Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
ANOTHER PRECONDITION SET FOR POLITICAL NEGOTIATIONS ON TRANSNISTRIA
The first meeting since 2001 between Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and Transnistrian “president” Igor Smirnov (see EDM, April 168) marked the resumption of direct negotiations between Chisinau and Tiraspol after a seven-year hiatus. This direct channel might lead to a quick resumption of the international... MORE
POLAND IS CAUGHT BETWEEN MOSCOW AND WASHINGTON
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk won the parliamentary elections last November, promising to improve radically relations with Russia, which went sour under the previous administration of the Kacziynski brothers. Lech Kacziynski continues to be Polish President but has little influence on actual decision making. Tusk... MORE
EU IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT COOPERATION WITH TURKMENISTAN
On April 9 and 10 the EU Troika met with Turkmen officials in Ashgabat to discuss potential cooperation in the energy sector. The meeting, according to Troika representatives, had a successful outcome, with Turkmenistan agreeing to export natural gas to Europe through the Nabco pipeline.... MORE
TURKS RECEIVE A GEOGRAPHY LESSON AS AKP SCRAMBLES FOR SUPPORT IN THE UN
Turks have recently been receiving an unexpected geography lesson as the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has stepped up its campaign to secure a seat on the UN Security Council when five places come up for election in October 2008. In recent weeks Turkish... MORE
HAS THE TRANSNISTRIA CONFLICT GONE FROM DEAD END TO WRONG TURN?
Negotiations between Chisinau and Tiraspol toward resolving the conflict in Transnistria have restarted after a pause of almost seven years. Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin met “Transnistria’s president” Igor Smirnov on secessionist-controlled territory on April 11. With Voronin fixated on resolving the conflict in 2008 while... MORE
CAN THE UKRAINIAN COALITION HOLD TOGETHER?
The ruling coalition of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko’s Bloc (BYT) and President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine, People’s Self-Defense (NUNS), is on the verge of breaking apart. Yushchenko’s team not only criticizes Tymoshenko’s economic policy but also publicly accuses her of fostering corruption. Tymoshenko, for her... MORE
THE CONTOURS OF PUTIN’S DE FACTO THIRD TERM COME INTO FOCUS
As two Russian newspapers, Nezavisimaya Gazeta and Moskovsky korrespondent, correctly predicted last month (see EDM, March 28), President Vladimir Putin agreed on April 15 to become chairman of the United Russia party. Announcing at the party’s ninth annual congress in Moscow that he was “ready... MORE
TURKEY BROADENS REGIONAL SECURITY DIALOGUE
On April 15 an Iranian delegation arrived in Turkey to finalize a security convention that has been in the planning stages for the last two to three years and for discussions on joint measures against Kurdish PKK and PJAK guerrillas based in northern Iraq. The... MORE
NEW ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TAKES OFFICE, KEEPS UP REPRESSION
Serzh Sarkisian was sworn in as Armenia’s new president on April 9 amid a lingering political crisis triggered by his extremely controversial victory in last February’s presidential election. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the 53-year-old former prime minister sought to reach out to hundreds of... MORE
NATO WEIGHS PROTECTION OF KAZAKH OIL FACILITIES
NATO's 26 member states held their 59th annual gathering from April 2 to 4 in Bucharest. Its ambitious agenda was headed by proposals to expand the alliance. NATO eventually decided to extend membership offers to Albania and Croatia, while Macedonia, Georgia and Ukraine saw their... MORE