Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
OFFICIAL MINSK OUTRAGED BY MOSCOW’S POLITICAL USE OF THE ENERGY LEVERAGE
Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka’s visit to the Kremlin, scheduled for Friday, November 10, “will obviously be a rather difficult meeting,” according to Russia’s Ambassador in Minsk, Alexander Surikov, at a stage-setting news conference. Russia will not offer low-priced energy to Belarus, he warned, because “Russia... MORE
ASTANA OPTS FOR RUSSIAN ASSISTANCE IN NUCLEAR ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
The most productive part of Kazakh Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov’s October 26 journey to Moscow appears to be his talks with Sergei Kiriyenko, head of the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom). Beaming for the cameras, Akhmetov said the sides had reached “fundamental agreements” on... MORE
BAKIYEV WALKS IN AKAYEV’S SHOES AS OPPOSITION WANTS TO REPLAY TULIP REVOLUTION
On November 2 the opposition bloc “For Reforms” staged mass anti-government demonstrations in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek. The protests continued throughout the weekend. Under mounting pressure, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev submitted a package of constitutional reforms to parliament yesterday, November 6. The parliament convened an... MORE
GERMANY OFFERS UZBEKISTAN HOPE ON LIFTING EU SANCTIONS
At a November 1 meeting in Tashkent with Uzbek President Islam Karimov, German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier raised the prospect of gradually lifting the European Union (EU) sanctions against Uzbekistan with the condition that Tashkent must implement “concrete measures” on human rights issues. The... MORE
ARMENIA SELLING MORE INFRASTRUCTURE, INDUSTRY TO RUSSIA
In his November 6 news conference, Armenia’s de facto strongman and presidential aspirant Serge Sarkisian welcomed the just-consummated purchase of the Armentel telecommunications company by the Russian giant Vympelcom. Sarkisian is defense minister as well as secretary of the national security council (supervising the security... MORE
POLITICAL BATTLE IN UKRAINE OVER THE CONDUCT OF FOREIGN POLICY
The governing Party of Regions and its leftist allies have launched a systematic offensive to wrest control of Ukraine’s foreign policy from the president and his appointees. This offensive is forcing President Viktor Yushchenko to defend his positions more resolutely than has hitherto been the... MORE
THE RUSSIAN MARCH THAT WASN’T: MOSCOW AVOIDS A HOLIDAY POGROM
Political life in Russia, normally tightly controlled, last week focused on an event that was not ordered or sponsored by the authorities. The “Russian march,” a series of rallies planned for Saturday, November 4, by several nationalist organizations, motley extremist groupings, and a few State... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN DEEPENS SECURITY TIES TO MOSCOW
An unusually explicit avowal of dependence on Russia for Kazakhstan’s most sensitive security needs, made in passing during bilateral talks, indicates once more the complexities underlying Astana’s foreign policy. Prime Minister Daniyal Akhmetov stated that Kazakhstan intends to work “only with Russian colleagues” in modernizing... MORE
RUSSIA CEMENTS CONTROL OF ARMENIA’S ENERGY SYSTEM
President Robert Kocharian’s October 30-November 1 working visit to the Kremlin sealed arrangements to deepen Russian control of Armenia’s gas and electricity supply systems. Under these arrangements, Gazprom is de facto taking over the Iran-Armenia gas pipeline, even as Tehran and Yerevan are about to... MORE
SCRAMBLE FOR EURASIAN ENERGY RESOURCES INTENSIFIES
As their perspectives on energy security continue to diverge, the Kremlin and Western powers appear to be engaged in a fierce competition over Eurasia’s enormous hydrocarbon resources. At the heart of the great energy game lies Moscow’s intent to preserve its monopoly over fuel transit... MORE