Civic Platform wins an historic victory…
According to the final official results, the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party has won the Polish parliamentary elections held on Sunday 9th October, clearly defeating the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party by 39% to 30%. Third place was taken by the Palikot Movement (10%), fourth by the [...]
The following comes to us from Vladimir Socor, the Jamestown Foundation. The original article in its entirety can be found here.
The German government’s cave-in on nuclear energy has opened the gates to a new round of Russian expansion into Germany’s energy sector. This political decision has boosted demand for natural gas overnight, and with long-term [...]
Vladimir Socor from the The Jamestown Foundation has just published the following article (original link HERE): Attending the Lithuanian-chaired, Community of Democracies annual event in Vilnius on July 1, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed Lithuania’s energy security strategy on its three levels: the national, regional, and European. The political endorsement accompanies specific energy [...]
The Wrocław Global Forum aims at giving new spirit to the transatlantic dialog by refocusing it on global challenges and by reinforcing the voice of Central Europe as its key stakeholder.
Below, at the 2011 ‘New Energy Sources and the Global Power Equation Q&A’, Marek Matraszek raises the importance of shale energy in modern Europe, and poses [...]
The following comes to us from Vladimir Socor, The Jamestown Foundation:
Russian Energy Minister, Sergei Shmatko, and Gazprom’s top hierarchy, along with their West-European business allies, advertised the South Stream project at a promotional event on May 25 in Brussels (Interfax, Euractiv, May 25, 26). The European Commission had agreed to be represented at this event, [...]
Vladimir Socor from the The Jamestown Foundation has just published the following article (original link HERE): Hungary’s government has successfully completed negotiations with the Russian government and Surgutneftegaz about the latter’s exit from Hungary. The government is purchasing Surgut’s 21.2 percent stake in the oil and gas company MOL, Hungary’s largest business entity and Central European [...]
It was inevitable that as the prospect of shale gas extraction in Europe, and especially Poland, becomes more realistic, so the voices of protest would emerge. Hardly surprising as shale has the consequence of undermining Gazprom’s entire business model, which is dependent on being the dominant supplier of natural gas to Germany and Central Europe. [...]
As excerpted from Business New Europe and republished in the Petroleum Economist:
Many question the legitimacy of German trepidation regarding the building of an energy terminal in northwest Poland as further proof positive of heavy Russian influence in both Berlin and throughout the European Union. Although at face value, Germany’s concerns centre on the environmental impact, CEC Government [...]
Christmas in the EU comes not once a year, but approximately once every thirteen years, when each of the member states has the opportunity to take charge of the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, which is rotated between EU member states every six months. For Poland, this magic time will come in [...]
The Shock of the Disaster…
Poland is still trying to come to terms with the implications of the Smolensk air disaster, which at one stroke has destroyed a significant part of the Polish political elite. Apart from President Lech Kaczynski and his wife, the list of fatalities include several ministers, Presidential officials, parliamentarians, the heads of [...]
Marek Matraszek is based in Warsaw. He has written widely on Polish and international affairs and is a regular commentator on Polish politics for the international media. He is the Founding Partner of CEC Government Relations, designing and implementing strategic communications and public affairs campaigns for major Western multinationals, and advising on their political strategy in the Central European region as a whole. Read more...
