Romania's foreign minister let go of a major gaffe that could cost him his job. On a visit to Paris, Teodor Baconschi let loose with a few choice comments not particularly complementary of his country's Roma community. His suggestion that some Gypsies are born criminals got the civil rights groups going ballistic. That Baconschi made his remark in France is no accident. The Gauls are handling their own Roma problem, like elsewhere in Europe.
Once not long ago, the leaders of Belarus and Russia fawned over each other and talked glowingly of their coming fusion in one union, with even one currency. Those days are fading now as relations fray and the EU and Washington nudge into the picture, trying to pry away away one of Moscow's last true allies. The latest sign of souring relations is the failure of Moscow and Minsk to agree on oil deliveries for 2010.
