the “bluffing” part may indeed be true, but only to a certain extent.

Unfortunately, the Ukrainian government lacks the strategic view of the country’s development that has been clearly shown many times by now. Even though Yanukovych, the President of Ukraine, is reluctant to join the Customs Union and make Ukraine a Russian vassal once more, the unfavorable economic situation and increasing Moscow pressure may tip the scales. Which path to take has yet to be decided, but it is equally true for the European Union.

Image Courtesy : World Economic Forum

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The US Air Force just landed in Poland, very quietly, accounting for a missile defense roll-out with little announcement in the local press. Military staff failed to arrive on schedule to boost the local economy. Reportedly, only ten Air Force officials landed. “Yeah, but they came with 10 F-16s fighter planes,” said one Polish-American security official.

Of course, the US Airforce isn’t storming Poland while their citizens continue to be denied Visas to the Land of Opportunity. The Poles, after all, are NATO allies serving in the War on Terror through a decade of two wars.

Besides the 10 F-16s and some 250 support staff expected in the town of Łask, the towns of Krzesiny and Powidz have also signed up to support the Yanks, welcoming a boost to the local economy. What are Poles expecting in addition to the F-16 fighter-planes and happy-go-lucky Americans? The Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo plane to be stationed East – close to Russia.

After all, it is Russia that vocally disagreed with the need for a missile defense shield in NATO Poland. And despite Polish petitions to install missile defense, and despite US promises to add the valuable deterrent, the US has sided with Russia, drawing stinging criticism from Polish President Komorowski in August of 2012.

But the US is not concerned with drawing flattery from its NATO allies; its concern, as always, is preparing against the worst case scenario – here in Poland, even in 2012 - a Russian invasion.

In 2011, Russia staged aggressive wargames in neighboring Lithuania in tandum with strong rebukes to the Polish minority. It called for the abolishment of the Polish language teaching in the country. The wargames simulated an invasion. The Polish minority in Lithuania has pressed its cause. It is important to remember that for Russia, Eastern Europe is just another satellite state at least as much as Georgia (which it recently invaded in 2008) or Afghanistan (1979-1988). Boasting a population of some 40 million, Poland, separated from Russia by Ukraine and Belarus, might believe that it’s not counted as an extension of the Soviet states – especially as it is a loyal and productive NATO member. Perhaps Poles forget they share a border with Russia, playing host to the naval port of Kalingrad.

Since August of 2012, Visa-free travel between Russia’s Kalingrad Oblast and it’s EU neighbors has been offered. Polish residents on the Baltic Seaboard as far as Gdask may take advantage of the liberties; and Russians may travel a few kilometers into Poland.

Maybe that’s why the Americans reneged the missile defense shield – too close to Russia to secure.

Whatever the case, as this picture suggests, the Airforce sure is here now. Pay close attention, the plane marked ‘Polish Air Force’ is the Hercules C-130 cargo plane predicted to land by the Polish Press in July. The Hercules, a descendant of the famous C-54 which in 1949 broke the Soviet blockade of Berlin, serves as a gruesome reminder of the backbreaking potential of a rugged cargo-plane in Eastern Europe. In addition to paratroopers, the turboprop military transport can fulfill wildfire fighting duties as well as reconnaissance. It’s ideal for insulting the enemy; and serves as a sobering reminder that the US can invade Russia with far greater finesse than Russia may ever invade Europe.

The US Congress last week passed legislation against Russians suspected in the torture of Andrei Magnitsky. Russia promised offense, taking issue with American legislators who keep prisoners locked away in GITMO Cuba as subjects of terror. In the time being, a botched arms deal to the tune of some 4 billion with normally compliant Syria preceded the ousting of General Nikolai Makarov for corruption charges, dumping valuable military assets without recouping their value. Which, all in all, signals that Russian officials are dealing with having to tighten their belts and conserve cash. After all, that is what the Magnitsky legislation calls for: asset redistribution.

In the last couple of weeks, we have seen botched Russian arms deals in Syria, corruption rattling top Russian brass, American legislators declaring war on suspicious Russians, and the Air Force showing off its plan of attack – a CARGO plane. Then Thanksgiving and the day after that when the Polish Press announced that the Congress building nearly averted a 4 ton TNT attack; that LGBTA websites across the land have been hacked and that Gays and Lesbians should change their passwords; and that Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk proposes to arrange a State Tribunal for the twin brother of fallen President Lech Kaczyński for suspicions of corruption. Mr. Kaczyński served as his brother’s Prime Minister and is still a leading candidate against Tusk power in Poland. This is despite an ostentatious grieving period that has seen the former Prime Minister concoct conspiracy after conspiracy to atone for the death of his brother and some 90 serving senior cabinet ministers in a Tupolev 154 in Smolensk, Russia, on April 10 of 2010.

Whatever will happen next?

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The big issues of the coming campaign are not in question. The economy, America’s growing debt, unemployment, and the role of entitlements (read: government) in Americans lives are crux of the 2012 battle for the White House. Highlighting the negative results in these areas is Mitt Romney, best hand for winning the election.

Nonetheless, foreign policy issues and threats are looming above America’s head in a big way, and will need to be addressed. The conventional wisdom is that Romney has little foreign policy and relations experience. President Obama’s own lack of experience in this area notwithstanding, his campaign zeroed in on this one reason that Romney is not the right man for job.

Governor and Romney advisor Tim Pawlenty addressed this viewpoint and other foreign policy concerns today in a symposium held by the Foreign Policy Initiative. Moderated by board member and Fox news analyst Bill Kristal, the event gave Pawlenty a forum to address how a Romney Presidency would look like in the area of foreign relations. The big take away from the event was Pawlenty’s view that Romney is on the right track.

“Romney has the right foundational and directional philosophy to make the correct decisions.” Pawlenty followed this up by reminding everyone in attendance that Reagan did not have extensive foreign policy experience. His worldview is what allowed him to be an effective foreign policy President.

Channeling Reagan is something that most, if not all, republicans attempt to do. It does not matter whether it is taxes, the economy, or dealing with America’s challenges abroad. Still, there is a large grain of truth to his statement. Governors of either party seldom have extensive foreign policy and relations experience. Their duties at times lightly touch the area, but their primary function is running their states. The lack of experience has to be made up with study and experienced, sound advisors.

Underlying it all, however, is the philosophy of the person in charge. The President can have a mindset like Carter or Winston Churchill. How he views Americas role and his mindset sets the agenda for who he has as advisers, what diplomacy targets he set, and what he will do and not do with America’s armed forces.

Pawlenty was critical of the philosophy President Obama has taken. “President Obama has decided to lead from behind. To have America take a less active role as leader in the world. That has not worked out well.” Examples given of this view were the “reset with Russia,” as the President calls it, and the missed opportunity in the Iranian uprising.

The financial challenges the country faces are grave, but the potential threats of Iran, Russia, and China are like a Damocles sword above the neck of Uncle Sam. Romney cannot afford to let the view of the President set America’s view of him in this area. The knowledge and philosophy that Pawlenty speaks of must be in full view to the American public. Foreign policy may not be issue one this election cycle, but it still cannot be allowed to be ignored.

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In the last months, the diplomatic relation between Russian and the United States has become tense and unstable, mainly because Russia and China vetoed the U.N. intervention on Syria. This really angered the United States, but Vladimir Putin’s recent election to the Russian presidency has not helped to solve the problem and calm things down.

Russia is the U.S.’ 20th largest trading partner in goods. The goods trade between the two countries is reported as $42.9 billion USD in total. U.S. exports to Russia were $8.3 billion dollars. U.S. goods imports from Russia totaled $34.6 billion last year. Compared to China, Russia is a small economic partner to the United States, but a very important one in other areas.

In the 19th century, Russia sold Alaska to the United States. Russia also supported the U.S. during the civil war. In fact, the 19th  century was a golden period for U.S.-Russian diplomatic relations. But the  20th century told us a completely different story. It witnessed the worst  case scenario in the diplomatic relations between the two countries: the Cold War, which was a mainly political conflict between the Soviet Union, a union of countries in which Russia was the biggest, and the United States. Even though the Cold War was going on, the U.S. and Soviet astronauts went to space together in the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz mission.

The Soviet Union didn’t last forever, ending in 1991. After this, relations between the two countries got better, but, like with every country, there are a lot of aspects in which both governments do not agree. This is completely normal considering both countries come from two totally different backgrounds.

Vladimir Putin returned to the Russian presidency in March, which will definitely affect the good relations that President Obama had with his precursor, Dmitri Medvedev, who was in power from 2008 to 2012. Medvedev even declared once that “these were perhaps the best three years of relations between Russia and the United States over the last decade.”

But now Putin, a former K.G.B officer, is back on the game. The man became President for the first time in 2000 and remained so until 2008 when he gave power to his chosen one, Medvedev. Yet, most analysts agree he never stopped ruling.

The first problems between the U.S. and Russia have already reappeared, and the Syria issue has been the trigger. The State Secretary Hillary Clinton accused Putin in June of shipping attack helicopters to Syria that President al-Assad could use to continue with his massacre of civilians. The Russian government responded that they only have sent weapons that can be used for self-defense.

But the problematic relations between both countries really started in February, when Russia and China vetoed the United Nations’ action on Syria. This action caused fury on the other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council. The U.S. ambassador Susan Rice told CNN that “those that have blocked potentially the last effort to resolve this peacefully … will have any future blood spill on their hands.”

But President Obama made an announcement in June to try to calm things down. After a meeting with President Putin, he expressed the tensions can be solved although they have disagreements. Concerning the Syria issue he declared that President Putin agreed that a political process should be created in Syria in order to avoid a civil war.

Image Courtesy of  World Economic Forum

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Glendale, U.S.A. — DreamWorks Animation, ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted –the 3D third installment in the blockbuster hit franchise about the Central Park Zoosters and their worldwide adventures – has now become the highest-grossing animated film in Russia’s box office history and the third highest-grossing film of all time in Russia. It is the #1 film of the year at the Russian box office and continues to play in theaters there. The top three animated films of all time in Russia are now all DreamWorks Animation pictures: ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’, ‘Shrek Forever After’ and ‘Puss In Boots’.

Paramount Pictures, a unit of Viacom Inc., is distributing ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’ worldwide and Central Partnership is serving as the film’s local distributor in Russia. The film opened in Russia on June 7, 2012 on 1830 screens – the biggest number yet for any film release – and has grossed $48.3 million, or 1.58 billion rubles, to date.

“Russia is one of the most important markets in the world for DreamWorks Animation films and we couldn’t be more proud to have achieved such unprecedented box office results there,” said Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive Officer of DreamWorks Animation. “We’re incredibly grateful to our audience in Russia for their enthusiastic and historic support of ‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’.”

‘Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted’ has grossed $200 million at the domestic box office and nearly $260 million overseas for a worldwide gross of approximately $460 million to date.

In the highly anticipated third chapter of the Madagascar franchise, Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Gloria the Hippo, and Melman the Giraffe are still fighting to get home to their beloved Big Apple and of course, King Julien, Maurice and the Penguins are all along for the comedic adventure. Their journey takes them through Europe where they find the perfect cover: a traveling circus, which they reinvent – Madagascar style.

Image Courtesy of   Madagascar 3

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The conflict between Turkey and Syria is heating up. On Sunday, June 30, the Turkish army sent  six F-16 planes to do emergency takeoffs on their border with Syria in response to the three jets that the Syrian army sent over on Saturday. Turkey recognizes that last Saturday’s action was not a violation of Turkish air space, but the nearness of these planes was enough for them to order a response.

The reality is that Turkey has become more aggressive towards Syria since a Turkish F-4 was brought down by the Syrian troops on  June 22. Turkish response came fast. Their armed forces deployed launchers and anti areal batteries missiles against Syria. Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan also said that they will “regard… as a threat” any type of military element that gets close to the frontier.

Officially, Turkey does not want confrontation with Syria, but the reality is that they are putting pressure on others, such as the United States, to stop the Syrian conflict. Turkey has gone from friendship to criticism. Now they support the Syrian National Council and the Free Syrian Army. They also asked for the creation of intermediate zones and humanitarian corridors in the border area.

Meanwhile, NATO has insisted that it is necessary to find a political solution, but has approved the steps that Turkey is following in order to defend their land and population.

In the other side, Rusia says that the felled Turkish airship on June 22 was flying in Syrian air space. Moscow assures the public that they have evidence that can prove it. Turkey has not taken long to defend themselves and has made a response that denies the information that accuses Turkey of flying in Syria’s air space.

The Syrian Minister of Information has stated that the armed forces shot down the plane by mistake because they thought that it was an Israeli craft. As the Minister explained, most of the Turkish and Israelis aircrafts are made by the United States. This is what confused the Syrian forces, and made them think that it was an Israeli plane.

In the meantime, the Syrian Civil War, which according to United Nations has caused more than 10,000 victims, keeps on going. A prominent Syrian Al Assad opposition, Fawaaz al Tello, has made a call to the United States asking for help. He is demanding weapons for the rebels, for fighting the Al Assad regime. The Free Syrian Army has expressed that they need weapons such as rocket launchers in order to destroy the tanks and army helicopters from the Syrian Army.

The United States does not seem to be convinced to give weapons to the Syrians because most of the rebels are Islamist, so there is a level of suspicion surrounding it. What it seems clear is that all of the steps need to be given careful consideration because the conflict could explode at any moment.

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United Nations Peace Envoy, Kofi Annan, has decided to hold an international conference regarding the ever-growing war in Syria, which has left several killed and severely injured. The meeting will take place in Geneva this coming Saturday, but cause for concern is arising, as the United States is having mixed emotions about being a part of the conference.

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton has confirmed that despite the United State’s lukewarm feelings about the conference, it will be in attendance, in addition to representatives from various countries including Russia, China, Britain, France, Turkey, and others from European Union, as well as the Arab League.

According to Annan, the purpose of the meeting, “is to forge a consensus on the terms for a political solution among international players with stakes and influence in the Syrian conflict over terms for a political solution. The U.N. envoy believes that the best hope of pressing the combatants on the ground to observe his peace plan to which they signed up in April but have not implemented, is for the foreign powers on whose support they variously depend to agree on terms.”

And the main problem that needs to be addressed this coming Saturday, is the conflict in different approaches and decisions that Russia and the United States both want to make. One of the countries that has yet to announce its appearance is Iran, which is a key factor in resolving conflict. “I have made it quite clear that I believe Iran should be part of the solution,” Annan said in Geneva last Friday. “If we continue the way we are going and competing with each other, it could lead to destructive competition and everyone will pay the price.”

The reason for both Iran and Saudia Arabia being excluded from the conference is based on the Obama Administration not wanting them there. According to Tony Karan, reporter for Time World, “The Obama Administration cited Iran’s role in backing up Syria’s bloody crackdown to declare Tehran’s involvement a “red line” for participating in the Geneva talks, and Annan presumably left out Saudi Arabia as a compensatory gesture to Russia which insists that those countries arming and funding Syria’s rebels share major responsibility for escalating the conflict.

A state department official told reporters last week that “If Kofi Annan can get the proposed participants to agree on such a plan for political transition then there will be a meeting, but that’s what we need to find out before we go to any meeting. There’s no point in going just for the sake of it.”

Image Courtesy of  United Nations

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Several houses and apartments of suspected protest leaders were searched by Russian authorities on 11 June 2012. The searches came shortly after Putin and his party pushed an anti-protesting law through the Duma that increases the protesting fines 150 fold.

The apartments that were searched were those of Alexei Navalny, Sergei Udaltsov, Ilya Yashin, and Ksenia Sobchak; the homes of Udaltsov’s parents and Navalny’s parernts and in-laws were also searched. Sobchak is a Russian television personality whose father was also a mentor of Putin’s. The Russian police have also noted that they plan to search former political activist Bori Nemtsov as well.

The searches lasted for as long as twelve hours and the investigators seized cell phones, computers, and tablets.

Udaltsov claims, “the authorities are in a panic…they are trying to conduct primitive, repressive actions, but I am sure they’ll only achieve the opposite effect. These sorts of searches annoy and outrage people, and people in even greater numbers take to the streets.”

US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States is “deeply concerned by the apparent harassment of Russian political opposition figures on the eve of the planned demonstrations on June 12.”

After the search the protest leaders were called in for questioning on Tuesday, 12 June 2012 at 11 AM, one hour before protests began in Pushkin Square. Many worried that if the protest leaders were not released in time for the protest, a clash between police and protesters would ensue. The protest was planned and approved by authorities for 12 June which is the national holiday, Russia Day, celebrating the day in 1990 when Russian lawmakers declared independence from the Soviet Union and gave power to Russian authorities over the Soviets.

Udaltsov ignored his summons to be questioned and led the protesters in chanting “Russia will be free.” The protests saw around 65,000 people, much greater than the original 18,000 estimated by the Russian authorities, meaning the police presence was small in comparison. Most of the protesters are white collar professionals who want more say in politics and to avoid economic stagnation according to Gulf News.

Some of the protesters explained that they were not worried about the new anti-protesting law that was passed the previous Friday after Putin signed it into law. One woman, Nina Lobachyova, 73, stated, “I am not afraid I will be fined. I am not going to fight or scream, why would they fine me? And if they do, I won’t pay, I’ll go to jail and be considered a political prisoner.”

Image Courtesy of  Nickolay Vinokurov / Shutterstock.com

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The lower house of the Russian parliament passed a controversial anti-protesting bill Tuesday, June 5th, with a final vote of 241 to 147. The bill will raise unsanctioned public gathering fines 150-fold, from 2,000 rubles to 300,000 rubles ($9000) for citizens and from 5,000 rubles ($1500) to 600,000 rubles ($18000) for government officials. These fine punishments are harsher than even the ones citizens can receive for the storage of nuclear materials in Russia.

Some protesters have attempted to avoid protesting fines in the past by not bringing signs, and instead silently marching in mass numbers. However, the bill also accounts for this possibility and includes punishments for these kinds of protests. Many worry that this bill violates the constitutional right to assembly.

The bill was edited after criticism that it was far too restrictive. Parts of the bill that were even more controversial were removed, including fines for individuals who spread the word about protests and rallies on the internet.

The bill was created after massive protests of more than one hundred thousand people protested opposing Putin’s 12-year rule. Putin’s United Russia party holds the majority in the upper and lower houses of the Russian parliament, and although opposition parties did their best to halt the bill with a slew of amendments, the United Russian party voted down all of them. Putin claims the bill is necessary for the Russian people and claimed, “we must shield our people from radical action.”

Members of the opposition are unsatisfied with this explanation. Sergei Mironov, the leader of Fair Russia opposition faction, claimed the bill will “spit in the face of the Russian people… this odious bill is an attempt to scare the people and shut their mouth.” Another member of the Fair Russia party, Gennady Gudkov warned, “in the past, tightening the screws in Russia has only caused bloodshed. This is a sure path to a civil war.” A member of the Communist Party, Anatoly Lokot argued, “instead of a dialogue you are offering a big stick.”

Even groups who normally support the Kremlin and vote with United Russia were unhappy. The Liberal-Democratic party voted against the bill and also tried to delay it with amendments.

The bill has ignited even more protests outside the State Duma building in recent days. At least twenty opposition activists, including the leader of the liberal Yabloko party, were detained on the Tuesday the bill was passed in the lower house.

Some young professionals who have regularly attended the protests have lost their jobs. One protester, Alisa Obraztsova, a 24-year-old lawyer, stated, “they thought they would discourage the protests by arresting people like me, who had never before been detained, but they only poured fuel on the fire.”

The bill passed in the upper house on Wednesday, June 6th, with only one voting against the bill and one abstaining. Now only Putin’s signature is necessary to sign it into law. The government wants the bill to be signed before a planned anti-government rally the week of June 11th.

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After the drama that came out of Poland and Greece’s opening day match, Russia and the Czech Republic had a lot to measure up to in their first match of Euro 2012. Russia was able to come out on top with a 4-1 thrashing of the Czech Republic, which took them to the top of the group standings after the first day of play in the tournament and sent Czech down to the very bottom.

With rain coming down on the players at the Stadion Miejski, both teams started the game off very lively and positive. The Czech Republic held possession throughout the beginning of the first half, while Russia threw all their effort into set pieces and their counterattack.

It did not take too long for Russia to finally capitalize on the attack. Konstantin Zyryanov crossed the ball into the box in the 15^th minute, which Aleksandr Kerzhakov headed directly into the far post. This then went straight to Alan Dzagoev, who cleaned up the rebound that bounced right to him in front of the Czech Republic goal and gave Russia the 1-0 lead.

Nine minutes later, Russia came again on the counterattack to get their second goal. After Czech player Jaroslav Plasil lost possession in the midfield, Andrei Arshavin placed a perfect pass onto the boot of Roman Shirokov, who easily chipped the ball over the hesitant Czech goalkeeper into the back of the net to increase the score 2-0.

Russia’s deadly counterattack continued to break down the shaky Czech defense throughout the end of the first half; these attacks began with the talented Arshavin, who always seemed to be in control of the situation. However, many of these chances ended at the feet of Kerzhakov, who seemed unable to finish plays the entire match.

The Czech Republic began to show signs of life at the end of the first half; but, just like their opponent, they were unable to capitalize on their chances. This offensive mindset continued for the Czech Republic into the second half, where their efforts finally showed some reward in a goal scored by Vaclav Pilar. Pilar received a beautiful pass from Plasil, and then managed to get around Russian goalkeeper Vyacheslav Malafeev to put the ball into the practically empty net. With the score only 2-1, it seemed as though the game was not going to end as it was expected to.

The goal from Pilar seemed to be a game changer, since the following several minutes played after the goal made Russia appear a very average team. The Czech Republic found their purpose, while the Russians tried to regain their footing.

With Czech beginning to throw almost every man behind the ball on the attack to get the equalizer, Russia was left with even more chances on the counter. However, Kerzhakov broke down his own team’s offense by sending his shots too wide or directly into the goalkeeper’s hands.

Kerzhakov was finally substituted in the minute 73 for Roman Pavlyuchenko, who Russian manager Dick Advocaat hoped would be able to help finish at least one of the many counter attempts that his team kept having. Six minutes later, Pavlyuchenko fed a beautiful pass to Dzagoev, who shot the ball past Petr Cech for his second goal of the night and gave Russia the 3-1 lead. Three minutes later, on another counter, Pavlyuchenko managed his way around four Czech defenders. He shot from 15 yards away, which got by the Czech goalkeeper to increase the lead to the final score of 4-1.

The more times the Czech’s pushed on the offensive, the more opportunities Russia had to capitalize on their deadly counterattack. This somewhat comfortable win brought Russia to the top of the group standings and sent the Czech Republic to the bottom. With the outcomes of the match between Poland and Greece, every team has a chance of surviving the group stages and making it to the quarterfinals.

Russia is set to play against Poland next Tuesday, while the Czech Republic ready to face Greece that same day.

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First of a four part feature as we look at the top young players who will grace the eight stadiums in Poland and Ukraine this summer, some will make the final grade for their countries this year but some may not even make the final squads, going to show the growing competition for places in 23-man squads is ever increasing. First up, Group A, consisting of hosts Poland, 2004 winners Greece, Russia and Czech Republic.

Wojciech Szczesny (Arsenal & Poland)

Ok, so most of you know who Szczesny is, he’s become Arsenal’s No.1 over the past 18 months, and has become one of the top goalkeepers in the Premier League. Considering his age, it’s clear to see that Szczesny will be a star for the long-term future, but he’s included in our feature because it will be his first appearance at a major international tournament.

His shot-stopping abilities have kept Arsenal in many games and have saved them many points over the course of the season, and his relaxed personality has even endeared him to fans of other clubs.

Poland face an uphill task to qualify from their group, but not an impossible one. The Czech’s have fallen from grace over time, Russia are unpredictable and Greece do not have much to offer if the World Cup is anything to go by. But if Poland are to qualify from Group A, Szczesny will have a big hand (or two) in whether they do or they don’t.

Robert Lewandowski (Borussia Dortmund & Poland)

At the other end of the pitch, there is a rapidly developing striker who could cause a stir in Europe this summer. Despite being 23, Lewandowski has been around for a few years now and first came to knowledge of the top European teams when at Lech Poznan, scoring 32 goals in 58 games, which was enough for Borussia Dortmund to snap the Pole up in 2010. Since then he’s become a proven goalscorer in the Bundesliga, with 27 goals in just over 60 appearances for Dortmund.

On the international scene, Lewandowski has also impressed, making his Poland debut at just 19 and scoring 13 goals for his country. It is almost certain Lewandowski will lead the line for Poland this summer, and if Szczesny can do the business at one end, Robert could be the man to lead Poland into the knockouts.

Kyriakos Papadopoulos (Schalke 04 & Greece)

It is depressing to think Papadopoulos is younger than me, yet almost certain to play at the European Championships this summer. The defender has impressed many around Europe in the last few years, and whilst at Schalke the 6 foot centre-back has been linked with plenty of top clubs around the continent. He’d only made 12 appearances for Olympiakos when the German side took him on, but Papadopoulos has put in several classy performances for Schalke recently and made his international debut last year.

Despite just seven international caps, Papadopoulos is one of the highest rated defenders in Europe and I’m almost certain he’ll travel to Poland/Ukraine this summer, perhaps his performances will finally guarantee him that move to a bigger club.

Alan Dzagoev (CSKA Moscow & Russia)

Alan Dzagoev is only 21, yet it seems like we’ve heard his name thrown around as a top talent for years. He’s already made over 100 appearances for CSKA Moscow, and wasn’t even 18 when named the best young player of the year in Russia’s top league in 2008. The creative midfielder has been linked with Man United, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Barcelona and almost every other top club in Europe, but he has remained loyal to Moscow for now.

With 18 caps and four goals for Russia, Dzagoev is improving all the time and will no doubt be the cog in Russia’s midfield this summer, with plenty of creativity around him, it could be another successful Euro’s for the Russian side in 2012.

Tomas Necid (CSKA Moscow & Czech Republic)

They must be breeding them well in Moscow, as our final player to watch from Group A also plays for CSKA. Tomas Necid may not be as well known as Dzagoev, but his impact in Russia is just as well-known. The 22-year old started at Slavia Prague and impressed enough for CSKA to buy him in 2009. He has not been prolific in Russia, but 19 goals in 68 games is steady progress for someone who isn’t guaranteed a regular starting place.

He’s got seven in 25 for Czech Republic but has yet to participate in a major tournament, but with Czech Republic struggling for prolific strikers, it would not surprise us to see Necid heavily involved this summer and could be the man to fire his nation to better things in 2012.

Image Courtesy of   Andrey Yurlov / Shutterstock.com

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Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers adopted the 2012 plan of immediate measures concerning the country’s integration to the European Union. The document deals with internal reform issues (the likes of gas transporting system modernization, institutional reform in Ukraine, and hosting EURO 2012), as well as questions of deepening Ukraine-EU ties: visa liberalization, cooperation with EU police and justice offices, expanding trade cooperation, etc.

Besides the listed domestic reforms, the document stipulates measures to enhance regional development of the country, restructuring of the national gas managing company Naftogaz, as well as preparations to the Association Agreement implementation.

Ukraine also plans to enhance cooperation with the EU in the areas of nuclear safety, research and technology, defense, space exploration. Additionally, the new document sets the agenda for creating the common airspace with the EU. According to the plan, Ukraine intends to join the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity.

Ukraine and the EU share a 1,391 kilometer long border and have established close cooperation in a number of areas. Ukraine is EU’s strategic gas transit partner. Its gas transporting system services 70% of the Russian gas export to Europe. The EU is one of Ukraine’s key trade partners with the trade volume in 2011 constituting USD 44 billion and demonstrating a 36% growth.

European integration has been a long-term foreign policy goal for Ukraine. The country began negotiations with the EU in 1999. Various officials of the EU member states, including Czech Republic, Finland, and Lithuania, backed Ukraine’s European ambition.
By 2007 the sides agreed to eventually sign the Association Agreement. After 21 rounds of negotiations over the Association Agreement, Ukraine and the EU finalized the negotiating process on December 19, 2011.

The Association Agreement will regulate political cooperation of the partners, as well as introduce the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the EU. Initialing of the political and, partly, economical sections of the document took place in Brussels on March 30, 2012.

Currently the sides are working on the technical aspects of the document preparation for signing and further ratification. Meanwhile, the President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych stated that Ukraine perceived the Association Agreement as comprehensive program of reforms.

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Due to the contracts signed by Yulia Tymoshenko in 2009, Ukraine will be overpaying from 3 to 5 billion USD for gas annually up to the year 2019.

On April 10 a press conference of Ukrainian officials was held at the premises of NCI European Parliament in Brussels, with the participation of European journalists, experts and community leaders. The topic of the press conference is “Why is Y. Tymoshenko still in jail?”

These results have already been reported to the Ukrainian Parliament’s deputies on March 20, 2012. After hearing the report, 266 people’s deputies out of 450 agreed with the Commission’s arguments. These are the results of the work of the parliamentary Provisional Investigatory Commission.

The Provisional Investigatory Commission has been working for the period from March 2011 to March 20, 2012 in accordance with the following principles:

а) The Commission’s conclusions were made solely on the basis of documents received through official channels;

b) The Commission’s work was carried out with the participation of the representatives of the governmental bodies as well as the opposition in an open mode;

The results of the Commission’s work had shown that during the negotiations and signing of the gas contracts the Prime Minister Tymoshenko violated the following rules:

а) concealed from the public and the authorities the facts of the conflict of interests and dependence on Russia – namely, the debt of her private companies to the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation in amount of 405 million US dollars and the criminal case on a charge of bribery;

b) held secret negotiations with the Prime Minister of Russia, in the result of which she agreed to the signing of unfair contracts that violated the provisions of the previous international agreements;

c) knowing that the government of Ukraine had refused to approve the Directives on signing of the contracts, approved them personally, though, only the Cabinet of Ministers, as the collegial body, has the right for such approval;

d) put pressure on the head of the company and made him sign the contracts, threatening him with the dismissal.

In accordance with the comparative analysis of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and other European countries it was proved that 11 EU member states have articles providing the punishment under the criminal law for such crimes.

Image Courtesy of    Telekhovskyi / Shutterstock.com

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Vladimir Putin, former agent of the KGB (Committee for State Security) and candidate for a third presidential mandate, tries by all means to hide his personal life. In 1999, Putin took office as acting president of the Euro-Asian country after the resignation of Boris Yeltsin. He won the elections in 2000 and was re-elected four years later.

After the end of his second mandate in 2008, the prime minister of that time, Dmitry Medvedev, was elected his successor, and only a day after, Putin took the post of the new prime minister. Paradoxically, all the political power was in his hands again. This provoked the discontent of the Russian nation to some extent.

People are well-acquainted with Putin, but his personal life is a mystery, even for his compatriots. His wife, Lyudmila Putina, hardly ever attends official public events. Putin has been in power for more than ten years, but the Russian community does not know what his daughters look like. There are contradictory speculations about where they live. In 2010, there was a rumor that his youngest heir was to marry her boyfriend, son of a retired North Korean admiral. However, this news was denied by both sides.

Putin is almost never asked questions concerning his private life. For the Russian media, it is a subject of taboo. The reason may lie in the closure of a public newspaper in 2008, after they published an article that claimed Putin had left his wife and married a 24 year-old Olympic gymnast named Alina Kabaeva, who was a deputy and a member of his party at that time.

In the totalitarian past of Russia, it was easy for politicians to stop the spread of rumors, whether correct or incorrect. However, it becomes more tricky in todays digital age. Millions of blogs and web pages post stories about Putin and his family which are, in many cases, completely made up. Last year, one rumor stated that Putin spent his life in a monastery. Of course, the Russian Orthodox Church called these speculations “nonsense”, and the spokesman of the prime minister at that time declined to comment.

Pressed by the global media society and the scandalous gossip concerning himself, Putin revealed that his daughters lead an ordinary life. However, the the Russian nation wants to know where they are. Maybe in his next mandate, he will reveal this secret. In 2010, it was said that Putin and his wife were about to divorce, but they appeared on a talk show together. However, Lyudmila was not wearing her wedding ring. That made the newspapers much fiercer in their exaggeration about the marital drama of the Putins.

American and European journalists have the freedom to delve into the personal life of their political leaders, but in Russia, authorities are protected by the law. That is why Putin will always remain an enigma for the Russian nation and the world.

Image Courtesy of  Degtyaryov Andrey Leonidovich / Shutterstock.com

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This coming Sunday is the presidential election in Russia, and Vladimir Putin is sure he is going to win. But who is Vladimir Putin? And why is he so sure to pull a win? Despite allegations of Putin’s political party’s widespread official fraud, the latest surveys show that Putin will have the vote of approximately 60% of voters.

Putin as a Russian politician served as president of Russia from 2000 to 2008 and is currently the Prime Minister of Russia. He also has a background serving in the KGB for sixteen years. Based on a law change, Russia’s running presidential term has been increased from four to six years. The current President, Dmitry Medvedev, has decided not to run for re-election.

There is much controversy and protesting going on against Putin coming back into power as President. Putin has maintained a very strong criticism of the United States yet contradictorily has stated that, “President Barack Obama’s policies of ensuring ties with Russia,” will “successfully negotiate Russia’s access into the World Trade Organization.”

Regardless of the massive protests against Putin, he has clearly stated that he wants to help Russia regain social and economic stability.

However, Putin’s certainty in his unquestioned win is not necessarily a reflection of reality. In Moscow, thousands have been protesting against re-electing Putin. This has been the most populated show of outrage and anger since the Soviet Union collapsed, nearly twenty years ago. Despite the massive protests, he is staying confident that he will pull through and gain his victory and has clearly stated that he wants to help Russia regain social and economic stability.

If elected, Putin will be eligible to serve twelve more years as the President of Russia. Even though he has not been elected as President yet, Putin is already talking about running for re-election in 2018. If he wins both the 2012 and 2018 elections, he would have served almost a quarter of a century, which is longer than any other individual in Russia’s history other than Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

As Putin gets closer to becoming the Russian President once more, the Syrian government is crumbling. President Obama disclosed a statement that Syrian’s President, Bashar al-Assad’s “days are numbered.” Meanwhile, Obama is working hard to speed up the process of Syria becoming a dictatorship. Russia is currently blocking UN action in helping this happen.

The biggest question in the current political climate revolve around the long-term impact of Russia with a Putin-led government. Both in terms of the American-Russian relations and the repercussions of political complications on Russia’s chances of becoming a part of the WTO.

The Russian Presidential Election will take place this Sunday, March 4. Stay tuned in to see if Putin will be the President of Russia for the newly extended term of six years.

Image Courtesy of   Vasily Smirnov / Shutterstock.com

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Srdja Trifkovic, has said that the US and Russia must work together to fight aggression in the world, despite the recent unveiling of the US’ new Defense Strategy.

Trifkovic said: “The Obama Administration’s “Defense Strategic Guidance” (DSG) was unveiled on January 5 as part of the broader programmatic document, Sustaining US Global Leadership: Priorities for 21st Century Defense. Presenting the DSG, President Obama spoke of “enduring national interests” in maintaining the unparalleled U.S. military superiority, “ready for the full range of contingencies and threats” amidst “a complex and growing array of security challenges across the globe.”

“The DSG further asserted that in the decades ahead it will be the task of the United States to “confront and defeat aggression anywhere in the world.” The ideological framework behind the concept was evident in Obama’s State of the Union address three weeks later, when he repeated Madeleine Albrigtht’s irritating dictum that “America remains the one indispensable nation in world affairs.”

“As long as I am President,” he added sternly, “I intend to keep it that way.” This is some light years away from candidate Obama bewailing “the consequences of a foreign policy based on a flawed ideology, and a belief that tough talk can replace real strength and vision.”

“The implications of the DSG for Russia’s strategic planners are clear: the rhetoric in Washington may vary from one administration to another, but the substance is constant. Obama made no attempt to support his claim that the security threats to America are growing, or to provide his own definition of “enduring national interest,” because he sees the entire world as a legitimate sphere of interest of the United States.

The DSG is intrinsically a challenge to Russia and other powers outside the U.S. orbit, and that challenge may only become more acute if Mitt Romney wins in November. A sober reassessment of the “reset” will be needed soon after V.V. Putin’s expected return to the helm of the Russian Federation. U.S.-Russian relations over the past two decades reveal a remarkable role reversal.

The Soviet Union came into being as a revolutionary state that challenged any given status quo in principle, starting with the Comintern and ending three generations later with Afghanistan. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, however, Russia has been trying to define her policies in terms of traditional national interests: stable domestic institutions, secure borders, friendly neighbors.

The old Soviet dual-track policy of having “normal” relations with America, on the one hand, while seeking to subvert her, on the other, gave way to sometimes naive attempts to forge a “partnership” with Washington.

“By contrast, the early 1990′s witnessed America’s strident attempt to assert her status as the only global “hyperpower.” This ambition was inimical to post-Soviet stabilization. Washington refused to accept that Russia has any legitimate interests in her near-abroad, while reserving the right to meddle in her internal affairs. In essence, America adopted her own dual-track approach.

“Contemporary U.S. strategic doctrine is reminiscent of an old blueprint for Soviet policy: the Brezhnev Doctrine. It was defined by its author as the principle that the sovereignty of a socialist country is limited by the will of the Kremlin: “The norms of law cannot be interpreted narrowly, formally, in isolation from the general context…”

The key difference between Brezhnev and the leaders of modern America is the limited scope of the Soviet leader’s self-awarded outreach. His doctrine applied only to the “socialist community,” as opposed to the unlimited scope of meeting “security challenges across the globe” by the “indispensable country.” No “interests of world socialism” could beat “universal human rights” when it came to determining where and when to intervene.

The “socialist community” led by Moscow stopped on the Elbe. It was replaced by the “International Community,” led by Washington, which stops nowhere. ”Under President Obama, this remains the self-referential framework for the policy of permanent global interventionism.

Sooner or later, however, U.S. foreign policy will collide with reality-Iraq and Afghanistan appear not to have been sufficient wake-up calls-and Washington, shorn of its ideological blinkers, will finally embrace the foreign policy imperative of the 21st century: Solidarity and strategic cooperation between the United States, Europe and Russia on the basis of their shared moral, intellectual and cultural foundations, as they face similar challenges in the years to come.”

Srdja Trifkovic is Foreign Affairs Editor of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, and Executive Director of The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies

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Oscar Aubert, political scientist and expert on West Europe, Russia and CIS, has stated that Ukraine and Russia are in a good place to further bilateral ties.

Aubert said: “Russia and the Ukraine have a long shared history. Russia sees Ukraine as part of its own identity. But Russia’s political elite has no wish to restore the USSR, and it clearly understands that this would be impossible. However, the Ukraine remains the elephant in the room. Its closest neighbour and transit to mainland Europe, the Ukraine plays a major strategic role in Russia’s role in and relations with the rest of Europe.

“Meanwhile, the defining objective of Ukraine since the collapse of the Soviet Union has been to adopt a truly independent course from Russia and ‘return to European civilization’, whilst Russian interests in Ukraine remain manifold.

“In 2009 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declared that for Russia, Ukrainians since the dawn of time have been and remain ‘not only neighbours, but a brotherly people’. Therefore he regarded it as an obligation on Ukraine’s part to maintain ‘tight economic cooperation’ and ‘solidly kindred, humanitarian ties’ with Russia.

“In more practical terms, Russia has not managed to construct a single coherent conception of how to bring its interests to bear on the reality that Russia and Ukraine are now two sovereign states.

“In a recent Chatham House paper, Alexander Bogomolov and Oleksandr Lytvynenko argue that for Russia, “maintaining influence over Ukraine is more than a foreign policy priority.

“Russia’s socio-economic model limits its capacity to act as a pole of attraction for Ukraine. As a result, Russia relies on its national myths to devise narratives and projects intended to bind Ukraine in a ‘common future’ with Russia and other post-Soviet states. These narratives are translated into influence in Ukraine through channels such as the Russian Orthodox Church, the mass media, formal and informal business networks, and non-governmental organisations.

“Russia’s soft power project with regard to Ukraine emphasises cultural and linguistic boundaries over civic identities.” ”This project they speak of underlines the importance of the Ukraine to Russia. Late year Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Nikolai Azarov in Novo-Ogaryovo to discuss the need to develop the investment component in trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Ukraine.

“The return of Vladimir Putin as President will be positive in securing closer ties between the two great nations, with Mr. Putin keen to target energy as a key component of any future agreement. Mr Azarov has said himself that Kiev is ready to seek compromise and “win-win solutions” in the gas issue.” Oscar Aubert is a sociologist, political scientist, an expert for West Europe, Russia and CIS

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Srdja Trifkovic, Foreign Affairs Editor of Chronicles and Executive Director of  The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies, in a recent article, has claimed that Western media reporting on Russia is “bias” and “stereotypical”, and has said that the “West” should put more trust in Russia.

Trifkovic said: “Most Western media professionals tend to subscribe, consciously or not, to a neo-liberal world outlook in general and to the tenets of multiculturalism in particular. The result is notable media favouritism of allegedly disadvantaged, non-Western, traditionally non-Christian societies.

“Behind the veneer of all-embracing diversity, however, we find a carefully calibrated scale of acceptance or rejection of “the Other” depending on the cultural and political preferences of the media professionals themselves. The result is moral and intellectual relativism, which enables the media elite to pick and choose, which group or nation will be approved for the status of sympathy or victimhood, and which will be denied the benefit of the doubt.

“The image of Russia in the Western media indicates that Russia has been relegated to the latter category.”It sounds paradoxical,” said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, referring to the Western attitude toward Russia, “but there was more mutual trust and respect during the Cold War.” His correct hint is that the Western opinion-makers detest post-Soviet Russia – the state that no longer is subservient, as it had been in the 1990s, but reviving its statehood and identity – more than the Cold War leaders of the West detested the USSR.

“The problem of bias, stereotypical reporting and quasi-analysis is by no means new. The collapse of Russia’s institutions and social infrastructure under Yeltsin was accompanied by Western approval of the key engineers of the disaster (Anatoly Chubais, Yegor Gaidar, Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Ryzhkov…). Their small political factions, lionized by the Western media, were duly supported by the quasi-NGO network funded in part by the Western taxpayers.

“Various anti-Russian stereotypes notably prevailed over common sense and journalistic integrity at the time of Mikhael Saakashvili’s attack on South Ossetia in August 2008, with the mainstream media pack attacking Russia’s “aggression” and criticizing Western “passivity.”

“While never missing an opportunity to hector Russia on democracy and criticize her human rights record, the Western media have been and still are notably silent on the discriminatory treatment of large Russian minorities in some former Soviet republics.

“In other words, the verdict depends on an actors’ status in the ideological pecking order of the media elite itself, not on his words and actions as such – in line with the Leninist dictum that the moral value of any act by anyone is determined by that act’s contribution to the march of history. V.V. Putin’s high approval rating is thus cited as further “evidence” of his manipulative populism and “proof” that democracy remains underdeveloped in Russia.

“The similarity of reactions to Russia on the right and left ends of the Western media spectrum reflects the perception that Russia belongs to a tradition that is unworthy of multiculturalist tolerance.

The problem stems not from any misunderstanding of the Russian mindset and tradition, but, on the contrary, from an accurate assessment by the media class that Russia as such is an obstacle to the realization of their political, economic, and ideological preferences in the modern world. The sin of the Russians, in the eyes of the Western media elite, is that they are still defined by their ethnic, cultural and religious identity.

“The problem exists. For it to be solved we need a paradigm shift in the West that would pave the way for a “Northern Alliance” of Russia, Western Europe and North America, as all three face similar geopolitical and demographic threats in the decades ahead. We need to rediscover and cherish the commonalities of the spiritual traditions, history and culture of the extended European family, from Anchorage via Berlin to Vladivostok.”

Srdja Trifkovic is Foreign Affairs Editor of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture, and Executive Director of The Lord Byron Foundation for Balkan Studies.

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As Russia’s Gazprom admitted that it had cut gas supplies to Europe at the height of the current cold spell, Ukraine said it is ready to help Russia deliver the necessary volumes of gas to Europe and called for greater European cooperation to modernise its gas transport infrastructure and improve energy security for the EU.

Italy, Austria and France were reporting cuts of as much as 30 percent of Russian gas over the weekend. Analysts have said that Ukraine, which as a transit country accounts for more than 70 percent of Russian gas shipments to the EU, is as much a victim of Moscow as the rest of Europe.

Gazprom Deputy Chief Andrey Kruglov was reported to be conferring with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who has in the past both threatened and implemented cuts to Ukraine and the EU.

Ukraine’s Energy Minister Yuri Boiko was quoted by news agencies saying that shipments to Ukraine had fallen in recent days. Gazprom admitted this but claimed the reason was Russia’s enhanced need because of the cold. Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych meanwhile called on energy market participants to seek joint solutions for the future.

“We rely on our European partners, international financial institutions to implement the agreements on their participation in upgrading Ukraine’s gas transportation system,” the Ukrainian president said at the 48th Munich Security Conference on Friday.

He stressed that the situation showed the need for cooperation among all parties and respect for clear, transparent and fair rules of the game in the energy sector. There was a need to balance the interests of Ukraine as the main transit country, Russia as the main supplier, and the European Union as a consumer, President Yanukovych said.

In his speech at the Munich conference, the Ukrainian president also spoke of what he termed the one-sided conditions of the 2009 gas contract with Russia. In 2009, then Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, signed a multi-billion and multi-year dollar gas deal with Vladimir Putin’s Russia that is currently forcing Ukraine to pay more than $500 a cubic meter for Gazprom’s supply of gas, even though world market prices are around $400 per cubic meter.

Analysts in Washington are concerned that Russia may be using its Gazprom supplies to pressure Ukraine to submit to closer Soviet-style ties. They fear that Moscow may try and use its energy supplies and pricing to stop President Yanukovych from his announced aim of signing an Association Agreement with the EU and developing closer ties with Europe.

The recent trial and conviction of Opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, who was herself a one-time business partner of Russia in the natural gas sector, focussed on her signing of the high-priced 2009 deal with Gazprom without any Cabinet consultation when she was Prime Minister. It was that same deal which is now causing Ukraine to find itself in financial difficulty and a potential hostage of Moscow’s leverage.

 
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Ukraine has moved up 15 places in the World Press Freedom Index [http://en.rsf.org/press-freedom-index-2011-2012,1043.html ] published this week, reflecting an improved media landscape in the nation during what proved to be a year of critical world attention.

Ukraine climbed from 131 to 116 on the international table placing it well above many former Soviet republics such as Tajikistan at 122, Russia at 142, Kazakhstan 154, Uzbekistan 157 and Belarus 168out of the 178 countries surveyed globally. The World Press Freedom Index 2011/2012 was produced by Reporters Without Borders.

The boost to Ukraine’s ranking in 2011 reflects a more relaxed working and reporting environment for both domestic journalists and those who visited the country during a year of difficult long-running issues. The trial of Yulia Tymoshenko for abuse of office in committing the cabinet, without consultation, to very high gas prices with Russia in 2009 drew sustained critical reportage both domestically and internationally and the on-going gas dispute with Russia has also been featured.

“While we don’t agree with many foreign assessments of media freedom in our country the Government of Ukraine notes the substantial improvement in our global ranking from Reporters Without Borders,” a foreign ministry spokesman said.

“Last year showed that journalists in this country are free to cover the important issues whether favourable or unfavourable to the government.

“We invite those same journalists to also report the story of Ukraine’s economic improvements, our commitment to our European identity, and the progress toward an Association Agreement with the European Union,” the spokesman said.

A new Electoral Law, modelled on the Council of Europe’s recommendations and requirements, was recently approved by the Ukraine’s Parliament with the support of both the Government and the Opposition. This should set the scene for fair and democratic elections next October.

The EU has significant economic interests in the country, with considerable imports of natural gas that transit Ukraine, and trade valued at some EUR40 billion a year. In 2011 Ukraine’s GDP grew by 5.2 percent and inflation declined from nine percent to five percent.

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A recent poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Centre shows that despite protests ahead of the Russian presidential elections in March, Putin retains overwhelming popularity amongst the voters.

According to the quantitative study released in January, 52 percent of those polled claim that they would vote for Vladimir Putin if the elections were held tomorrow, with Ziuganov and Zhirinovsky lagging behind with the support of 11 percent and 9 percent of potential voters respectively.

Only 16 percent say that they would under no circumstance vote for Putin, and Putin is also rated as the most trustworthy of all Russian politicians, with his closest rival being the incumbent President Dimitry Medvedev.

It was also found that among those involved in the December protests, a fifth are as yet unsure of who they will vote for in the upcoming elections, whilst Yavlinsky and Prokhorov were each the preferred candidate for 17 percent of the protesters.

Valery Fedorov, the general director of VTsIOM, commented: “It is clear that there is no obvious alternative to Putin, even for those vehemently opposing his candidacy for President. The opposition is extremely heterogeneous and has little shared vision for the country’s future. This is reflected in the confusion of the Russian public.”

It was further found that the protestors felt secure about their financial well-being. A third regarded their standard of living as good or very good, and only 9 percent were dissatisfied with their current economic well-being. This echoes the general sentiment among the Russian population. Fedorov adds: “With the Russian economy registering year-on-year growth, Russia is weathering the financial crisis far better than its neighbors in Europe.

“The results show that despite the crisis in the Eurozone, 58 percent of Russians say they believe that their standard of living will improve in 2012. At the advent of the financial crisis in 2009, only 48 percent of Russians were optimistic about their future. The ten percent rise in optimism can be accredited to the stability of the Russian economy.”

The Presidential elections will be held on March 4, only a few months after the results of the general elections brought thousands of protesters onto the streets of Moscow. The protesters questioned the margin by which the ruling United Russia party won the elections and claimed that election rigging had taken place. United Russia continues to hold a majority in the State Duma.

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The Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade, comprised to date of more than 70 business associations, companies and agricultural groups, including  the National Association of Manufacturers and the American Farm Bureau Federation, welcomed the announcement made by the WTO’s Ministerial Conference in Geneva to formally invite Russia to become a member of the global rules-based body.

The Coalition’s task now is to work with the U.S. Congress and the Obama Administration to pass necessary legislation that makes Russia’s market concessions fully available to U.S. business and agriculture.

“Russia is the 11th largest economy in the world, yet it is still not bound by the international principles and standards of the WTO.  Today’s invitation brings Russia one step closer to abiding by and adhering to global rules.

We applaud the negotiators from the United States, Russia and other WTO members, without whose dedication and hard work this historic moment would not have been possible,” said Edward Verona, President and CEO of the U.S.-Russia Business Council (USRBC), the Washington, D.C.-based trade association that serves as Secretariat of the Coalition for U.S.-Russia Trade.

“The terms of Russia’s WTO accession agreement will provide businesses in the United States the opportunity to operate with greater transparency and predictability in the Russian market – but only once the U.S. Congress graduates Russia from the Jackson-Vanik amendment and extends Russia Permanent Normal Trade Relations (PNTR),” Verona added.

Russia’s WTO membership agreement stipulates that the Russian government must ratify the accession package by June 15, 2012.  Once the agreement is approved by Russia’s legislature and signed by the Russian President, the Russian government will notify the WTO of its approval, and 30 days later Russia will officially become a member of the WTO.

For now, the Obama Administration has invoked what is known as “non-application,” notifying the WTO that the United States cannot yet offer Russia immediate and unconditional free trade status, as WTO rules require.  Thus, Russia is not obligated to grant U.S. business and agriculture full rights to the wide range of concessions it made to become a WTO member.

Thus, while the achievement of a high-standards deal on Russia’s accession is cause for celebration, the U.S. business and agricultural communities realize their work is not done.

“We now need to help Congress understand that, without Russia PNTR, the U.S. private sector is going to miss out on growing export and investment opportunities in Russia that will create and sustain jobs here in the United States,” said Randi Levinas, Executive Director of the Coalition and Executive Vice President of the USRBC.

“The Jackson-Vanik amendment no longer provides us with leverage in our relationship with Russia.  It now stands only as an impediment for U.S. economic interests. We will be working hard in the coming months with the Congressional leadership, the committees of jurisdiction and the Administration so that U.S. interests can take full advantage of Russia’s accession in a timely fashion.

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Human Rights Watch has stated that the investigation led by Russian authorities into the murder of Gadzhimurad Kamalov must be timely, thorough, and bring the guilty party to justice.

The founder and publisher of Chernovik, Dagestan’s leading independent weekly newspaper, was murdered around midnight on Dec. 15, 2011, in Makhachkala, the capital city of Dagestan. Kamalov was working late that night and had left his office to attend to a visitor when a gunman wearing a mask fired 14 bullets at him. The gunman and the accomplices fled the scene in two separate cars, according to the police reports, and Kamalov died while on the way to the hospital.

In Russia, Dec. 15 is a day of commemoration for the journalists that were murdered because of the work they had done. “This is a tremendous blow for the independent press in Dagestan,” stated Tanya Lokshina, senior Russia researcher at Human Rights Watch. “There is hardly any doubt that Kamalov was killed because he was doing his job, in a region that is now known as Russia’s most unstable.”

Gadzhimurad Kamalov founded the weekly newspaper in 2003. He was the paper’s chief editor in 2005-2006 and remained as its publisher. Chernovik became increasingly popular and was known for its investigative reports, editorial independence, and its coverage of controversial topics like human rights abuses and corruption by government agencies. The journalists for the newspaper have been threatened and harassed repeatedly. Four journalists and Nadira Isaeva, the chief editor during that time, were even charged and prosecuted for extremism and slighting government officials. They were eventually acquitted by a court in Makhachkala in the summer of 2011.

In 2010, Isaeva had received the International Press Freedom Award by the Committee to Protect Jounalists. However, she left the newspaper last summer, after an anonymous online campaign targeted her. Isaeva believes that local security officials were behind it. In 2009, leaflets with death threats towards human rights activists, lawyers, and journalists, including Kamalov, appeared in the capital city of Dagestan. They were by unknown authors that wanted, “exterminat[ion of] bandits and vengeance for [killed] policemen.” Kamalov believed that the security services were the ones that wrote the leaflets.

The North Caucasus region of Russia is one of the most dangerous areas for journalists in the world. The Russian leadership has promised to stop the persecution of journalists and activists, but the attacks and murders still continue. The government body that is investigating Kamalov’s murder has said that one of their main theories is that he was killed because of the work he did for Chernovik. Human Rights Watch wants to make sure that Russian authorities do all they can to bring the criminals to justice. “It’s good that the official investigation recognizes that Kamalov could have been targeted because he did his job, but too many investigations into killings like these in the North Caucasus have led nowhere,” Lokshina said.

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Boris Gryzlov, a close ally of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, is stepping down from his post as speaker of the lower house of Russia’s parliament, their political party said on Wednesday. However, he will keep his executive position in Putin’s United Russia party.

Gryzlov resigned after fraud allegations came out during the parliamentary elections in early December. These allegations gave way to the biggest anti-government protests seen in twenty years. Gryzlov believes he achieved a lot of what he set out to do during his eight years in the Duma. He plans to continue leading the political party’s supreme council and stated that he is, “ready to accept a post determined by the president.”

The candidate that will be Gryzlov’s replacement will be nominated next Saturday. Tens of thousands of people protested against the results of the election on Saturday that brought Putin’s United Russia party to power again. There was an estimated 25,000 protesters in Moscow, the police said, but organizers said there were 40,000.

Whether the police are correct or the organizers, either number would qualify as the largest protest in the Russian capital in two decades. The protesters believe the election results were rigged and were not afraid to protest in freezing temperatures in other Russian cities as well.

They shouted, “Putin out!” Another protest is scheduled to occur on Christmas Eve, December 24, which will be three days after the new parliament holds its first session. After a day of protests, President Dmitry Medvedev said he wanted the allegations to be investigated. The statement on his Facebook page read, “I agree neither with the slogans nor the statements voiced at the protests.

Nevertheless, I have ordered checks into all the reports from polling stations, regarding the compliance with the election laws.” Many people criticized his post on Facebook. “It’s awful,” Elena Panina wrote. “Really. He was drunk when he wrote that, or he didn’t read what he wrote. … What slogans does our president disagree with? ‘We are for fair elections?’”

Some pro-government demonstrators came out on Monday, but their numbers were not as vast as the protesters that showed during the weekend. Mikhail Prokhorov, a Russian billionaire that owns the New Jersey Nets basketball team, announced on Monday that he will run for president of Russia next year.

There was some speculation as to whether he was going to run with the Kremlin’s tactic backing, to make people believe that there was a real contest for president, or whether he genuinely wants to defeat Putin.

Mark III Photonics / Shutterstock.com

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While most of Southeast Asia is experiencing economic growth and Westernization, one place remains a relic of a past political era responsible for the deaths of millions. The long shadow of Stalin manifests within history’s first and only patriarchal monarchy to enact the Communist Manifesto. Concentration camps dot the bleak landscape.

Ambitious highways remain empty of vehicles. Whole families are arrested, and hundreds of thousands toil in work camps as no other form of industry exists. Meanwhile, the entire country slowly starves to death. The world remains either unaware of such crimes against humanity, or is afraid of rousing North Korea’s powerful neighbor to the North, China.

No other country in the world has the same cult of personality as North Korea. Their leader, Kim Jong-il, is revered as nothing less than an omnipresent god. The Korean or ‘Forgotten War,’ of the early 1950s claimed 3 million lives and has never officially ended. The North, backed by the Communist powers of China and the USSR, fought the South, led by the Allied forces of the USA and Great Britain.

This was a ‘proxy’ war of opposing ideologies, a battleground for the world’s new superpowers to posture and display military might. North Korea has the fourth-largest standing army, and is the most militarized country in the world. A tense ceasefire remains to this day, and fire-fights occasionally burst along the 38^th parallel.

In 2009, Kim Jong-il launched missiles over Japan’s North Island, claiming he was testing new technology to launch satellites. North Korea fired upon a disputed island in 2010, sending 1,200 civilians scrambling to seek safety in bomb shelters. These are only recent provocations; there have been over thirty such incidents since the ceasefire of July 1953.

Under the rule of founding leader, Kim il-Sung, the country experienced a period of relative prosperity in the 1960s and 70s. The disintegration of a key ally, the Soviet Union, and agrarian mismanagement in the 1990s killed a million people, causing devastation and famine throughout the country. Accounts by escapees describe resorting to eating grass and boiling roots to survive.

This neglect of agricultural and commercial necessities are eerily similar to policies enacted by Stalin in the Ukraine during their massive Holodomor Genocide of the early 1930s. Collective farming and the arrest and murder of landowners led to the death of 8 million peasants as a result of the Marx-Engels manifesto.

Former leader Kim il-Sung wrote his thesis known as Juche,  a communist policy divergent from the Soviet style that is marked by an isolationist approach to all outside governments and strong North Korean nationalism. This ethos prohibits all contact with the outside world, thus very rarely is the voice of a North Korean heard.

The state-run media has no free press, and citizens are subject to ten-year work camp sentences if they are found to have tuned in to any broadcast outside the one and only state station. The few that escape and make it to the West tell of the most deplorable conditions imaginable.

Shin Dong-hyuk was born in a prison camp, tortured, and forced to watch the execution of his mother and brother after a failed escape attempt. He is now a human-rights activist, fighting for the liberation of his people. Refugees risk their life fleeing over the mountains north into China, and escape to South Korea is impossible.

A 160 mile long, 2.5 mile-wide fortified barrier keeps these two ethnically similar, yet politically opposed, countries apart. The only option is escaping into China, and eventually Mongolia where citizens can find refugee status. Many women become indentured servants or prostitutes.

China does not recognize North Koreans accordingly, and promptly return the captured back to North Korean authorities to face torture, starvation or execution. China’s actions have not gone unrecognized by the UN, which has condemned their policy.

Normally a very private dictatorship, conditions have become so dire that the regime allowed photographs of their children to be seen by the world due to a harsh winter and flooding of 2011. Analysts think this may be a last-ditch effort to garner money from the UN and South Korea, who have stopped their efforts after it was revealed that Kim Jung-il misappropriated such funds.

This October, UN undersecretary-general Valerie Amos claimed that 6 million North Koreans, particularly children, mothers and pregnant women, are at serious risk, and that wealthier countries need to put politics aside to provide aide.  ”This is about helping the people who are most in need.

It’s not about saying that this country has made a choice about spending its resources in one way rather than another. We don’t make those judgments in other countries, on humanitarian grounds. There’s no reason to begin to do it in,” Amos said, according to the AP.

Maxim Tupikov / Shutterstock.com

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An area most people would be unable to point out on a map, the narrow strip of land bordered by both the Black and Caspian seas has been a point of contention for centuries.

Strategically located and historically known as where Europe fades into Asia, this mountainous region is reminded of policies enacted by Communist leader Josef Stalin twenty-plus years after the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia (Stalin’s birthplace), declared independence from the Soviet yoke. But this region is not so easily divided.

There are more than three types of people here, with at least fifty different ethnic groups all trying to establish themselves.  With no Kremlin and powerful military to qualm nationalistic interests, tribal feuding emerges resulting in a multitude of regional conflict.

The Chechens, with their terrorist attacks in Moscow railways may be the most notorious of this lot, but are just one example of post Soviet problems presented in the 21^st century.

Societies that may be similar, but speak drastically different dialects crowd these narrow and ancient settlements, a region that harbors the most ancient forms of Christianity and churches. This small area has spent time being ruled by such superpowers as Persia, Turkey, Byzantium and Russia, but managed to keep their way of life alive against such odds.

Armenians have had a glorious history; only to have experienced such tragedy during their vast existence. A nation known to be passionate with the written language, their chronicles cover a range of history, and even translations of neighboring literature.

The holocaust of World War two even has ties to this enigmatic region. Hitler mentioned the forgotten Armenian genocide prior to his invasion of Poland in 1939. In the years between 1915-1918, 1.5 million Armenians would die from unnatural causes, and continue to suffer from the humiliation of denial.

By creating an ethnically Armenian exclave within the borders of Azerbaijan in 1923, Stalin caused conflict amongst both peoples claiming the area to be their own, creating internal strife that would in turn, weaken both nations of any potential cooperation against Moscow.  The plan worked and is still working nearly nine decades after it was initiated.

The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict of 1988-1994 was a result of borders created by Stalin to create disunity between the peoples of this region. The effects are still relevant today as both Turkey and Azerbaijan have a closed border policy resulting from Armenia’s victory in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.

The war ended in bitter peace and severed trade routes with the West. This currently strains Armenia economically, falling further behind her neighbors while oil-rich Azerbaijan bypasses  Armenia and routes their new pipeline from the Caspian, to Georgia, and out through the Black Sea.

War between Georgia and the territory of South Ossetia has been declared three times in the past two decades. The Ossetians are an ancient Indo-Iranian ethnic group that presently has both a north territory within Russian borders, and an adjacent southern province that is a continuing point of conflict with Georgia claiming ownership.

The first war was in 1991-1992 and would break-out again in 2004.

With the Georgian-Russian war over South Ossetia contained since 2008, the conflict lasted ten days and resulted in a cease-fire.  Presently, Russia and Venezuela are the only countries that recognize South Ossetia as a separate government from Georgia, who was receiving and implementing weapons provided by the USA and NATO.

With Ossetia backed militarily by Russia, comparisons can be made to the ideological cold-war conflicts in Southeast Asia. Poor host countries serving as the battleground for empires to show off weaponry.

The notorious Chechens still have animosity toward Moscow and are not afraid to hide it. After Stalin deported the entire Chechen population to Siberia or Kazakhstan, some returned home to the mountains and developed national identity once Communism fell. The Islamic Chechnyns committed jihad acts against their northern neighbor, and former ruler, Russia in recent history.

Numerous suicide bombs in and around Moscow, and the immensely tragic hostage situation at a North Ossetian elementary school in 2004 are just more examples of a region in strife.

The Armenian Genocide is a hotly debated subject to this day, as Turkey and the United States do not declare this loss of life due directly toward the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Many Armenians will agree on the contrary, and place the systematic slaughter off their people and culture on Turkish sabers and rifles.

Obama had addressed this issue during his campaigning, assuring the world that the tragedy would finally be recognized appropriately. The promise is left unfulfilled to this day, as the USA has a vested interested in Turkey’s strategic location, operating several air-bases in the most ‘western’ of Middle Eastern countries.

What can explain an area so small and isolated, yet, so full of war and conflict? The easy explanation is to blame communism as a failed social experiment, with Transcaucasia as a result of it. Or is it that diversity and multiculturalism doesn’t work? That when you have dozens of different peoples all vying for domination in a confined area, that such aspirations will turn violent toward your neighbor?

Either way, it is a tragic circumstance for a place that is used to being controlled by someone else.

Sergey Kamshylin / Shutterstock.com

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A homemade substitute for heroin called ‘krokodil’ is rotting Russian addicts to death, its uncontrolled availability causing alarm among rehabilitation centers in Russia. The drug appeared in 2002 in Siberia and the Russian Far East but heroin addicts across Russia first discovered how to make it four years ago. Its use has since spread with dangerous proportions.

Possession of the home-cooked substance is illegal in Russia and with the boost in drug control within the last couple of years, the national Federal Drug Control Service (FSKN) reportedly confiscated 65 million doses in the first three months of 2011 alone.

“As recently as five years ago, there were only one-off instances of catching this drug,” Victor Ivanov of the FSKN told Time Magazine. Since 2009, the amount has increased 23-fold.

The reason why krokodil is eating up junkies is the unimaginable mix of household items. The high comes from cooking off codeine from non-prescriptive painkillers and mixing it with gasoline, paint thinner, hydrochloric acid, iodine and red phosphorous — the latter is usually produced by scraping off the tip of matchsticks. The drug takes between 30 and 60 minutes to cook and once mixed, the caramel-colored thick substance is injected into the vein.

Unlike heroin, which may last several hours, this type of desomorphine can only sustain a high for about 60 to 90 minutes. Though, for serious addicts, the process, which often requires the user to continuously prepare and inject a new batch, is a cheap and easily obtainable alternative to heroin. The street price for heroin is estimated between £20-60 per unit while the key ingredient for the desomorphine, only costs £2 per pack — turning usage into a fast-growing epidemic.

The result is grim. An online search on ‘krokodil addiction’ reveals explicit images and videos of rotting skin, exposed bones and amputation. The acidity of the drug kills the tissue in the area where the addicts shoot up, aided by the risk of missing a vein or ‘skin popping’ (injecting a substance directly into the skin due to damaged veins) and an army of infections;  the user’s skin literally rots off the bones. Krokodil addicts will typically die within three years.

It is estimated that Russia currently has up to two million heroin users. This devastating situation has been linked to the explosion of poppy production in Afghanistan in the last decade, which the Russian government has angrily blamed on the U.S.-led war.

However, Russian authorities and other drug control agencies have in recent years made a great effort to crack down on illegal imports of opium and while the result has been a moderate success, the increased risk for traders caused the price of heroin to go up. Rehabilitation centers and addicts cited this as the main reason why krokodil use is spreading, especially across poorer areas.

According to an article by the Independent, 30,000 people are killed annually in Russia from heroin addiction, which accounts for a third of heroin related deaths worldwide. Over the last four years, krokodil is said to have addicted 100,000 people, adding to the worldwide statistics.

Victor Ivanov of FSKN spoke to the Independent about a visit to a drug-treatment centre in Western Siberia: “they told me that two years ago almost all of their drug users used heroin. Now, more than half of them are on desomorphine.”

The treatment of krokodil addiction is equally as terrifying as using it. A doctor at a treatment center in Tver explained to the Independent that desomorphine causes the strongest level of addiction, which is equally hard to cure.

“With heroin withdrawal, the main symptoms last for five to 10 days. After that there is still a big danger of relapse but the physical pain will be gone. With krokodil, the pain can last up to a month, and it’s unbearable. They have to be injected with extremely strong tranquilisers just to keep them from passing out from the pain,” said the doctor.

Krokodil addiction has so far expanded without preventive action from the state and the Russian rehabilitation system is equally left in the snow by the government. Financing relies heavily upon religious initiatives while the state only contributes a fragment. To make up for lost effort, it seems, Dmitry Medvedev has made calls for the closure of the websites that explain how to cook the destructive drug and that mandatory drug testing be introduced in schools, according to Time Magazine.

However, a ban on codeine or introduction of prescription-only for the tablets, which are currently an over-the-counter drug, has yet to move from aimless talk to action. Government officials say that restrictive measures take time, while anti-drug campaigners say pharmaceutical companies are pressuring for passivity.

Mr. Ivanov explained: “these tablets don’t cost much but the profit margins are high. Some pharmacies make up to 25 per cent of their profits from the sale of these tablets.”

This means although the pharmacy knows the purpose of the sale, they continue to supply the deadly addiction, without questioning — simply for profit.

“It’s not in the interests of the pharmaceutical companies [...] to stop this, so the government needs to use its power to regulate their sale,” adds Mr. Ivanov.

Until that happens, krokodil will be the horrific end of more drug addicts in Russia and while there has been no reported use outside the country, it is not improbable that addiction will drive junkies in other countries into the same pattern.

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On May 2, somewhere in Moscow Nikolai prepared his supper, and the menu included human liver, stew, and potatoes… This could be the beginning of the first chapter of a horror novel, but reality comes to surprise us from time to time.

In gory scenes reminiscent of the horror film The Silence of The Lambs, Russian officers tracked down a man after a trail of body parts were found scattered across the Russian capital. Police found their suspect in his Moscow home eating a human liver with potatoes before finding the remains of the organ in a stew.

Nicolai Sadrin, the suspected killer, allegedly knew his victim Ilia Egorov. Sadrin, who suffered from mental illness according to police, confessed that he killed the 40 year old Ilia Egorov. The police stated that parts of the body such as the head, arms and legs, were found in the Moskovou river, but also scattered in basements and in rubbish bins in western Moscow.

“When the police came to arrest the suspect, he was eating a human liver with potatoes,” a police spokeswoman for the Moscow’s western district said. According to her, the cause of the victim’s death was not clear. “Detectives established the identity of the dead body by taking fingerprints, and after that police tracked down the suspected offender through a circle of the deceased’s friends,” police spokesman Alexei Savalyev told Russian news agency Ria Novosti. In Sadrin’s home, police found the tools that he used to dissect the corpse as well as the remaining part of the liver.

It must be a cannibalism epidemic in Russia, otherwise I can’t explain the fact that in very recent years outbreaks of cannibalism have occurred.

June 2008 – Eight members of a cannibalistic Satanist group in Yaroslavl, were given jail sentences for stabbing four teenagers, 666 times, and eating them afterwards. Indictments were handed out to Alexei Chistyakov, Konstantin Baranov, Ksenia Kovaleva, Nikolai Ogolobyak, Alexander Voronov, Aleksei Soloviev, Sergey Karpenko and Anton Makovkin. Police said that the killers enjoyed watching their friends die a painful death. The case details are so shocking that the hearings are closed to the general public.

January 2009 – Maxim Golovatskikh and his friend florist Yury Mozhnov, both 20, are accused of drowning Karina Barduchian in a bath, then carving up her body and serving her meat with potatoes to the lodger Ekaterina Zinovyeva. The murder was so brutal that it caused the trial to halt after a juror fell ill looking at the pictures of the girl.

April 2009 – Two men, identified only as 28-year-old Timur G. and 23-year-old Marat G. killed and methodically ate their elder brother Rafis in the central Russian city of Perm. Police grew suspicious when the brothers reported Rafis missing but were vague in giving details of their brother.

November 2009 – Sergei Gavrilov killed his 55 year-old mother Lyubov after she refused to hand over her pension. He wanted to spend the money on a drinking and gambling binge. The unbelievable thing in this case is that the Russian cannibal had his prison sentence reduced by nine months after a court accepted that he resorted to cannibalism out of hunger rather than preference.

You can call it either sickness, or madness, or just the latest trend. Nevertheless, it gives you the creeps, don’t you think?

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Authorities are still struggle to find the source of the infected vegetables while more people are getting sick. German scientists remain baffled over the origin of the particular strain of E. Coli bacteria currently being registered because of its particularly vicious symptoms. Normally, young children and elderly people are most vulnerable to the bacteria but the recent outbreak has hit predominantly young adult females – and the scientists don’t know why.

A new report by Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) for University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf has determined that the bacteria is a completely new and extremely infectious strain of E. Coli with no previously recorded outbreaks. However, there is a 93% convergence between the current European bacteria and the one that caused severe diarrhea in the Central African Republic according to Berlingske Tidende, a Danish Daily.

The research also suggest that the strain is difficult to treat with antibiotics but the team behind the report are still working on tangible ways of effectively treat the victims and stop the spread of the bacteria. Meanwhile, doctors and researchers are forced to conduct basic scientific detective work, which according to the BBC amounts to “simply asking all the surviving victims what they ate and when they ate it, and them comparing notes to find a pattern.”

Seventeen people have died so far, counting 16 Germans and a Swedish woman. Almost 370 new cases were reported Wednesday including two in the US who had returned from a trip to Hamburg, Germany. The northern city seems to be the capital of the outbreak.

German authorities have had to withdraw the claim that infected vegetables came from Spain after the suspected farmers have been cleared. They are now saying it could take months before the outbreak is under control because tracking down the real source will be close to impossible. “We may never know” said Reinhard Burger, president of the Robert Kock Institute to the BBC.

The allegation that the infected vegetables originated in Spain has hit their national export hard and loss of earnings is estimated at more than €200M per week for affected farmers. The Spanish government have stated they will seek compensation for Germany’s wrong accusations.

Meanwhile, Russia has banned the import of all fresh vegetables from the European Union as a result of E. Coli (EHEC) risk – a move which the EU has called “disproportionate.” According to European Commission spokesman Frediric Vincent, the Union will be lodging a protest. The BBC Moscow correspondent Daniel Sandford informs that Russia is the single biggest export market for European farmers which makes the ban detrimental. However, the head of Russia’s consumer protection agency Gennady Onishchenko has criticized the EU for their food safety standards, arguing that their “lauded health legislation” is ineffective.

Financially, a country which have been tainted with suspicion – such as Spain – could face a complete trade collapse. A professor in Psychology at the University of Copenhagen told Berlingske Tidende that “cucumber hysteria” could haunt consumers and sales for a long time – in many cases without real cause for concern.

Cases of infection have been reported in a total of nine European countries but virtually all the sick people either lived or recently travelled in Germany.

Why young women are most vulnerable to the outbreak, which has caused serious infections, diarrhea and affected blood, kidneys and the central nervous system, is still a mystery. One theory was that victims were more likely to choose healthier food options but the inclination of young females to eat salads was soon dismissed as too weak an explanation. Dr Ulf Goebel of the Charity university hospital in Berlin, Germany has argued that the bacterial strain might be genetically more ‘suitable’ for women in the same way other viruses are linked to ethnicity. However, Dr Dylis Morgan from the British Health Protection Agency has added: “It’s very unusual for adults to have Haemolytic Uraemic Syndrome [an otherwise unusual complication of E. Coli]” but not for the victims of the recent outbreak.

The number of infected victims has officially passed 1500 across Europe.

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