TOP NEWS

Political situation in Lithuania
The Social Democrats take power in Lithuania

Lithuania's Social Democrats look set to take over power, Reuters reports.

The governing party Fosterlandsförbundet admits defeat on Sunday evening after a preliminary election result showed a clear lead for the opposition.

- The result shows that the people want change, says Social Democrats party leader Vilija Blinkeviciute, the same words she used when the party won the first round of elections in mid-October.
 

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The election in Georgia
Georgia: No current relations with Russia

Georgia does not plan to restore diplomatic relations with Russia. Prime Minister Irakli Kobachidze says so, according to the Moscow Times. Kobachidze belongs to the ruling Georgian Dream party, which is described as pro-Russian and was declared the winner in Saturday's disputed election.

- No, no, no. There are no such plans, because ten percent of (Abkhazia and South Ossetia) is occupied by the Russian Federation, he says according to the site news.ru.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence in the early 1990s, but were not recognized by any UN members.

In 2008, South Ossetian separatists launched a campaign of violence against Georgia, which responded militarily. This prompted Russia to invade Georgia, and the Five Day War broke out. After the ceasefire, Russia recognized the two breakaway republics and kept troops there, whereupon Georgia severed diplomatic ties.

 

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Political situation in Bulgaria
Sixth election in three years in Bulgaria - similar result

Polling stations indicate that Bulgaria's ruling GERB party looks set to win Sunday's new election, AP reports.

Bulgaria has held six parliamentary elections in the past three years, and according to the news agency, the polling station poll numbers look similar to the results of the previous ones.

In other words, the country is probably heading for yet another difficult government formation.

According to Bloomberg, Bulgaria's difficulties in establishing a stable government have depressed the country's economy and delayed the country's integration into the Schengen area. The EU is also threatening to withdraw billions in aid to the country if the government fails to implement certain necessary reforms.

 

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Political situation in Japan
Government loses in Japan - may lose majority

Japan's ruling Liberal Democrats may need to expand their coalition with a second supporting party in order to retain government power. That suggests the first results from today's election, writes The Japan Times.

The Liberal Democrats appear to be backsliding sharply, and do not appear to be able to retain their previous majority with only the help of their allies in the Komeito party.

The opposition in the Constitutional Democratic Party, on the other hand, is making strong progress, from 98 seats to at least 130. According to Politico, the new game plan could lead to political instability.

- We can now really see the dawn of a change of government, says the Constitutional Democratic Party's Yoshihiko Noda.

 

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NATO's future
Swedish NATO soldiers to Finland within a few years

A new NATO staff, MCLCC (Multi-Corps Land Component Command), is to be established in St. Michel in Finland. This is reported by SvD.

The staff will lead ground operations in the Nordic region, and will also receive Swedish reinforcement.

- Absolutely, there will be Swedish personnel working there, we can count on that. I would say within a year, says ÖB Michael Claesson, who last week visited Finland in his first foreign assignment in the role.

In addition, a NATO force is to be stationed in Finland. The so-called forward land force, in NATO parlance called FLF (Forward Land Forces), is to be designed by Sweden.

The force will be NATO's first response "if something happens on the eastern side of the border", according to Finland's defense chief Janne Jaakkola.