Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
…WHILE GLOSSING OVER POST-SOVIET CONFLICTS
The unresolved conflicts, conducted or underwritten by Russia in ex-Soviet territories, were glossed over in Khanty-Mansiisk. EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana had informally assured Georgian leaders ahead of the summit that he would “forcefully” take issue with Russia’s... MORE
TYMOSHENKO DEFIES YUSHCHENKO ON OIL AND GAS EXPLORATION
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has ordered the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko to allow the U.S. company Vanco to proceed with its oil and gas exploration project in the Ukrainian part of the Black Sea. Visiting U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez also warned... MORE
IRAN AND TURKEY ENERGY TIES DEEPEN
The United States has maintained various sanctions against Iran since 1979, implemented in aftermath of the seizure of the U.S. embassy in Tehran. As relations worsen between the U.S. and Iran, Washington is seeking to have the United Nations Security Council impose additional sanctions on... MORE
RUSSIA EXPLOITS EU’S VULNERABILTIES AT EU-RUSSIA SUMMIT
The European Union played its cards ineptly at the EU-Russia summit in Khanty-Mansiisk on June 26 and 27. Moscow managed to define the atmosphere and rules of the game at this summit, taking advantage of the EU’s multiplying vulnerabilities. That those vulnerabilities are mostly self-inflicted... MORE
OLIGARCHS WIELD POWER IN UKRAINIAN POLITICS
The leading Ukrainian magazine Korrespondent (June 12) published its annual list of wealthy Ukrainians. The most surprising new information was the estimate of Donetsk oligarch Renat Akhmetov’s wealth. Akhmetov, the head of Systems Capital Management, is worth $31.1 billion, making him the wealthiest person not... MORE
REFLECTIONS ON MANAS
The U.S. Air Force deployment to Manas, which has sparked intermittent controversy in the Kyrgyz Republic, has arguably been misunderstood by policy makers in Bishkek. Colonel Thomas Smith, the commander of the 376th Expeditionary Wing of the U.S. Air Force and the coalition forces at... MORE
TURKISH POLICE DETAIN SENIOR RETIRED GENERALS
Early on the morning of July 1, the Turkish police detained 24 hard-line secularists during a series of raids in Ankara and Istanbul. Those taken into custody included retired General Sener Eruygur, the former commander of the Turkish Gendarmerie; retired General Hursit Tolon, the former... MORE
MEDVEDEV’S SWEET-TALKING NARROWS THE RIFT IN RUSSIA-EU RELATIONS
President Dmitry Medvedev has every reason to consider the Russia-EU summit in Khanty-Mansiisk last week a personal success, judging from how his European partners have praised the friendly atmosphere and very constructive character of the talks. EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security... MORE
POLLING FINDS WELL-OFF YOUNG RUSSIANS THINKING ABOUT EMIGRATION
While Russia’s economy and its citizens’ real incomes have grown significantly over the past eight years (at least in part thanks to soaring world energy prices), Nezavisimaya gazeta recently reported that new research suggests that this increase in economic well-being has not been accompanied by... MORE
GEORGIA LAUNCHES A THREE-TRACK DIPLOMATIC EFFORT ON ABKHAZIA
Georgia has ruled out a confrontational response to Russia’s accelerating seizure of Abkhazia since April 16. Eschewing a military standoff, Tbilisi has devised a political-diplomatic response in expectation of Western support for such an approach. The European Union-Russia summit in Khanty-Mansiisk on June 26 and... MORE