RIA Novosti presents the past year’s ten most important global events, as chosen by its correspondents.
In early November Vaclav Klaus, the Czech president, signed the Treaty of Lisbon, thereby completing its ratification by European Union (EU) countries.
This year the gas war between Russia and Ukraine lasted a record time. Gazprom stopped supplying Ukraine with fuel on January 1 for lack of a contract and fully discontinued gas deliveries to Europe on January 7. As a result, many European countries encountered difficulties with gas supplies. Transit resumed on January 20.
Talks between Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Tymoshenko in Yalta in November convinced Russian politicians that there would be no new gas war.
On June 11, the World Health Organization raised its alert of pandemic to the sixth and highest level due to the rapid spread of the H1N1 virus throughout the world.
An end was put to a civil war waged in Sri Lanka since 1983 which has killed at least 80,000 people. On May 18, the military command officially announced the end of a military operation against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Parliamentary elections on April 5 in Moldova ended in massive unrest The elections were won by the ruling Communist Party, prompting its opponents to attack the buildings housing the parliament and presidential administration in Chisinau.
Making a concession to the opposition, the authorities ordered a recount but this did not change the alignment of forces in parliament. The new parliament did not last long. The opposition parliamentary parties twice wrecked voting in the presidential elections (according to Moldova’s Constitution, the president is elected by parliament), and parliament was dissolved. The current parliament was formed on the basis of early elections on July 29. Due to the unrest President Vladimir Voronin, who had led Moldova since 2001, resigned. Members of parliament are unable to reach consensus and elect a new president. On December 7, the election of a president failed for the third time./p>
