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EU - Central America Summit

(01/02/2010 to 01/02/2010) Madrid, Spain

The purpose of this summit is the signing of the EU-Central America Association Agreement.

Costa Rica - Presidential Elections

(07/02/2010 to 07/02/2010)

The Costa Rica presidential elections of 2010 will be held on Sunday Feb. 7. The presidential term is from May 8, 2010 to May 8, 2014. The elections are overseen by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal and relate to fifteenth electoral process taking place in the Central American country since the promulgation of the Constitution of Costa Rica, 1949.

Presidential candidates:

Oscar Lopez Arias (current member of the Parliament).
Otton Solis Fallas (economist, former minister and former deputy leader of the first opposition party).
Rolando Araya Monge (engineer, former minister, former deputy and international socialist leader).
Eugenio Trejos Benavides (rector of the Technological Institute of Costa Rica).
Walter Muñoz Céspedes (physician and former member).
Laura Chinchilla Miranda (political scientist, former minister, former deputy and former vice president).
Otto Guevara Guth (lawyer, former congressman).
Mayra Gonzalez Leon (lawyer, former mayor of Tibás).
Luis Fishman Zonzinski (lawyer, former minister, former deputy and former vice president).

During this process deputies to the legislative assembly and council members in municipal councils will be elected.

Ukraine - Presidential Runoff

(07/02/2010 to 07/02/2010)

Viktor Yanukovych (35,3% of the votes) and Yulia Tymoshenko (with 25%) will face each other in the second round of the election to be held on February 7.

Incumbent president Viktor Yushchenko had won only about 5% of the votes. Turnout was 67 percent, official data showed. This compared to 75 percent in the first round of the 2004 poll. Official results will be released by the Central Election Commission (http://www.cvk.gov.ua/)

Analysts predict a slight advantage for Tymoshenko in the second (and final) round as she was more likely to attract voters from the other 16 candidates. Two candidates who came third and fourth, former central bank chief Sergey Tigipko (with ~13%) and former parliament speaker Arseniy Yatsenyuk, said they would not come out in support of any candidate in the second round.

UE - Informal Meeting of Heads of State and Government

(11/02/2010 to 11/02/2010) Brussels, Belgium

Restoring economic growth and addressing structural problems in Europe's economy will be the focus of the informal meeting of heads of state and government held on Brussels, February 11. According to the European Council President Herman van Rompuy , the region needs a "new economic strategy," which should last until 2020.

The European Union is emerging from a deep recession, but unemployment is still rising. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, expects the EU economy will grow 0.7% in 2010 and 1.6% in 2011 after contracting by 4.1% in 2009.

Climate change will be the other issue to discuss.

EU - Development Ministers Meeting

(17/02/2010 to 18/02/2010) Real Sitio de San Ildefonso-La Granja, Segovia, Spain

The Rio Group - Annual Summit

(22/02/2010 to 23/02/2010) Cancun, Mexico

The Rio Group (Spanish: Grupo de Río, Portuguese: Grupo do Rio) is an international organization of Latin American and some Caribbean states. It was created on 18 December 1986 in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro by means of the Declaration of Rio de Janeiro, signed by Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela (the members of the Contadora Group and the Contadora Support Group).

To some extent it was perceived by some observers as an alternative body to the Organization of American States during the Cold War, since that body was dominated by the United States.[citation needed] The Rio Group does not have a secretariat or permanent body, and instead relies on yearly summits of heads of states.

Current member states/organizatons in alphabetical order: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

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