Crisis Abroad, No Work At Home

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a foundation of international law, providing a legal basis for protection against violations of basic human values such as discrimination, torture, and arbitrary arrest. It was 60 years ago that the UN General Assembly adopted the document in Paris. The vote was 48 in favor, none against, with eight abstentions, all from Soviet bloc states. The need for a global declaration of human rights arose amid the horrors of World War II and its aftermath. The document was championed by former U.S. First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, who was a UN delegate.

Ukraine has turned a tragedy in its past -- the famine of the 1930s -- into an important national issue and a thorn in the side of Russia. But little is heard of some other tragedies of the Soviet era, including those that affected Russians themselves. Are the devastating famines in Kazakhstan and Russia's Volga region bound to be forgotten?

In this RFE/RL video, migrant workers and their relatives explain how the worldwide downturn means lean times at home, from Central Europe to the Caucasus.

People in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus react to the election on November 4 of Barack Obama as president of the United States.

RFE/RL's Russian Service Director Maria Klein discusses Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's first state-of-the-nation address on November 5.

Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili has been a key player on issues ranging from Tbilisi's NATO bid to its conflict with Russia over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. During a visit to Prague on October 28, Tkeshelashvili discussed these and other issues with RFE/RL correspondent Brian Whitmore. (full transcript here)

RFERLs Azerbaijani Service Director Kenan Aliyev discusses this weeks presidential election in Azerbaijanwhich he characterized as rigged and without any meaningful opposition

RFE/RL Belarus Service Director Alexander Lukashuk discusses the repercussions of Belarus's parliamentary elections of September 28.

Josef Stalin's statue -- and memory -- dominate the small Georgian town where he was born. But since Russian troops bombed and briefly occupied Gori last month, its citizens have begun to question the legacy of their native son. (Special to RFE/RL by Nino Kirtadze)

RFE/RL's Armenian Service spoke to residents of the Armenian village of Akhurik, located on the railway line between Kars, Turkey, and Gyumri, Armenia, about what an open border and restored transportation links with Turkey would mean for them.

RFE/RL Azerbaijani Service Director Kenan Aliyev discusses U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney's September 3 visit to Azerbaijan (video: Reuters).

On the 40th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, eyewitnesses remember their parts in the event: two Czechs and two then-Soviet soldiers describe their feelings then and now.

As Russian armored vehicles and troops continued to move in and around Georgian cities, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matthew Bryza sat down in Tbilisi for a interview with Reuters television and, separately, with RFE/RL bureau chief Marina Vashakmadze. Bryza directly criticized Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's moves supporting Georgia's separatist regions and called the Russian military incursions a breach of international law. (Reuters video)

Leaders from Georgia, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania speaking to tens of thousands gathered in the Georgian capital on August 12. (Reuters video)

Review of the fighting in Georgia's breakaway regions, and the latest efforts to end the conflict. (Reuters video)

Russian military vehicles in the predawn hours head toward the border of South Ossetia where they crossed into the breakway republic. Georgian forces launch a series of attacks on separatist positions there. Russian peacekeepers take cover as Georgian jets fly overhead. (Reuters video)

In a video briefing ahead of a UN Security Council debate on Abkhazia slated for July 21, the director of RFE/RL's Georgian Service examines the interests of key players shaping events in the breakaway republic. What's behind the recent flurry of shuttle diplomacy and where could it lead?

RFE/RL Radio Free Afghanistan's Hashem Mohmand sees signs of eagerly awaited cross-border cooperation to counter the threat from militants.

Three generations of the ethnic-Albanian Latifi family express their happiness in the wake of Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Like most living on the ethnic-Serbian side of the divided city of Mitrovica, the Bozovic family is struggling to accept Kosovo's independence.

Half of Mitrovica is Serbian, the other Albanian -- leaving one side jubilant and the other angry when Kosovo declared its independence in 2008.

U.S. missile-defense proposal sparks controversy in the Czech Republic.

RFE/RL correspondent Janyl Chytyrbaeva visits a Czech villager who specializes in constructing yurts of Kyrgyz and Mongol design.

RFE/RL is on the scene for the biggest Central Asian cultural event ever held in Eastern Europe.

Patrick Moore, RFE/RL Balkan analyst, provides his expert opinion on the prospects for Kosovo ahead of its expected declaration of independence.

Robert Coalson, RFE/RL Russia analyst, outlines the issues and potential impact of Russia's 2008 presidential elections.

David Kakabadze, director of RFE/RL's Georgian Service, provides insight into the rising rhetoric over Abkhazia.

RFE/RL correspondent Ron Synovitz documents attempts to revive Afghan music since the collapse of the Taliban regime.

Radio Farda Editorial Director Golnaz Esfandiari discusses what's at stake in Iran's 2008, parliamentary elections.

Akhbar Ayazi, director of RFE/RL's Afghan Service, discusses the security situation in Afghanistan.

Gordana Knezevic, director of RFE/RL's South Slavic and Albanian Languages Service, discusses the choice Serbs face on February 3, 2008.

An Albanian family in Kosovo talks of their happiness since Pristina declared Kosovo's independence in February and what life was like under Serbian leadership.

An ethnic Serbian family in Kosovo says independence is absurd and they will never accept it. They miss the days before the disintegration of Yugoslavia.