Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
RUSSIA CAPTURES SERBIA’S ENERGY SECTOR
On January 25 in Moscow, President Vladimir Putin and Serbian leaders witnessed the signing of agreements to hand over Serbia’s entire gas and oil sectors to Russia’s Gazprom at one stroke. Serbia’s February 3 presidential election runoff and Russia’s support to Serbia against the West... MORE
REPRESSION UNDERMINES DIALOGUE WITH BELARUS
On January 22 Andrea Rigoni, a special rapporteur on Belarus for the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), declared that PACE should recommence a dialogue with the Belarusian regime of President Alexander Lukashenka. Her comment denotes the latest stage in a continuing debate... MORE
SEMYON MOGILEVICH’S ARREST – A BLOW TO MEDVEDEV, OR A FAVOR?
Last week’s arrest in Moscow of Semyon Mogilevich was a surprise not because he was so elusive, but because he had apparently been living unmolested in the Russian capital for some time (even, reportedly, maintaining an office in the Ukraina Hotel). The Ukrainian-born reputed organized... MORE
KURDISH MPs CALL FOR FREEDOM FOR THEIR BELIEFS
As Turkey’s ruling moderate Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) continues to try to find a way to lift the ban that currently prevents women wearing headscarves from attending university, members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DPT) have called on the government to show... MORE
PUTIN-VORONIN FAREWELL: AN ANTI-CLIMACTIC CODA
Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Vladimir Voronin of Moldova met on January 22 in Moscow for the last time in their presidencies. Voronin was still hoping against hope that Putin might finally deliver a settlement of the Transnistria conflict on terms compatible with Moldovan... MORE
RUSSIA PURSUES POLITICAL, ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT WITH UZBEKISTAN
As Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov was formally inaugurated for another term as the country’s leader on January 16, his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, lost little time extending his congratulations. "Your authority, energy, and determination will guarantee the further social and economic development of Uzbekistan," Putin... MORE
BISHKEK EXPLORES OIL PROSPECTS
The relentless race to develop Central Asia’s energy reserves has now reached mountainous Kyrgyzstan. But as in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan, it seems that Russia has largely beat out its foreign competition, concentrating on natural gas while allowing Western companies to scramble for the country’s... MORE
AKP’S ISLAMISM ONE OF VALUES AND IDENTITY RATHER THAN SHARI’A
For long-term observers of Turkey, one of the country’s enduring fascinations is its turbulent mix of contrasts, paradoxes, and contradictions, Nowhere is this more true than in its attitudes toward the Christian West in general and Europe in particular. Europe is frequently regarded as being... MORE
MEDVEDEV, MILITARY PROMOTE DIFFERENT OUTLOOKS FOR RUSSIA
On Saturday, January 19, the first deputy defense minister and chief of the General Staff, four-star general Yuri Baluyevsky, announced that Russia must build an armed force that will be ready to meet the challenges of the modern world. Baluyevsky sent a stern-sounding warning to... MORE
AGREEMENT TO INTEGRATE BULGARIA INTO RUSSIA’S GAS NETWORK
The agreements signed on January 18 in Sofia in President Vladimir Putin’s presence pave the way for Bulgaria’s inclusion in Russia’s expanding energy networks. From President Giorgi Parvanov and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev on down, Bulgarian officials are hailing this set of agreements as the... MORE