Lithuania: Referendum on Ignalina
(DEUTSCHE WELLE) In order to join the European Union, Lithuania agreed to close down its nuclear power plant, Ignalina. The Soviet-era technology is the same as that used at Chernobyl.…
Estonia: Renewed Fears Over Russia
(DEUTSCHE WELLE) The war over the border between Russia and Georgia has revived bad memories in the Baltic States. 18 years ago, Moscow tried to prevent the independence of Latvia,…
Places That Don’t Exist: Nagorno Karabakh (Part 1/4)
(BBC) Azerbaijan and Armenia became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but a mountainous area of Azerbaijan called Nagorno-Karabakh (NK) triggered war. Historically it was mainly Armenian Christian,…
Nagorny Karabakh: Conflict
(UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY) A film on the Karabakh conflict with Thomas de Waal, Institute of War and Peace Reporting. Part of the Contested Spaces Video Project, University of Sydney.
The Listening Post: Spotlight on Azerbaijan
(AL JAZEERA) In this week’s The Listening Post, Richard Gizbert puts Azerbaijan under the spotlight. Freedom of the press in the former Soviet republic has not moved on since pre-perestroika…
Oil Wealth “Kept From Azerbaijan’s Poor”
(AL JAZEERA) Azerbaijan has potentially lucrative oil reserves, but opposition politicians say widespread corruption has left revenues from the country’s natural resources in the hands of a small number of…
Soap on the Steppes
(JOURNEYMAN PICTURES) Kazakhstan’s first soap opera, “Crossroads” is no ordinary Programme – it is teaching its viewers to come to terms with life after communism. In the control room, the…
Resurrecting the Aral Sea
(JOURNEYMAN PICTURES) For decades, the Aral Sea has been described as dying and beyond salvation. But now, the water is flowing back, bringing economic revival and hope for the future.…
Europeans: a Journey to South Ossetia
(EURONEWS) Self-proclaimed South Ossetia is insisting on its independence from the former Soviet republic of Georgia, in the Caucasus region. Brussels, Washington, Moscow and Tbilisi are on a diplomatic storm-watch…
Estonia – Becoming a Key NATO Partner
(EURONEWS) Fifteen years ago, it would have been unimaginable that Estonian soldiers fulfill missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, the small Baltic state hopes to play a “bigger” role in…
Securing Energy (Azerbaijan)
(EU COMMISSION) On 7 November 2006 a memorandum of understanding on energy cooperation was signed between Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliev and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. The agreement is…
White Gold – The True Cost Of Cotton
(ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOUNDATION) Fashion Victims? Up to one third of Uzbekistan’s workforce is made to labour on cotton farms; denied ownership of the land they work, and forced to labour…