Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

NEW POLITICAL ALLIANCES EMERGE IN UKRAINE

As Ukraine prepares for the September 30 parliamentary elections, the balance of power among political forces is markedly shifting. The pre-democratic “Orange” camp is reconfiguring while the long-dominant Dnipropetrovsk camp is dwindling in influence. On Thursday, June 28, President Viktor Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine party, headed... MORE

DID YUSHCHENKO BORROWS KUCHMA’S IDEAS FOR CONSTITUTION?

The Ukrainian constitution will most certainly be changed after the snap parliamentary election scheduled for September 30, no matter who wins the vote. Both President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych admit that the constitutional reform of 2004-2006, which increased the power of parliament... MORE

ARMS CONTROL AS A “SAFE ISSUE” AT KENNEBUNKPORT

It has never been clear during the last few weeks whether there is a point to the informal July 1-2 meeting between Presidents George W. Bush and Vladimir Putin at Kennebunkport, Maine. U.S.-Russian relations have certainly deteriorated since the start of this year, and the... MORE

CHINA ASSERTS COUNTER TERRORIST CREDENTIALS IN CENTRAL ASIA

Diplomatic contacts between Bishkek and Beijing are intensifying ahead of the August summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Bishkek. Last week SCO defense minister conferred in Bishkek. Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi will pay an official visit to Kyrgyzstan on July 7-8, meeting... MORE

GEORGIAN FLAG RAISED OVER AKHALKALAKI

The flag of Georgia has been flying over the Akhalkalaki military base since June 27, with Georgian troops moving onto the base to replace the last Russian troops. The commander of the Group of Russian Forces in the Transcaucasus (GRVZ), Maj.-General Andrei Popov, and Georgia’s... MORE

NAZARBAYEV DISSOLVES MAJILIS, CALLS SNAP ELECTION

On June 20, speaking to parliamentary faction of his Nur Otan party, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said he had decided to dissolve the lower chamber of parliament, the Majilis. In an unprecedented move, one day before that decision, 61 members of the Majilis had petitioned... MORE

IS MOLDOVA’S PRESIDENT DROPPING THE EUROPEAN BANNER?

President Vladimir Voronin gathered the chiefs of diplomatic missions accredited in Moldova on June 28 for a briefing on his recent and upcoming negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin (Moldpres, June 28). Stung by criticism of his non-transparent meetings with Putin and back-channel negotiations with... MORE

FOR SERBS IN KOSOVO, NATO GOES FROM VILLAIN TO PROTECTOR

In one of history’s more recent ironies, during a June 27 meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic asked NATO to protect minority Serbs in Serbia’s increasingly autonomous Kosovo province. Jeremic said, “Regardless of political and diplomatic developments, maintaining... MORE