Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
TURKMENISTAN-CHINA GAS AGREEMENT UNREALISTICALLY AMBITIOUS
Visiting China on April 2-7, President Saparmurat Niyazov of Turkmenistan signed with his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao a "general agreement" on Turkmen gas deliveries to China and construction of a pipeline to link the two countries. Turkmen state media have published the agreement's text, and... MORE
GAZPROM SQUEEZING BELARUS
Addressing an international energy conference on April 4-5 in Moscow, Gazprom Vice-Chairman Alexander Ryazanov threatened to raise the price of gas to Belarus to "at least triple the present level" after December 31, 2006, so as to bring the price for Belarus "in line with... MORE
RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH CHALLENGES “WESTERN” CONCEPT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
In its persistent efforts to craft a new national ideology that would underscore Russia's "civilizational uniqueness" and distinguish it from the liberal West, the Kremlin leadership has turned to the Orthodox Church -- the country's most conservative and anti-Western institution. Predictably, the "unholy alliance" of... MORE
WESTERN-TRAINED PROFESSIONALS DOMINATE NEW AFGHAN CABINET
On March 23 Afghan President Hamid Karzai offered his newly reconstituted cabinet to the new Afghan parliament for a vote of confidence. After days of wrangling, the parliament unanimously approved the formation of the new cabinet on Saturday, April 1. However, the process to approve... MORE
KREMLIN PLAN TO MERGE ADYGEYA MEETS UNEXPECTED OBSTACLE
On April 4, the second session of the newly elected parliament of Adygeya, a region in the western section of the North Caucasus, ended abruptly when President Khasret Sovmen announced his resignation. The Adygei leader had come to parliament to observe the process to select... MORE
BLESSING ARMENIA’S DEBT SERVITUDE
On March 31 in Moscow, the Foundation for the Orthodox Peoples' Unity bestowed its annual award on Armenian President Robert Kocharian and Russia's Gazprom company for their support to Russian spiritual and religious values (Noyan Tapan, March 31). By fortuitous coincidence, Gazprom doubled the price... MORE
NAZARBAYEV’S GROWING CONFIDENCE ON VIEW IN VISIT TO MOSCOW
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev received a warm welcome during his April 3 visit to Moscow. Friendly relations were emphasized when Nazarbayev dedicated a new monument to the 19th-century Kazakh poet Abai Kunanbayev, a devoted Russophile. Speaking at the ceremony, Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that... MORE
NATIONAL SECURITY A NECESSARY FACTOR IN NEGOTIATIONS ON MAZEIKIAI
Russia's court-appointed temporary administrator of the Yukos oil company, Eduard Rebgun, announced on April 3 that he would invalidate any sale of the Yukos assets in Lithuania to any party. Rebgun claims to hold "full legal rights" to authorize or block transactions involving Yukos property... MORE
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