Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
KAZAKHSTAN LAUNCHES AMBITIOUS MILITARY REFORM PLAN
On April 7 Kazakhstan published its new military doctrine, outlining both its strategic interests and priorities for future military cooperation. The doctrine advocates intensified cooperation within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), as well as broadening Astana’s strategic partnership with Russia and... MORE
CAN UKRAINE’S CONSTITUTIONAL COURT BE UNBIASED?
Today, April 17, Ukraine’s Constitutional Court (CC) began considering an appeal by a group of pro-government parliamentarians regarding President Viktor Yushchenko’s April 2 decree on the dissolution of parliament. The CC should decide not only on the question of early parliamentary elections, but also, indirectly,... MORE
UNSC RESOLUTION ON THE CONFLICT IN ABKHAZIA: LESS TENDENTIOUS BUT STILL DUBIOUS
A routine six-month prolongation of UNOMIG’s mandate -- the 13 year-old United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia -- resulted in yet another political resolution on Abkhazia by the United Nations Security Council on April 13, after a week-long debate that punctuated a frozen “negotiating process.”... MORE
MOSCOW FAILS TO BRING ABKHAZIA TO UNSC, BUT WILL TRY AGAIN
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs tried hard to help the Abkhaz “foreign minister,” Sergei Shamba, crash the doors of the U.N. Security Council’s April 9-13 deliberations on the conflict in Abkhazia. However, Moscow was unable to obtain a U.S. visa for Shamba, who is a... MORE
PUTIN’S STABILITY MELTS AS THE “DISCONTENTED” TAKE TO THE STREETS
At first glance, the event in Moscow that made much international news over the weekend was blown out of all proportions. A few thousand “radicals” tried to stage a march on April 14. They had only been allowed permission for a “rally,” and consequently a... MORE
TURKEY CALLS FOR CROSS-BORDER OPERATIONS AGAINST KURDS
Washington’s ongoing reluctance to rein in militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) activity in northern Iraq is raising the real possibility of a Turkish military incursion into northern Kurdish Iraq, which could produce the ominous scenario of Turkish troops facing not only Kurdish but also U.S.... MORE
MOSCOW SIGNALS SUPPORT FOR ARMENIAN POWER HANDOVER
With less than a month to go before Armenia’s crucial parliamentary elections, Russia has signaled its support for an anticipated handover of power from Armenian President Robert Kocharian to newly appointed Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian. In a series of early April visits to Yerevan, senior... MORE
KULOV MODERATES HIS DEMANDS AGAINST PRESIDENT, BUT BISHKEK STILL TENSE
On April 11 thousands of people gathered in central Bishkek, the Kyrgyz capital, to demand early presidential elections and a return to the November 2006 constitution. According to various estimates, between 4,000 and 12,000 supporters of two major opposition blocs, United Front and For Reforms,... MORE
VORONIN PRESSURED TO ACCEPT RUSSIAN SETTLEMENT PLAN FOR TRANSNISTRIA
In several policy conferences with a small number of top officials in recent days, most recently on April 11, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin has presented a new Russian scenario to settle the Transnistria conflict. It stems from Russia’s Security Council, whose deputy secretary, Yuri Zubakov,... MORE
MOSCOW NOW SEEKS TO TEMPT VORONIN INTO DISSOLVING PARLIAMENT
Moscow is using the negotiations on resolving the Transnistria conflict as a means to weaken Moldova’s political system. This is a collateral goal of the negotiating channel run by Security Council Deputy Secretary Yuri Zubakov with core members of the Moldovan presidential team. Moscow’s specific... MORE