Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
HUNGARY’S PRIME MINISTER IN MOSCOW GIVES NABUCCO ANOTHER CHANCE
For the moment at least, Hungary's Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany is not abandoning the last line of defense against Gazprom's monopolization of pipeline routes to the European Union. That remaining defense is the EU's Nabucco project to pump Caspian gas via Turkey to Europe.... MORE
EU MISSING OPPORTUNITY TO USE TURKEY AS RELIABLE ENERGY CORRIDOR
Amid great fanfare, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, and Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev assembled in Athens on March 15 to initial an agreement on a $1.25 billion, 173-mile-long pipeline running from Bulgaria’s Black Sea Burgas port to Greece’s Adriatic port... MORE
POST-SOVIET SECESSIONIST LEADERS WORRIED BY RUSSIA’S KOSOVO POLICY
Russia’s seemingly staunch defense of Serbia’s “territorial integrity” and threat to veto any form of recognition of Kosovo’s independence is alarming the post-Soviet secessionist leaderships. These had counted on quick international recognition of Kosovo -- whether against Russia’s will or as part of a Western... MORE
OPPOSITION NOT CONVINCED BY BAKIYEV’S ABOUT-FACE
On March 21, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev agreed to yield to opposition demands after two major opposition blocs, “United Front” and “For Reforms,” announced their intentions to stage a demonstration on April 11 against his government. In the coming weeks the president is expected to... MORE
OFFICIALS DISMISS CLASHES BETWEEN KAZAKH AND CHECHEN YOUTH AS “HOOLIGANISM”
The widespread fighting between Chechens and Kazakhs that erupted in Almaty's Enbekshiqazaq district on March 18 were the latest in a long string of ethnic-based conflicts upsetting the densely populated southern regions of Kazakhstan. The melee caused several deaths and dozens of serious injuries. According... MORE
RUSSIAN SECURITY COUNCIL PLANS TO DRAFT MILITARY DOCTRINE
Last September the Moscow daily Gazeta printed extracts of a purported new Russian military doctrine, allegedly prepared in secret by a group of experts in the Defense Ministry and leaked by an undisclosed official source. The main feature of the new doctrine, as published by... MORE
KREMLIN TAKES MEASURES TO REGULATE THE INTERNET
On March 12 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree to combine two state bodies that control and license media sources in the country. The Federal Service for Telecom Supervision and the Federal Mass Media and Cultural Oversight Service have been merged to create a... MORE
AZERBAIJAN AT THE FOREFRONT OF CASPIAN BASIN ENERGY INITIATIVES
Azerbaijan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmar Mammadyarov is meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington today to sign a memorandum of understanding on cooperation for energy security. Crafted to a large extent by Deputy Assistant Secretary Matt Bryza during recent visits to... MORE
FORMER AND CURRENT UKRAINIAN INTERIOR MINISTERS READY TO CONFRONT EACH OTHER
Ukrainian law-enforcement agencies are not concealing their displeasure with the behavior of former interior minister Yuriy Lutsenko, one of the key figures of the 2004 Orange Revolution. Lutsenko has set up the “People’s Self-Defense” movement and is touring the regions in order to find out... MORE
NISEPI POLL REVEALS OFFICIAL DECEPTIONS IN BELARUS
The release of the latest opinion poll from the Independent Institute for Social-Economic and Political Research, headed by Dr. Aleh Manayeu, provides many insights into recent political events in Belarus. Based on 1,474 respondents, the survey was conducted in all regions of the country in... MORE