Word: kremlins
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...Appearances are not always insignificant, however. Moscow has voiced its hostility to EaP, and said it will defend its influence over the six neighboring nations involved. And many E.U. leaders - notably the Russia-friendly Sarkozy, Berlusconi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel - want to avoid provoking an increasingly stroppy Kremlin. Indeed, ever since Russia's August 2008 war with Georgia, E.U. officials have become particularly wary of possibly prodding the Kremlin into similar action by appearing to set up camp with the EaP countries in Russia's backyard. (See pictures of Sarkozy...
...However, Liberti notes that efforts to placate Moscow may only go so far - especially given the energy stakes the EaP involves. He says repeated moves by the Kremlin to choke off gas supplies pumped to Europe via the Ukraine have left many E.U. leaders determined to wean themselves off of their Russian gas dependency. For that reason, Liberti says, developing and exporting new energy resources for EaP signatories like Azerbaijan remains high a priority, along with building a new pipeline to Europe via central Asia that bypasses Russia completely...
...Russia, proudly displaying the date "9 May" and the orange and black striped ribbon of victory. Red banners have been draped across the fronts of apartment buildings all along the central Moscow parade route. And in the lead-up to the country's annual Victory Day celebrations, the Kremlin has made a move that it touts as yet another display of Russia's patriotism and pride: the government has announced that it is considering passing a law to criminalize statements and acts that deny the Soviets won World War II, or claim it used poor tactics in battle...
...proposed law is seen by Kremlin-watchers as further evidence of Moscow's continued suppression of dissent at a time when the domestic popularity of President Dmitri Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has slipped thanks to the economic crisis, and amid international fears of growing Russian militarism after its successful war against Georgia last summer. (See TIME's special package on the Russia-Georgia...
...Liberals in Russia fear the law may punish and silence new - and possibly more accurate - interpretations of the country's history and solidify the government's control of the past. But the real aim of the law may be to provide the Kremlin with another rhetorical tool with which to attack governments of former Soviet Republics and Eastern Bloc countries that have increasingly moved towards the West. The most recent example - which is still making waves in Russia - was the 2007 row in Estonia over the moving of the statue of a Red Army soldier from a central Tallinn square...