Ahto Lobjakas

Also by Ahto Lobjakas

• October 06, 2006

  Death Of RFE/RL Journalist Threatens EU Deal

  EU official says Ashgabat must also explain the death of RFE/RL journalist Ogulsapar Muradova before a trade deal can be ratified.

• October 05, 2006

  European Union | Urges 'confidence building'

  BRUSSELS, October 5, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Officials in Brussels are taking a markedly critical line toward Georgia in their analyses of the country's most recent flare-up of tensions with Russia.

• October 04, 2006

  Solana Fears Kosovo 'Precedent' For Georgia

  October 4, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- EU foreign-policy chief Javier Solana today acknowledged that Kosovo's campaign for independence could set a precedent for Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

• October 04, 2006

  Kazakhstan: Foreign Minister Seeks EU Energy Links

  Kazakh Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev (file photo) (AFP) Kazakh Foreign Minister Qasymzhomart Toqaev called for closer energy links between Kazakhstan and the EU in an address to the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on October 3. Toqaev is on a two-day visit to EU and NATO headquarters in Brussels. Toqaev also lobbied for EU support to Kazakhstan's bid to chair the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE) in 2009, promising democratic reforms and arguing that the OSCE -- which he described as a "Eurasian" body -- could benefit from some Central Asian leadership.

• September 27, 2006

  EU Says Ankara Must Come To Terms With Past

  September 27, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The European Parliament today said it is "indispensable" for Turkey, together with Armenia, to come to terms with its past and reiterated its call for Ankara to acknowledge the mass killings of Armenians of 1915-18 as "genocide."

• September 22, 2006

  EU Official Urges More Varied Strategy Against Taliban

  BRUSSELS, September 22, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- The European Union's special representative in Afghanistan, Francesc Vendrell, says the West must "find out more" about the Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan before it can defeat it. He called for "quick" military strikes against insurgents, which he said must then be followed by reconstruction efforts to deny the Taliban new recruits.

• September 20, 2006

  CIS: Referendums Seen As Kremlin's Master Plan

  More than 97 percent of Transdniester voters favor independence with the ultimate goal of union with Russia (ITAR-TASS) BRUSSELS, September 20, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- There is no evidence of direct Kremlin involvement in the September 17 referendum in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region, in which voters overwhelmingly approved a course of independence with an eventual view to joining Russia. But the referendum -- and a similar vote upcoming in Georgia's separatist South Ossetia -- is widely seen as part of a broader Russian strategy to entrench its influence in the former Soviet republics.

• September 14, 2006

  Ukraine: Yanukovych Blows Hot And Cold In Brussels

  Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in Brussels (NATO) Ukraine's prime minister confirms his country's enthusiasm to join the EU, but adopts a step-by-step approach to NATO.

• September 12, 2006

  Pastuns In Afghanistan | Taliban could spark 'national war'

  Pakistan's leader raises the specter of another violent Pashtun mobilization against foreign intruders, this time spearheaded by the Taliban.

• September 01, 2006

  Uzbekistan: EU Officials Hold Talks In Tashkent

  Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi (left) meeting with Uzbek President Islam Karimov in Tashkent on August 29 (file photo) (AFP) After the Uzbek government indicated earlier this summer that it was interested in talks, an EU "fact-finding" mission visited Tashkent earlier this week. RFE/RL spoke on September 1 to the head of the EU delegation, Finnish diplomat Antti Turunen. Turunen indicated that the visit, although inconclusive, were promising enough for the EU to "analyze" to see if the sanctions imposed on Uzbekistan in the wake of last year's bloody events in Andijon could be lifted.

• August 31, 2006

  Lebanon: Donors Meeting Expected To Net $500 Million

  Swedish Foreign Minister Jan Eliasson opening today's donors meeting (epa) BRUSSELS, August 31, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- An international donors meeting for Lebanon in Stockholm today is expected to raise at least $500 million to put the country on the path to recovery from war damage.

• August 29, 2006

  EU: Conflict Fears Overshadow South Caucasus 'Action Plans'

  Ferrero-Waldner said “defense expenditure in the region is going through the roof” (file photo) (epa) BRUSSELS, August 29, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- European Commission officials today confirmed that European Neighborhood Policy “action plans“ have been successfully negotiated with Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia and now await member-state approval.

• August 21, 2006

  EU: Members Debate Lebanon Deployment

  Would a UN force be trapped between a rearmed Hizballah and a regrouped Israel? (epa) BRUSSELS, August 21, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Top officials from EU foreign ministries will meet in Brussels on August 23 to discuss possible troop deployments by member states as part of a 15,000-strong UN force for Lebanon.

• August 18, 2006

  Terrorist Threat Puts 'Profiling' On Agenda

  Increasing interest in "ethnic profiling" at airports is one of the upshots from a recent high-level EU counterterror ism meeting.

• July 27, 2006

  Lebanon: NATO Option Looks Unpopular

  A NATO soldier in Afghanistan (epa) The United States and Israel may see a role for NATO in Lebanon, but few others do.

• July 19, 2006

  EU Envoy Predicts Autumn Test For Southern Insurgency

  The EU's special representative in Afghanistan says the true test of the strength of the insurgency in Afghanistan's south will come in the autumn.

• July 18, 2006

  Kyrgyzstan: EU Supportive, But Cautious

  One EU official said the recent killing of organized crime figure Ryspek Akmatbaev brought releief to the Kyrgyz political situation (RFE/RL) BRUSSELS, July 18, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- As the only country in Central Asia attempting democratic reforms, Kyrgyzstan today won praise in Brussels at a meeting with senior EU officials. However, the praise was tempered privately by EU diplomats, who stressed the challenges still facing the country.

• July 18, 2006

  Kazakh Bid To Chair OSCE 'Welcomed'

  The European Union took a step closer to endorsing Kazakhstan's bid for the chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe in 2009, although some doubts remain.

• July 17, 2006

  EU Rues Israel's 'Disproportionate Action'

  The EU calls on Israel to show the "utmost restraint" in its military operations in Lebanon, but most EU ministers appear to agree the EU lacks leverage either over Israel or Hizballah.

• July 17, 2006

  EU Seeks Leverage To Quell Crisis

  BRUSSELS, July 17 (RFE/RL) -- EU foreign ministers, meeting today in Brussels, are expected to call for maximum restraint in the conflict between Israel and the Hizballah militia in Lebanon.

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