Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
MAVERICK BANKER WINS MAYORAL ELECTION IN KYIV
The mayoral election in Kyiv, which was held simultaneously with the national parliamentary elections on March 26, produced a sensation. Leonid Chernovetsky, a maverick nouveau riche whose bid for city hall was hardly taken seriously in the beginning, came out ahead. While the two favorites... MORE
WILL ABKHAZIA COME UNDER UN GOVERNANCE?
During a March 29 news conference at UN headquarters in New York, Revaz Adamia, Georgia's permanent representative to the United Nations, stated that Georgia would not oppose temporary UN governance for Abkhazia. His comment likely is a trial balloon to test the reaction of the... MORE
AGREEMENTS SIGNED ON RUSSIAN MILITARY WITHDRAWAL FROM GEORGIA
On Friday, March 31, Georgia's First Deputy Defense Minister, Mamuka Kudava, and Russia's Ground Forces Commander-in-Chief, Colonel-General Alexei Maslov, signed a set of agreements on the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Batumi and Akhalkalaki bases and other Russian military installations in Georgia. The agreements... MORE
U.S. ANNOUNCES MAJOR NEW AID PACKAGE FOR ARMENIA
The United States has officially committed itself to providing $235.65 million in additional economic assistance to Armenia, in a further indication of its deepening ties with the South Caucasus country. The sum, substantial by Armenian standards, is to be provided over the next five years... MORE
TAJIK MILITARY WEARY OF NATO
Tajikistan's military leadership has expressed public concern over the country's recent trend toward closer involvement with the NATO Alliance as a mechanism through which Dushanbe will gain enhanced military and security capabilities. The apparent turn in the direction of Tajikistan's stated aims in this sphere... MORE
RUSSIAN-KAZAKH “STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP” LACKS EXCLUSIVITY
Russia has long considered Kazakhstan to be its main partner in Central Asia, but the Kazakh leadership seems to be seeking ways to hedge its bets by building an alternative partnership with China. Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's official visit to Russia April 3-5 is billed... MORE
KREMLIN CASTS LONG SHADOW OVER RUSSIAN BUSINESS
Two dozen top Russian businessmen gathered in the Kremlin last week for the ritual annual meeting with President Vladimir Putin. The key feature of the two-hour long exchange was the near complete absence of any content. The only point that made some headlines was Putin's... MORE
LITHUANIA MAY NATIONALIZE MAZEIKIAI OIL COMPLEX
While Gazprom is rapidly making inroads into Europe's gas infrastructure (see EDM, March 13, 21), Russian authorities are now targeting oil assets on EU territory in Lithuania for takeover by a Kremlin-approved company. The Mazeikiai oil refinery and associated enterprises in Lithuania are among the... MORE
RUSSIAN STRATEGISTS PONDER POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS OF UKRAINIAN POLL
As Ukrainian political forces are engaged in tough backstage bargaining to form a ruling coalition in the newly elected parliament, Russia is warily eyeing its western neighbor's political scene following the March 26 poll. Although the party of Moscow's old favorite won the largest number... MORE
PROTESTS, ACCUSATIONS, AND RIOTS SHAKE GEORGIA
The rapid succession of crises this week in Georgia suggests that President Mikheil Saakashvili's government and its policies are at a critical juncture. On March 27 the government announced that it had prevented a nation-wide prison riot plotted by criminal kingpins. Minister of Justice Ghia... MORE