Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
MEDVEDEV PROMISES TO PROTECT THE MEDIA, HINTS AT KHODORKOVSKY PARDON
Those who predicted that Dmitry Medvedev’s arrival in the Kremlin would be followed by a relative liberalization or “thaw,” with real moves toward respecting press freedom and other rights and instituting the rule of law, have been given some cause for optimism in recent days.... MORE
MEDVEDEV PROPOSES ALL-EUROPEAN SECURITY PACT DURING BERLIN VISIT
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev used his visit to Berlin on June 5 for proposing an all-European security pact with Russia’s participation, inherently in opposition to NATO (Interfax, Itar-Tass, June 5, 6). The Kremlin apparently hopes that the evolving Russo-German “special relationship” could turn Germany into... MORE
GERMANY, RUSSIA BYPASSING OTHERS WITH NORD STREAM PROJECT
The Council of Baltic Sea Countries, which met at the prime-ministerial level on June 3 and 4 in Riga, failed to hold a multilateral discussion about Nord Stream, the Russo-German gas pipeline project on the Baltic seabed. The Council is mandated to deal with environmental... MORE
COURT POSTPONES SEMDINLI HEARING ONCE AGAIN
On June 6 the military court in the southeastern city of Van once again postponed a scheduled hearing in a case brought against three members of the security forces who are accused of carrying out an extra-judicial execution in the Kurdish town of Semdinli in... MORE
BALTIC SEA COUNTRIES’ SUMMIT FACES ENERGY SECURITY CHALLENGES
The Council of Baltic Sea Countries, the main cooperation forum of the Baltic’s nine riparian countries plus Norway, Iceland and the European Commission, held a summit at the prime-ministerial level on June 3 and 4 in Riga. Despite the ample advance notice for this event,... MORE
IS GAZPROM MANEUVERING TO OBTAIN ROMANIAN ALUMINUM?
Romania’s important aluminum industry has long held an attraction for Russian companies. Two years ago their efforts came to the attention of the Romanian Intelligence Service (Serviciului Român de Informaţii), the SRI, which viewed these initiatives with growing concern. A 2006 memo from the SRI... MORE
WASHINGTON AND MOSCOW VIE FOR TURKMENISTAN’S SUPPLIES
Since 1991 the Kremlin and Washington have sparred over the hydrocarbon riches of the Caspian, the world's greatest untapped regional deposits. While Azerbaijan is now firmly in the Western orbit, both Russia and America are vying for influence in Kazakhstan, but due to U.S. sanctions,... MORE
TURKISH MILITARY RALLIES BEHIND JUDICIARY IN HEADSCARF CASE
The Turkish military has been quick to endorse the June 5 ruling of the country’s Constitutional Court annulling the attempts by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to create a legal framework for lifting the ban that currently prevents women wearing headscarves from attending... MORE
SERDYUKOV ASSUMES FULL CONTROL OF THE DEFENSE MINISTRY
Russia's top general, First Deputy Defense Minister and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Yuri Baluyevsky, has been moved to the Security Council, a body that in recent years has been a backwater stopover for ousted high-ranking Russian bureaucrats before final retirement.... MORE
RUSSIAN ADMIRAL GOES TO KYRGYZSTAN TO STRENGTHEN NAVAL COOPERATION
On May 29 and 30 Admiral Vladimir Vysotskiy, Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, visited the Kyrgyz Republic in an effort to bolster military-technical cooperation and display a positive image of Russia’s naval strength. During talks with Kyrgyz officials, Vysotskiy secured agreement on the continued use... MORE