Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
MOSCOW CONFRONTS THE WEST OVER CFE TREATY AT OSCE
Russian officials are intensifying their warnings about scuttling the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE), unless the West brings the adapted but unratified treaty into force while accepting the continued presence of Russian troops in Georgia and Moldova. Apart from that goal, Moscow aims... MORE
RUSSIAN TROOPS IN MOLDOVA — MAIN REMAINING OBSTACLE TO CFE TREATY RATIFICATION
With Russian troops on their way out from two bases in Georgia, the international politics of CFE Treaty ratification focuses increasingly on Moldova. The OSCE’s Permanent Council-Forum for Security Cooperation special joint meeting on May 23, with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov’s participation,... MORE
CSTO SEEKS WAYS TO BETTER SECURE CENTRAL ASIA
General Nikolai Bordyuzha, general secretary of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), visited Bishkek May 21-23 to discuss CSTO plans for the second half of this year and the first half of 2008, when Kyrgyzstan is due to head the organization. Bordyuzha's trip to Bishkek... MORE
RUSSIA TO REDIRECT MASSIVE OIL VOLUMES FROM DRUZHBA TO BALTIC PIPELINE
On May 21, the Russian government announced its final approval of the second trunk line of the Baltic Pipeline System (BPS-2) for oil export from Russia’s port Primorsk through the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. This is Russia’s fifth major move within ten days... MORE
KYRGYZ OFFICIALS, CITIZENS OPPOSE U.S. BASE
Following the May 21 visit to Bishkek by Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) General Secretary Nikolai Bordyuzha, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev ordered the government to form a special commission to investigate the expediency of the U.S. military base at the Manas airport vis-à-vis Kyrgyzstan’s national... MORE
INDIA: A NEW PLAYER IN CENTRAL ASIA?
As Washington's relations with Kyrgyzstan go from bad to worse, especially since the December 6, 2006, shooting of Kyrgyz national Alexander Ivanov at the U.S. air base at Manas, a new player is emerging in Central Asia’s “Great Game” -- India (Radio Azattyk, May 24).... MORE
RECRUITING PROFESSIONAL SERGEANTS RUSSIAN-STYLE
This week the Russian Ministry of Defense held a conference of sergeants and other serving non-commissioned officers at the base of the elite 27th army brigade, just outside Moscow. Some 424 NCOs were scheduled to attend, representing units from all across Russia and from all... MORE
RUSSIA, U.S., AND PAKISTAN SEEK DEEPER MILITARY TIES TO BISHKEK
On May 16 Kyrgyz Prime Minister Almazbek Atambayev met a senior Russian military delegation led by Army General Vladimir Isakov, the Russian deputy defense minister and head of the Rear Services. The Kyrgyz were keen to highlight that this was the highest Russian military delegation... MORE
POLICE OFFICERS MEET IN NALCHIK TO DISCUSS INSURGENCY OPTIONS
On May 8, a seminar on fighting crime was held in Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria, a North Caucasian republic. The seminar, “Modern Russian Society: Burning Issues of Fighting Crime,” was divided into four sections: terrorism; drug trafficking; historical, judicial, philosophic, and criminological aspects of... MORE
BALTIC SEABED GAS PIPELINE PROJECT: FAR FROM A DONE DEAL
Leaders of Estonia and Lithuania have publicly joined the growing ranks of critics and skeptics regarding Nordstream, the Russo-German Baltic seabed pipeline project for Russian gas. With Nordic countries along the proposed pipeline route raising environmental and security concerns, its commercial rationale increasingly questioned, and... MORE