"Basically, I think that the Russians want the material benefits the West offers along with the security that they had under communism. At the same time they are a very proud people, who feel as if they have always been on the edge of things. Unlike the Chinese who have a vast superiority complex, the Russians are always uneasy with themselves and with other people’s view of them. I think this has paradoxically given them a very strong sense of what it is to be Russian." Interview with Colin Thubron, British author and travel writer.

On Sunday May 6th, Serbs went to the polls to not only vote in a contested presidential election but also for parliament. Serbia's Democratic Party and the Socialist Party formed a coalition. What does the new coalition mean for Serbia’s possible accession to the EU and will it have any change on the attitudes of the Serbs?

I recently spent a week in Azerbaijan, talking to local activists, experts and Baku-based diplomats about their views on the worsening human rights situation and what the EU could do about it. Many of these discussions were reminiscent of the tens of debates about yet another autocratic Eastern European country – Belarus. Sadly, most conclusions were similar too. Unless the EU expands its presence in Azerbaijan (and Belarus), it is unlikely to achieve most of its goals.

Four explosions and almost forty people wounded. Let’s agree: things could have been much worse. Or maybe they couldn’t? Maybe this is the way they were meant to happen. Probably it will take time before we know – if we ever know – who was behind today’s attacks in Dnipropetrovsk.