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By Alan Fisher in Europe on February 7th, 2010
Afghanistan and the role of Nato was scheduled to be today’s big discussion at the Munich Security Conference.  The big hitters were here, Nato's secretary general, the Afghan president, but instead there's one thing everyone is still talking about.  And that's Iran.
 
The foreign minister left here saying the future was bright, the future was international co-operation.  But first thing on Sunday, back in Tehran, the Iranian president, not for the first time, muddied the waters.  Mahmoud Ahmedinejad has ordered his nuclear scientists to step up the uranium enrichment programme.  It's not what the Western powers wanted to hear.
 
By Neave Barker in Europe on February 6th, 2010
Photo from AFP
The last official day of campaigning in Ukraine was marked by two simultaneous rallies on squares at opposite ends of the same street.
 
In front of the golden domed cupolas of Saint Michael’s Monastery, Victor Yanukovich’s campaign team hosted a star-studded pop concert. A short distance away Yulia Tymoshenko had gathered her supporters in front of Saint Sophia Cathedral. Hers was a much more contemplative affair, an open air prayer service in the company of the country’s top clergy.
 
Both rival camps had rallied hundreds of cheering, flag-waving supporters. Some had been bussed in from the regions, many making the most of the free-day trip to the capital.
 
By Alan Fisher in Europe on February 6th, 2010
Photo by AFP

The Munich Security Conference has grown over more than 40 years to become an important point in the calendar for those interested in such things.

It started with the idea of addressing the stand-off in Europe between the US and the West, and the powerful Soviet bloc.  Now, the changing global situations throws up many more issues, many more questions.

The most talked about topic here over the first two days has been Iran and the country's controversial nuclear programme.

In a late night session, Manouchehr Mottaki, the Iranian foreign minister, made his country's position clear: soon there will be a deal which will see his country send its enriched uranium abroad to be returned as "safer" fuel rods.  The most important word there is soon.

By Neave Barker in Europe on February 4th, 2010
It’s a 4am start to catch a flight to Eastern Ukraine where we’re planning to meet Victor Yanukovich, the presidential election front runner on the campaign trail.
 
Ten hours later, after a series of snowy delays we pull into the town of Sverdlovka just as Yanukovich enters a windswept main square under a looming statue of Lenin.
 
Hundreds of elated supporters, mostly pensioners, have gathered to rapturously greet him. For many in this ethnic Russian speaking part of Ukraine, Yanukovich is nothing short of a superstar.
 
This is coal country, Ukraine’s industrial heartland. Here road signs, shop fronts and campaign posters are all written in Russian. This is where Yanukovich started his political career and where a number of his wealthy backers are based.
 
By Barnaby Phillips in Europe on February 4th, 2010
Photo from AFP

The trial began in Croatia this week of four men accused of carrying out an audacious and brutal murder that shocked this Balkan nation. Ivo Pukanic, owner of the weekly Nacional newspaper, was killed, along with a colleague,  by a powerful bomb in October 2008. 

The audacity of the murder, right in the middle of the capital Zagreb, has proven something of a wake-up call in Croatia, where the fight against criminal mafias has not always been fought with particular ardour. We looked at these issues on our journey to Croatia last month, when we reported on the presidential elections  

By Alan Fisher in Europe on January 29th, 2010
Photo from AFP

He arrived early - out of sight of the cameras, and the protesters who'd gathered to greet him.

In the damp chill of the winter's morning this was an historic moment. Here was a former British Prime Minister being asked to explain in public why he took his country to war.

The room where the inquiry is being held is small, and compact, some would say claustrophobic.

At 9.30 he walked in. As one of the six journalists given access to this session, I could see his hair was greyer than the last time I saw him. And he was more tanned. Just metres behind him, the members of the public who won seats in a ballot to be there. One had a row of medals on his chest. Another young woman, clutched a photograph of a solider, almost certainly one who died in the conflict in 2003. I thought I saw a slight shake from Tony Blair. A hint from this seasoned performer that even this was causing him a moment of anxiety.

By Alan Fisher in Europe on January 29th, 2010
Photo by AFP

Tony Blair is a barrister, a seasoned politican and an accomplished public performer.

To think that somehow his performance on Friday in front of the UK's inquiry into the Iraq war would turn up something we didn't know, something we hadn't heard or some amazing admission from the former prime minister was fanciful.

I sat in the very small room in central London as the inquiry's star witness walked in.He's a bit greyer than the last time I saw him in person. And more tanned.

The inquiry chairman reminded everyone Tony Blair was not on trial.

Behind him sat members of the public who won their seats in a ballot such was the demand to be here.

Some were wearing medals, one clutching a picture of a solider.

Like millions around the world, they wanted to hear the first public grilling of a British prime minister of why he went to war.

By Neave Barker in Europe on January 29th, 2010
Photo from Reuters
At 3 am on January 21, with temperatures plummeting below minus 25, bulldozers rolled into the picturesque Rechnik neighbourhood on the banks of the Moskva River close to the city centre.
 
Bailiffs and riot police had been ordered to evict scores of people and tear down their homes, all apparently unannounced.
 
Some householders barricaded themselves in. One man even threatened to commit suicide.
 
You can see footage from the Russian News agency RIA Novosti here.
 
According to Julia in London, whose family home is in danger of being demolished, Rechnik has been turned into a war zone.
 
"The Russian police are using gas and beating up women," she wrote in an email. 
 
By Tania Page in Europe on January 28th, 2010
Photo by EPA
Bill Clinton is here with his hand out for Haiti.
 
As an orator the former US president was in fine form. He made a passionate plea for immediate cash and – perhaps just as importantly – long term investment.
 
He seems to have aged since the earthquake, Haiti is a country very close to his (and Hillary’s) heart. They honeymooned there and since the country was hit by several serious hurricanes in 2008, Mr Clinton has been the UN’s Special Envoy to Haiti.
 
Despite the familiar images of the terrible destruction in Haiti and the loss of life, he’s convinced the country will "rise from the ashes".
 
By Tania Page in Europe on January 27th, 2010
Photo by AFP
Banking reform is very much at the forefront of the debate in Davos.
 
Among sessions as varied as ‘Haiti: First Responders back from the Front-Line,’ and the presentation of the Crystal Awards, there was a lively discussion about taking financial risks.
 
In contrast to last year’s forum, when bankers stayed away – reeling from the shock of the global economic meltdown – this year the bankers are back and on the defensive.
 
Responding to US President Barack Obama’s suggestion that banks were too big that they should either opt to be risk takers, or run themselves as traditional savings and loans operations, Bob Diamond, the head of Barclays bank, said he’d seen "no evidence to suggest that shrinking banks is the answer”.  
 
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