Word: russias
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...bank listed some of those measures: Russia has raised tariffs on used cars, Argentina imposed new licensing arrangements for imports, China banned Irish pork, India banned Chinese toys. No fewer than 13 countries have granted subsidies to various parts of the automobile industry. And the bank didn't mention the nasty spat that has broken out between the U.S and Mexico; the U.S. has stopped a program that allowed Mexican trucks on American roads, and Mexico has retaliated with tariff increases. Said World Bank president Robert Zoellick: "Leaders must not heed the siren song of protectionist fixes. Economic isolationism...
Read about the Georgia-Russia crisis...
...seems to have decided that shunning Belarus has not worked. "Isolation is perceived to have failed as there has been little change in the political structure of the country or moves toward democratization," says David Marples, a Belarus expert at the University of Alberta in Canada. With Russia badly hit by the sharp drop in the price of gas and oil, it's also a good opportunity to increase Europe's influence in the region...
Since the Georgia-Russia war last August, Brussels has been keen to draw Belarus away from Moscow and closer into its camp. The first step last October was the suspension of an E.U. visa ban against Belarus' authoritarian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka and other top officials. That relaxation of the travel restrictions, which were first instituted in 2006 after a rigged presidential election and violent crackdown on protestors, was renewed last week. In another sign of mending relations, the E.U.'s foreign policy chief Javier Solana visited Minsk on Feb. 19 for meetings with top Belarusian officials. E.U. leaders...
Analysts say that while the Belarusian leader is looking to expand his options beyond traditional ally Russia, he is also trying to get as much as he can from both sides. "Lukashenka is feeling pressure from Russia both economically and politically," says Marples, "He is very much sucked into the Russian orbit and seeks some release." Belarus has in the last six months received a $2 billion loan from Russia, and is under pressure to recognize the Russian-backed breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia. E.U. politicians have warned against such a move...