Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
EU’S ENERGY POLICY: A QUEST FOR RELEVANCE
The relevance of any EU energy policy will hinge on clearly identifying the mounting risks, with an uninhibited analysis of Russia’s manifold challenges, and calling for the development of an energy security strategy, with diversification of supplies as its centerpiece. The twin goals must be... MORE
SEVEN RUSSIAN CHALLENGES TO THE WEST’S ENERGY SECURITY
Russia’s challenge to Western energy security has grown almost explosively in recent months along seven dimensions: 1. Seemingly unchecked growth of the European market share captured by Russia’s state-connected energy companies. Largely driven or assisted by the Kremlin, this process is fraught with manifold economic... MORE
ENERGY SECURITY AS A EURO-ATLANTIC CONCERN
The European Commission is expecting comments this month before finalizing its draft Energy Security Paper for publication. Russia’s manifold challenges to Western energy security are confronting head-on the European Union’s supply diversification and demonopolization goals. Thanks to the Kremlin’s political impetus, these processes pose systemic... MORE
IMF WARNS TBILISI TO CURB RISING INFLATION
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned the Georgian government to curb the country's creeping inflation. The admonition has provided evidence that the country's actual economic situation significantly differs from the government's rosy pronouncements. Since the beginning of 2006, the government has continuously touted impressive... MORE
KARIMOV FORGING PARTNERSHIP WITH JAPAN
Still tainted by the May 2005 Andijan massacre and its aftermath, Uzbek President Islam Karimov has discovered that Japan is willing to explore economic cooperation and to develop closer relations with the Tashkent regime. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Central Asia in late August... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN, KYRGYZSTAN, UZBEKISTAN, AND TAJIKISTAN SIGN PACT TO PRESERVE ARAL SEA
Central Asian leaders reiterated pledges to rescue the Aral Sea during a summit meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, on Friday, September 1. At that meeting, the presidents of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan decided to revive the International Fund for Saving the Aral Sea. (Turkmenistan did... MORE
ARMENIAN PRESIDENT, DEFENSE MINISTER SHOW SIGNS OF RIFT
Recent weeks have revealed a rift between Armenia’s two most powerful leaders that could have far-reaching implications for the political future of the South Caucasus state. President Robert Kocharian is reportedly monitoring with unease the efforts by Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian, his hitherto chief lieutenant... MORE
RUSSIAN COAST GUARD SHOOTS JAPANESE FISHERMAN IN DISPUTED WATERS
A border incident has reignited the decades-long territorial dispute between Moscow and Tokyo. Russian border guards fired on a Japanese boat in disputed waters, killing a fisherman, for allegedly poaching in Russian territorial waters. Japan responded with a “strong protest” to Moscow. Moscow has insisted... MORE
IT LOOKS, SOUNDS, FEELS LIKE A BLOCKADE: RUSSIAN OIL BLOCKADE OF LITHUANIA
Ignored by Western believers in Russia’s reliability as an energy supplier, the Russian government is attempting to either bankrupt or capture the oil concern Mazeikiai in Lithuania. The holding’s centerpiece, the Mazeikiai refinery, is the only refinery in the three Baltic states and largest economic... MORE
LITHUANIAN REFINERY IS STRUGGLING TO STAY AFLOAT DESPITE RUSSIAN PRESSURE
Russia’s state-run monopoly Transneft has warned that it might indefinitely shut down the pipeline feeding Lithuania’s largest oil refinery, Mazeikiai Nafta. At the end of July, Transneft stopped providing crude to Mazeikiai, citing damage in the section of the Druzhba-1 pipeline (see EDM, August 3).... MORE