Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
THE LAUNCHING OF A PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT IN BELARUS
On July 3, Belarus officially commemorated Independence Day, and the month also marks the 17th anniversary of the declaration of sovereignty in the late Soviet era. In contrast to previous years, the authorities are now offering a new form of patriotism: the promotion of national... MORE
YEREVAN VOWS “SECOND-GENERATION” REFORMS TO SUSTAIN ROBUST GROWTH
Armenia’s recently reshuffled government has pledged to embark on “second-generation” reforms that it hopes will sustain robust economic growth. According to government statistics, the Armenian economy expanded by 10.2% during the first five months of 2007, putting it on track to register a double-digit growth... MORE
SPY CATCHING KYRGYZ STYLE
Accusations of espionage against Dzhyparkul Arykova, a consultant to the Kyrgyz parliamentary press service arrested on June 19, has thrown the national intelligence community into crisis. In recent days the authorities have tried to distance themselves from media reports that the case centers on Arykova’s... MORE
FROM SCHROEDER TO STOIBER?
Russian President Vladimir Putin received Edmund Stoiber, the head of Bavaria’s government and chairman of Germany’s conservative Christian-Social Union (CSU, Bavarian wing of Germany’s governing Christian-Democrat/Christian Social Union), on July 5 for a four-hour meeting in Moscow. During this meeting, Stoiber endorsed Russia’s goal of... MORE
RUSSIA WINS OLYMPIC BID, NOW MUST REALIZE AMBITIOUS PLANS
The fish that President Vladimir Putin caught while sailing with U.S. President George W. Bush and former president George H.W. Bush at Kennebunkport, Maine, turned out to be a lucky one. After Maine, Putin’s next stop was Guatemala City, where he delivered an emotional speech... MORE
RUSSIA’S GIANT BUREISKAYA HYDROPOWER PLANT NEARS COMPLETION
On July 5 Russia’s Unified Energy Systems (UES) launched the fifth power-generating unit of its flagship project in the Far East, the Bureiskaya plant, in Talakan, Amur region. The plant’s first unit was launched in June 2003 and is due to be completed in 2008... MORE
RUSSIA WARNS OF MISSILE FORWARD-DEPLOYMENT IN KALININGRAD REGION
On July 4, First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov warned that Russia could deploy medium-range missiles in the Kaliningrad oblast -- opposite Lithuania and Poland -- if the United States turns down Russia’s proposals on anti-missile defense in Europe. The implicit threat to these staunch... MORE
UKRAINIAN DEFENSE MINISTER SLASHES EXPENSES WITH EYE TOWARD NATO
When the USSR collapsed in 1991, both Russia and Ukraine claimed the Black Sea Fleet and the historic port of Sevastopol with Ukraine. Eventually an agreement was reached to divide the hardware and allow Russia to lease the port. Ukraine opted to offload much of... MORE
ANGER AGAINST LOCAL AUTHORITIES AND FSB TERROR RISING IN INGUSHETIA
The regular reports from the North Caucasus about armed, masked men who rush into houses early in the morning to kidnap young men are old news. Kidnappings, illegal detentions, and disappearances have become daily occurrences for the whole region, especially Chechnya, Ingushetia, and Dagestan. Civilian... MORE
KULOV CONTINUES TO ADVOCATE RUSSIAN-KYRGYZ CONFEDERATION
On July 2 opposition leader and former prime minister Felix Kulov asked the Kyrgyz the Central Election Commission to organize a national referendum on the issue of a Kyrgyz- Russian confederation. This initiative comes a month after Kulov announced his proposal to create a new... MORE