Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
KAZAKH, UZBEK PRESIDENTS CONFER OVER LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN KYRGYZSTAN
On November 3 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev paid an informal visit to Uzbekistan. The trip came as a complete surprise inside Kazakhstan, as it had not been announced in advance and looked like a spontaneous decision. Nazarbayev had been touring South Kazakhstan and he arrived... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN’S NEW CONSTITUTION PROMISES SUBSTANTIAL, LONG-TERM CHANGES
Kyrgyzstan has become the first Central Asian country to endorse a constitution that proclaims a parliamentary state system and significantly trims the president’s powers. This achievement is the result of popular demand, voiced through almost week-long demonstrations organized by the “For Reforms” opposition bloc. According... MORE
HUNGER STRIKE DISTRACTS AZERBAIJANI ACTIVISTS FROM FOCUSING ON UPCOMING ELECTIONS
Azerbaijani opposition activists and journalists have launched a hunger strike to protest the recent pressure on the media and opposition parties from the State Committee for the Management of State Properties. The Committee is demanding that a building located in the heart of Baku, at... MORE
KYIV CHANGING IDEAS, MIXING SIGNALS ON ODESSA-BRODY OIL PIPELINE
Yesterday, November 15, Prime Ministers Viktor Yanukovych of Ukraine and Jaroslaw Kaczynski of Poland announced that they would support building an extension of the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline westward, to the Kralupy refinery in the Czech Republic. The announcement implicitly changes the original intention to extend... MORE
U.S. GREEN LIGHTS RUSSIAN WTO MEMBERSHIP, SEEKS AGREEMENT ON IRAN
Last July, just before the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin told reporters that Washington and Moscow had reached a deal on Russian membership in the World Trade Organization and that a final bilateral agreement would be signed during the summit... MORE
YUSHCHENKO LOSING HIS PARTY
The People’s Union-Our Ukraine (NSNU) political party has ignored President Viktor Yushchenko’s call for change. The second stage of the NSNU’s third congress on November 11 failed to replace the party’s leadership, although Yushchenko -- the party’s honorary chair -- had urged this at the... MORE
MOSCOW’S FINGERPRINTS ALL OVER SOUTH OSSETIA’S REFERENDUM
On November 12 the Russian-installed authorities in South Ossetia held a referendum and “presidential” election in the portions of territory under their control. The balloting returned the de facto president, Eduard Kokoiti, to office for another term and produced a “yes” answer to the question:... MORE
PUTIN-LUKASHENKA MEETING SHATTERS
As anticipated (see EDM, November 8), Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka’s meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Moscow on November 10 ended in disagreement on the full range of issues discussed. In a highly unusual move, the Kremlin kept the publicity down to near-zero... MORE
KOCHARIAN-PUTIN TALKS FOLLOWED BY RUSSIAN ACQUISITION OF ARMENIAN TELECOM LEADER
A leading Russian mobile phone operator is poised to buy Armenia’s national telecommunications company, ArmenTel, further boosting Moscow’s economic presence in the loyal South Caucasus state. The Armenian government will almost certainly give its mandatory consent to the nearly $490 million takeover, having just ceded... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN’S SECURITY TIES GROWING IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Kazakhstan is seeking to diversify its security interests, looking to Middle Eastern states for assistance. This trend was evident during Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s first state visit to Kazakhstan on November 7. Kazakh officials also explored potential security cooperation with Jordanian Defense Minister Maruf al-Bakhit... MORE