Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

Tashkent and Dushanbe Cautious on CSTO Forces

The announcement in Moscow on February 4, 2009 to activate the CSTO Collective Rapid Deployment Forces and transform them into a more viable, well equipped force structure akin to NATO's rapid reaction force concept masked underlying tensions within the CSTO. These relate to legal issues... MORE

Russia in EurAsEc: Imperial Largess from Dwindling Resources?

The presidents of Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEc) member countries -Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, as well as observer country Armenia- held an extraordinary summit of that organization in Moscow on February 4, the day after the CSTO summit there (see EDM, February 5, 6).... MORE

Russia Preparing to Buy Allies Through Anti-Crisis Assistance

While facing a financial and economic crisis of its own, Russia has launched an ambitious program of anti-crisis subsidies to several loyalist governments. The program seeks to consolidate a sphere of Russian economic and political influence in selected countries. Moscow plans to disburse those subsidies... MORE

Will Lukashenka Be Welcomed in Prague?

Since last October, the European Union, through an Eastern Partnership Program originally initiated last summer by Poland and Sweden, has taken several steps to normalize relations with Belarus. For some members of the opposition, the maneuvers appear to abandon the EU's former insistence on democratization... MORE

Putin Retains Initiative in the Gas Dialogue with Europe

The annual security conference held in Munich last weekend should have attracted the prime attention in Moscow, not least because U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden delivered the first presentation of the Obama administration's arms control strategy. In reality, however, the attention was superficial at best; and... MORE

Al-Qaeda Robbers Target Jewelry Stores

The recent crisis with Israel not only diverted international attention away from the looming danger of al-Qaeda attacks in Turkey but the growing sensitivity toward Israel may actually be motivating groups associated with al-Qaeda to attack Jewish targets in Turkey. In fact, because of the... MORE

The Russian-Central European Gas Conflict Continues

While the Ukrainian-Russian gas conflict appears to have been resolved, its fallout is still reverberating throughout Central Europe. In Poland, RosUkrEnergo (RUE), the Swiss based middleman that was dropped from the Ukrainian-Russian-Central Asian gas trade on January 20, has failed to meet its contractual obligations... MORE

Who Owns the Gas in Ukraine’s Underground Reservoirs?

The gas dispute that left half of Europe without gas in early January was officially settled by accords signed by Gazprom and Naftohaz Ukrainy in Moscow on January 19 and 20. The clash, however, is apparently not over. Ukrainian businessman Dmytro Firtash, who owns the... MORE