Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
NO COMMITMENT TO NABUCCO MEANS PREFERENCE FOR GAZPROM
Austria’s OMV company, leader of the Nabucco pipeline project, initially conceived it almost a decade ago to bring Iranian gas via Turkey and the Balkans to central Europe. With subsequent political developments shelving this and other gas projects in Iran, OMV has considered options in... MORE
AUTHORITIES AND OPPOSITION FIGHT TO CONTROL LUCRATIVE POST IN KARACHAEVO-CHERKESSIA
On March 11 residents of Karachaevsk, the second-largest city in the North Caucasus region of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, voted for mayor. Yet two months later, the final result of the election is still unknown. Meanwhile, two local political forces are fighting each other to gain control of... MORE
RAHMON PROMISES ECONOMIC PROSPERITY IN TAJIKISTAN
In his annual address to parliament on April 30, Tajik President Emomali Rahmon outlined prospects for Tajikistan’s economic growth through 2015 within the National Development Strategy. Rahmon enjoys majority support in Tajikistan despite widespread corruption and elements of authoritarianism in his governance, and most Tajiks... MORE
PUTIN MAKES SWEETHEART ARMS DEALS TO BENEFIT HIS CRONIES
For several years, Russian arms traders have been negotiating to resume trade with Libya. Now reports suggest that a $2.2 billion deal is being readied and may be finalized later this year when Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Tripoli. Specifically, Libya may buy four complexes... MORE
WHEN WILL SNAP ELECTION BE HELD IN UKRAINE?
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych has bent to pressure from President Viktor Yushchenko and agreed to an early parliamentary election. This decision has been essentially a compromise between the two main players, as Yanukovych’s junior coalition partners -- the Socialists and the Communists –-- have... MORE
RUSSIAN STRATEGY, EU DRIFT IN ESTONIA
Russia’s ongoing political offensive against Estonia -- and implicit challenge to the European Union -- constitutes the first serious attempt to reverse the post-1991 status quo in Europe. Moscow seems to be targeting Estonia as a first test case of such a process. Further Russian... MORE
ROSNEFT WINS KEY YUKOS ASSETS IN EASTERN SIBERIA
Russia’s state-run Rosneft energy company has snagged key Yukos assets in Siberia, enabling the company to overtake the privately owned Lukoil in terms of oil production capacity and become Russia's largest oil company. The move has also increased the government's clout in the country's oil... MORE
U.S. PLANS TO ATTACK IRAN FROM MANAS DENIED
On May 3 Marie Yovanovitch, U.S. Ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, denied reports that the Manas base near Bishkek is being used to store nuclear weapons for a possible attack on Iran. Yovanovitch commented on the “ridiculous” nature of these allegations, which suggested that the U.S. military... MORE
DOES PUTIN HAVE AN ARMS CONTROL AGENDA?
The wave of loud protestations in the West against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “moratorium” on implementing the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty (1990/1999) has temporarily subsided, as the concerned parties hope to receive clarifications on that unprecedented step at the May 10 meeting of... MORE
NATO AND U.S. RALLY SUPPORT FOR ESTONIA
Responding to Russia’s bullying of Estonia (see EDM, April 27, May 1, 3) the U.S. White House has invited Estonian President Toomas Ilves to meet with U.S. President George W. Bush on June 25 in Washington. The invitation itself, and the announcement’s timing in May,... MORE