Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Belarus

Belarus Accelerates Plans To Build Nuclear Plant

Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorsky (file photo) (AFP)

February 16, 2007 -- Belarusian Prime Minister Syarhey Sidorsky has said Minsk will accelerate the construction of the country's first nuclear power plant.

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February 16, 2007

The government initially planned for the plant to be operational by 2015.

But due to the country's energy needs, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka has ordered it to be ready by 2011.

The plant's site has not yet been announced. Belarus has been seeking new energy sources since Russia increased fuel prices in January.

(Interfax, ITAR-TASS, dpa)

Russia And Global Energy Security

An oil field in Russia's Republic of Bashkortostan (TASS file photo)

ENERGY SECURITY is increasingly moving to the top of the EU's agenda in its dealings the outside world. A recent report identifies the European Union's main energy objectives as not just securing gas and oil deliveries from Russia, but also ensuring that it has reliable alternative sources, including in Central Asia. Nonetheless, EU officials say relations with Russia take center-stage in their thinking....(more)

EU Maintains Codependent Energy Relationship With Russia

Moscow Gets Tough With The EU

Turkmenistan: The Achilles' Heel Of European Energy Security

U.S. Official Urges Reforms In Energy-Producing Countries

ARCHIVE

A complete archive of RFE/RL's coverage of energy issues in the Caspian Sea region and Russia.

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

'Police Detain Stuffed Animals' In Minsk Toy Protest

Belarusian youth activists say police have "detained" some stuffed animals used in an antigovernment protest in Minsk, in an echo of similar recent protests in Russia. More

There are frequent reports in the Bulgarian and Ukrainian media about Romanian “pirates” robbing passing transport ships on the Danube. (file photo)

Reports Of 'Pirates Of The Danube' Get The Old Heave-Ho

An attack last month on a Ukrainian barge on the Romanian sector of the Danube River has caused a diplomatic tussle between Bucharest and Kyiv, sparking media reports of possible acts of piracy on Europe's second-largest river. But do “Danube pirates” actually exist? More