Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
KREMLIN EFFORT TO EXPAND COMMERCIAL TIES WITH CHINA BACKFIRES
Last year Russia and China recorded an unprecedented increase in bilateral trade. In 2007, Russia’s trade with China reached $48.16 billion, up 44.3% over 2006, according to Russian statistics. This follows a recent trend, as in 2006 bilateral trade amounted to $33.4 billion, up 15%... MORE
NATO EXPANSION IN THE BALKANS
While the issue of Ukraine’s possible entry into NATO is currently filling the European press, Macedonia is also facing the issue of accession. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Macedonian Foreign Minister Antonio Milososki to discuss the issue on February 14; later that... MORE
POLICY AND PERSONALITY: A RIFT OPENS IN TURCO-GERMAN TIES
The recent angry exchanges between the Turkish and German governments over the integration of Turks living in Germany have highlighted the increasing vulnerability of Turkish policy to the personality of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. On February 10, Erdogan told an audience of around 18,000... MORE
RUSSIA WILL REGAIN DEMOGRAPHIC, ECONOMIC, AND MILITARY STRENGTH, PUTIN CLAIMS
Speaking to a session of the State Council on February 8, President Vladimir Putin outlined his vision of Russia’s development through the year 2020. The State Council is a consultative body incorporating Russia’s regional leaders that Putin created to provide advice from time to time.... MORE
PUTIN WARNS UKRAINE AGAINST SEEKING NATO MEMBERSHIP
Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine met on February 12-13 in Moscow for their final bilateral summit before the end of Putin’s presidency. The meeting opened with Yushchenko describing Russia repeatedly as Ukraine’s “strategic partner” in front of the assembled media.... MORE
DIFFERENCES OVER NATO MAY PROVOKE EARLY ELECTION IN UKRAINE
The Ukrainian opposition has blocked parliament since the end of January, demanding a referendum on NATO membership. The Party of Regions (PRU) and the Communist Party (CPU) are confident that Ukrainians will say no to NATO. They believe public support for membership in the Alliance... MORE
ANKARA REASSURES NEIGHBORS ON WATER SHARING
While Turkey may become a foreign oil resource sometime in the future, decades of investment in hydroelectric power are now paying off, and the country is in the extraordinary position of being able to export one of the Middle East’s most precious resources – water.... MORE
BADRI PATARKATSISHVILI DIES IN LONDON
Georgian billionaire and frustrated business king of the country, Badri Patarkatsishvili, died today (February 13) in London of a reported heart attack. Patarkatsishvili had left Georgia on November 3, 2007, after bankrolling political protests against the government and instigating unrest through his fully owned Imedi... MORE
LEV PONOMAREV: RUSSIA HAS FOUR CATEGORIES OF POLITICAL PRISONERS
“The desire of millions of our citizens for individual freedom and social justice is what defines the future of Russia’s political system,” President Vladimir Putin declared in his recent speech to the State Council, laying out Russia’s development strategy through 2020 (see EDM, February 11).... MORE
OIL-HANDLING CAPACITIES GROWING AND AVAILABLE ON GEORGIA’S BLACK SEA COAST
Continuing development of oil terminals on Georgia’s Black Sea coast opens real possibilities for exporting oil from Kazakhstan on the shortest route, directly to European Union territory by sea tankers. The long-planned, EU-supported Odessa (Ukraine)-Brody-Plock-Gdansk (Poland) or Constanta (Romania)-Trieste (Italy) pipeline projects are natural continuation... MORE