The EU's credibility is at stake over the sentencing of Yuliya Tymoshenko to seven years imprisonment. Unless there are signals from Kiev that the sentence will be reviewed or repealled, the EU must act.

After a deep recession, an impressive recovery and years of fractious relations with its Russian-speaking minority, Latvia might be on the brink of breaking free from the problems that have dogged its politics since independence. The country's elections last week might have gone largely unnoticed in the outside world, but they could trigger a mini-revolution. 

On 24th August 1991, Ukraine declared itself independent. Andrew Wilson, who was in Kiev learning Ukrainian at the time, assesses where the country stands two decades on.

It is too simplistic to say that the regime in Belarus has turned its back on the EU: it cannot afford to. Europe must react to the post-election crackdown, but new blanket sanctions would only reduce its leverage. Instead, Europe must learn to empower those in Minsk who favour close links with the West.

President Lukashenka doesn't expect to lose the election being held in Belarus, but the great survivor knows that his basic strategy is under severe strain - both at home and abroad.

The EU’s annual summit with Ukraine takes place with Brussels desperately searching for success stories in the Eastern Neighbourhood. The countries there are increasingly acting as balancers rather than joiners, treading a fine line between the EU and Moscow