- Belarus and coronavirus: Lukashenko’s business-as-usual approach is “mind-blowing negligence”
Alexander Lukashenko, its president, has advised drinking more vodka, while the country‘s top-flight football league is the only one still playing in Europe.
- KAZAKHSTAN
Today, two Kazakhstans exist in the world.
- Office development continues to flourish
A new study by real estate firm Colliers international shows that Latvia and Estonia’s office building sectors will continue to grow. Yet on-going labor and material shortages could keep the bubble from bursting.
- Magazine highlights Baltic real estate market
The British magazine Property Investor named the Baltic states as one of the world’s most promising locations for real estate investment.
- Lithuania, Estonia no longer World Bank borrowers
Lithuania and Estonia exchanged letters to the World Bank in Singapore on Sept. 17, and officially graduated from the status of World Bank borrower, with Estonia promising to soon become a World Bank donor.
- Labor woes slow Hesburger’s Baltic expansion
The Finnish hamburger chain Hesburger, which operates 17 restaurants in Estonia and Latvia, has cited the region’s current labor shortage as the major crimp on its ambitious expansion plans in the Baltics.
- WE JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH
Tallinn was conquered, now the King of Pop will be leaving his mark in a multimillion-dollar amusement park in Poland.
- RUSSIAN PEACEKEEPERS TAKEN HOSTAGE
Gunmen kidnapped three soldiers from a Russian peacekeeping contingent stationed in Georgia August 17 in the Russian-patrolled security zone just outside Abkhazia.
- SWISS COOL ON LARGER HOLOCAUST FUND
A key U.S. official is proposing that Swiss banks and businesses give more money to a fund set up for Holocaust victims, an idea that received little support from the Swiss August 20.
- RUSSIA HAS NEW MILITARY TOY
Russia unveiled a new anti-aircraft missile that its designer said August 21 was the world’s best air defense missile system.
- DISCO FEVER STRIKES AGAIN
The historic Gdansk shipyard is now a nightspot, opened at the birthplace of Poland’s Solidarity movement August 22.
- NATO INVITEES SET TO COOPERATE
The prime ministers of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic said August 22 that they will cooperate, not compete, as their nations prepare to join NATO.
- NEW GOVERNMENT FOR UKRAINE
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma presented a new government August 22, which is intended to implement new economic policies and introduce reforms.
- UKRAINE EXERCISES ANNOY RUSSIA
The Sea Breeze ‘97 drill that began August 23 differs little from other exercises that have brought thousands of Western troops onto Ukrainian soil since the former Soviet republic joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1994.
- KREMLIN CAPERS AREN’T UNDER COVER
A new book on who Russian President Boris Yeltsin really is was to be released August 13 by his ousted body guard, but Alexander Korzhakov only had the book’s sleeve to show reporters.
- POLAND TO ANSWER EU REPORT IN SEPTEMBER
Poland in September will give an official response and corrections to errors found in a European Commission document judging its readiness for EU entry, Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said August 13.
- UKRAINIAN FLOODING DESTROYS 900 HOMES
Nearly 900 homes in 11 villages were flooded August 13 in southern Ukraine after two days of heavy rains, the second flood caused by the powerful storm.
- IRISH DEBATE SOLVES NOTHING
An unprecedented televised debate between Irish Republican and loyalist foes who are supposed to negotiate a lasting settlement in September rehearsed age-old arguments at the heart of the conflict.
- COSMONAUTS FACE CRITICISM IN RUSSIA
The two Russian cosmonauts back from the Mir space station heard criticism of their work after their six-month stint in space.
- FLYING HIGH
Seventy of northern Europe’s oldest citizens flew from Antwerp, Netherlands, to London on August 15 on a promotional trip for the young at heart who happen to be more than 100 years old.