Eugen Tomiuc is a senior correspondent for RFE/RL.
A former top intelligence aide to the late Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu argues in a new book that the roots of today's terrorism against Israel and the United States were planted by the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
The United Nations launched an ambitious 10-year project to combat desertification in 2006. As the UN marks World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought seven years later, there is little to show for the effort.
Reports surfaced last week exposing secret U.S. government surveillance programs that gather, store, and analyze billions of domestic and foreign phone and Internet records. U.S. officials say data gathering on such a large scale is instrumental in combating terrorism. Rights groups say it encroaches on civil liberties. RFE/RL looks at the main components of the surveillance programs.
The dramatic drop in life expectancy in Russia and much of the former Soviet Union has yet to be reversed, according to a recent study.
Israel's recent apology for killing Turkish activists during a 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla was met internationally with a sigh of relief. Turkey was once considered Israel's closest Muslim partner and the raid caused a split that had far-reaching economic and diplomatic implications. RFE/RL looks at the impact the countries' recent rapprochement could have in the Middle East.
Water resources and their management -- with a focus on the role of water in food security and dam construction -- are on tap for debate at this year's World Water Week.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange may be the most famous person to be granted political asylum in Ecuador. But he isn't the only one. Alyaksandr Barankou fled Belarus in 2009 and was later granted asylum by Ecuador after claiming he was being persecuted after seeking to expose official corruption. But now, Ecuador may revoke his status and extradite him.
European Union leaders have reprimanded Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta in unusually harsh terms for his government's drive to oust the president and curtail the powers of the judiciary.
Romania's Prime Minister Victor Ponta has assured the European Union that his government would respect the rule of law after drawing fierce criticism over moves to impeach the president and weaken the judiciary.
Romania's Constitutional Court on July 10 ruled that a majority of the eligible voters must turn out for a referendum on ousting President Traian Basescu to be valid.
Romania's ruling majority is opening procedures to suspend President Traian Basescu after parliamentary speakers were sacked and the powers of top judges were curbed.
Romania's Constitutional Court has accused leftist Prime Minister Victor Ponta of trying to dismantle it and said it has notified EU authorities of threats to its independence.
Most of the world's Muslims who observe the Norouz holiday see it as a celebration of spring and a new beginning, an occasion for joy and optimism. But the holiday has long been a political and religious point of contention as well.
The top education official in Bosnia-Herzegovina's Sarajevo Canton is driven out of the country by fierce criticism from Muslim clerics and threats against his life over a decision to exclude elective religion classes from students' final grade averages.
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.
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?
U.S. President Barack Obama made a rare admission on January 30 when he acknowledged that the United States’ has used unmanned aircraft -- known as "drones" -- to attack high-value terrorist targets on Pakistan’s territory. Now that President Obama had confirmed such attacks take place, RFE/RL presents this quick explainer to cast some more light on these mysterious planes.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev says negotiations to resolve the frozen conflict in Moldova's breakaway Transdniester region could resume soon. The Kremlin leader also raised eyebrows by suggesting that Romania, which Moscow had previously tried to freeze out of negotiations, also has a role to play in the process. Are efforts to resolve one of Europe's most intractable conflicts about to get a fresh life?
“I can’t stand this anymore,” she said. I looked around, at the bleak platform, at the mass of gray, drab-looking people, at the old train pulling into the station with a long screech. It was freezing cold, and the somber atmosphere just made everything feel even colder.
Romania’s President Traian Basescu has won reelection by a very narrow margin -- less than 1 percentage point -- in a fiercely contested second round against leftist opponent Mircea Geoana. Geoana has not conceded defeat, however. The Social Democrats said a large number of annulled ballots and evidence of multiple voting may force them to contest the results.
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