Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT REAFFIRMS PLANS TO BUILD NEW NUCLEAR PLANT
The Armenian government has pledged to press ahead with the realization of its extremely ambitious plans to build a new nuclear power station in place of the aging Metsamor plant, which is due to be shut down by 2016. Underlining the seriousness of its intentions,... MORE
RUSSIA CHINA PLEDGE TO BOOST SECURITY TIES
Top Russian and Chinese security officials have reiterated earlier pledges to develop bilateral cooperation. They also agreed to hold an unprecedented security drill in Southern Russia, the region that includes Chechnya and other volatile North Caucasus republics. "We have made plans to conduct exercises in... MORE
RULING PARTY CONTINUES TO LOSE GROUND IN AZERBAIJAN
Recent sweeping changes in the ministerial positions in Azerbaijan's government have brought a new dynamic to the country's internal political developments. Whereas these developments highlighted the growing and consolidating position of President Ilham Aliyev, they also revealed the fading role of the ruling Yeni Azerbaijan... MORE
KOCHARIAN’S WARNING TO RECOGNIZE KARABAKH IS UNCONVINCING
Armenian President Robert Kocharian's warning that Yerevan might officially recognize Karabakh as a state and sign a military alliance with it is being treated by Azerbaijan with composure. Despite that warning, Baku's priority is to maintain an atmosphere conducive to the resumption of negotiations, following... MORE
SELLING “ENERGY SECURITY” IN BUDAPEST AND PRAGUE
For many years Russia's European policy neglected the group of states from Slovenia to Poland that are now new EU members. These former "satellites" were perceived as intrinsically "Russia-phobic." Russian President Vladimir Putin's visits to Hungary and the Czech Republic last week were intended to... MORE
SOLANA GAFFE OVERSHADOWS FAILURE OF 5+2 NEGOTIATIONS
The European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, has unexpectedly redefined the nature of the conflict in Transnistria with a single phrase. Interviewed in the Chisinau daily Moldova Suverana, on the eve of a scheduled visit to Moldova, Solana opines:... MORE
TURKEY SIDES WITH MOSCOW AGAINST WASHINGTON ON BLACK SEA FORCE
Ankara and Moscow joined forces to reject the U.S. administration's proposal to expand a NATO-led Mediterranean counterterrorism effort into the Black Sea. Turkey and Russia's joint opposition to the U.S. request underscores the two countries' growing wariness of U.S. strategic designs in the wider Black... MORE
WHAT ROLE FOR THE BLACK SEA REGION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION’S ENERGY STRATEGY? (Part 1)
The European Union is urgently drafting for release within the month a Green Paper on Energy, which may be the first in a series of Energy Papers from Brussels. The move responds to the twin problems that suddenly alarmed the EU and the United States... MORE
WHAT ROLE FOR THE BLACK SEA REGION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION’S ENERGY STRATEGY? (Part 2)
A Black Sea-Caspian focus would highlight the opportunities for common EU-U.S. policies on energy security. The timing seems ideal for the forthcoming EU Green Paper on Energy to recommend joining forces with the United States to reactivate the major projects drafted in the 1990s for... MORE
LOCALS BELIEVE RUSSIAN MILITARY IS POISONING CHECHEN CHILDREN
Last December 7, Taisa Minkailova, a 13-year-old Chechen girl from the village of Starogladkovskaya in the Shelkovskoy District of Northern Chechnya, complained of health problems. She was gasping for air, experiencing convulsions and headaches, and her limbs became numb. Her parents brought her to a... MORE