Ukraine`s joining the EU would dramatically and irreversibly change the political landscape of Europe, end the division of Europe and close the saga of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War. (Continue...)

Accepted and vilified, celebrated and rebuked by all, as François Villon would have had it, Machiavelli became a litmus test case for nearly every epoch in European history. Much remains to be done to reject numerous clichés and senseless accusations to fully understand and appreciate his legacy as a humanist, historian, political thinker, and a prophet of modern politics. (Continue...)

A quarter of a century has passed since 1988 which marked the beginning of the end of the former Soviet Union. The national rebirth movement of Lithuania, Sajudis, came into existence blazing the trail for Lithuania and other Soviet republics to freedom and independence. Gaining the momentum, consolidating symbolic power and authority, and making people believe that the time has come to change history and world politics restoring justice – all these magnificent things would have been beyond the reach if the Lithuanian media had not changed the public domain almost overnight. (Read more...)

The brain drain process is a painful challenge to Lithuania, as the country is losing the best of its young people, would-be scholars, artists, business people, probably – even public figures, policy makers and statesmen as well. (Continue...)

Lithuania is bound to confront one more challenge that arises from its domestic political clashes and cleavages. The center populist Labor Party, and the no less populist but rightwing the Order and Justice Party, have decided to merge, thus forming what they perceive as the third major political party in Lithuania capable of sharing the power structure and competing with the conservative Homeland Union and leftwing Social Democratic Party. (Read more...)

The Magnitski list becomes much more than merely a benign and disconnected political fantasy. After the United States Congress adopted this law, with its clear legal and political implications, Russia retaliated by prohibiting American citizens from adopting Russian orphans – a mean, regrettable, and ugly move from Russia’s side with a total confusion of political and humanitarian agendas. Now it is a decisive time for the EU to take a stand. (Read more...)

Gérard Depardieu is regarded as a symbol of France, and rightly so. It was deeply symbolic that he featured in Bernardo Bertolucci’s classical film 1900 along with Robert De Niro. Both of them were quite young in those days, both were to become a genuine embodiment of their generation, both fulfilled themselves as symbols of their respective countries – equally talented, charismatic, with a great scope of mastery ranging from comedy to drama. Both are endowed with a mystery of a smile – warm, playful, and unforgettable. Both are able to create a role using no text, simply with their eyes and body language. (Read more...)