
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

Party of Regions Claims Tymoshenko Attacks Freedom of Speech: Déjà Vu?
The Pechersky district court in Kyiv on September 22 banned "any unfair advertisement" against Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko. This prompted Viktor Yanukovych, her main rival in the run-up to the January 17 presidential election, to accuse Tymoshenko of infringing freedom of speech. Ironically, it was... MORE

Government of Ingushetia Tries to Resolve Ossetian-Ingush Conflict
On September 25, a group of Ingush civil activists made an unprecedented public statement, harshly criticizing the policy of Ingushetia's President, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, regarding the disputed lands in the Prigorodny district of neighboring North Ossetia (www.ingushetia.org, September 25). President Yevkurov had previously said that North... MORE

Danger Recedes of New Conflict in the South Caucasus
This week in an unusual demonstration of solidarity, the authorities in Tbilisi and Moscow jointly welcomed the E.U.-sponsored report on the origins of the August 2008 Russian-Georgian war, compiled by Swiss diplomat Heidi Tagliavini. Each side praised the 1000-page report as "balanced" and concluded that... MORE

Turkey Pressures Armenia Through the Minsk Group and the United States
International diplomatic pressure on Turkey and Armenia to boost their efforts toward the normalization of their bilateral relations has continued on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held separate meetings with the foreign ministers of both countries, urging... MORE

Zapad 2009 Rehearses Countering a NATO Attack on Belarus
On September 29 the Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his Belarusian counterpart Alyaksandr Lukashenka attended the end of joint military exercises at the Obuz-Lesnovsky firing range in Belarus. The two stage "Zapad 2009" (West 2009) began on September 8, involving a total of 12,500 servicemen,... MORE

Gazprom Takes its South Stream Bluff to Bucharest
This week in Bucharest, high-level representatives of the Russian energy business and their Italian allies are making their strongest pitch yet for Romania to join their South Stream gas transport project. Romania is the latest target in Moscow's recent effort to enlist additional countries in... MORE

Moscow Juggling Capacity and Cost Figures on South Stream
Against the European Union's Southern Corridor project, Russia is redoubling efforts to advertise its own project, South Stream, with Italian backing. The scene for that advertising is in Bucharest this week. Due to stagnant gas production and aging fields in operation, however, Russia has been... MORE

Turkey Presses Ahead with its Attack Helicopter Project
The test flights of Turkey's national attack helicopters, which will be produced jointly with Italy, were concluded on September 28, producing satisfactory results for Turkish defense officials.Following a decade of discussions on developing a combat helicopter program, Turkey awarded the bid to produce combat and... MORE

Obama’s Missile Defense Decision Renews Discussion on Gabala in Azerbaijan
President Barack Obama's recent decision to scrap plans to deploy elements of ballistic missile defense (BMD) in Poland and the Czech Republic has renewed speculation in Baku over the future of the Gabala Radio Location Station in Azerbaijan. This powerful Soviet-era radar station is currently... MORE

Murder of Dagestani District Chief and Top Police Official Raises Tensions in Republic
The head of the administration of Dagestan's Khasavyurt district, Alimsultan Alkhamatov, was shot to death on Moscow on September 27. His driver-bodyguard, Nadzhmutdin Mitikov, was wounded in the attack, which took place in the southwestern part of the Russian capital. The head of the investigations... MORE