“the picture for the EU is quite terrible. Bulgaria ranks lowest of the EU 27 – 68th place, below… El Salvador, Uruguay, Barbados, Tunisia, Egypt and Costa Rica” – what IS Bulgaria doing in the EU?

The vote’s already been delayed once… The Slovak government needs a 3/5ths majority (on a quorum, I believe) to pass the treaty – and the opposition are threatening to abstain en masse. Which would mean no ratification.

Interview with EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner on what the EU’s plans are for the strategically vital – yet decidedly dodgy – Central Asian region. Read between the lines, there’s some interesting clues.

Finally – the official consolidated treaty will be available from 15th April. This post from GrahLaw provides handy links to a bunch of other existing versions in various languages.