Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
STATE BUDGET POSES RISKS FOR RUSSIAN ECONOMY
Last week 11 leading Russian economic experts sent a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov warning about the possible – and possibly grave – negative economic consequences from the planned massive increases in budget spending on various social programs (Vedomosti, September 30). The government is... MORE
RUSSIA UNEASY ABOUT POLAND’S RIGHTWARD SHIFT
Russia's political class is warily eyeing the government in Poland, where two center-right parties won the September 25 parliamentary elections. As relations between Moscow and Warsaw, never particularly warm, have sunk to new lows this year, the Kremlin is concerned with the possible impact of... MORE
LOCAL ELECTIONS EXPOSE WEAKNESS OF ARMENIAN CIVIL SOCIETY
Armenia's ongoing local election season is exposing the degradation of its democratic institutions as well as the weakness of its civil society. The polls, effectively boycotted by the Armenian opposition, are essentially an intra-government affair, with rival wealthy individuals seeking to further their business interests... MORE
INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE FOCUSING ON TAJIK-AFGHAN BORDER
Landmark agreements on border security and combating the narcotics trade were signed on September 26-29 in Dushanbe with a view toward stemming the Afghan heroin flow, the world's largest. Afghan drugs are being trafficked via Tajikistan to Russia and Europe. Following the mid-2005 completion of... MORE
WILL YUSHCHENKO FOLLOW THE PATTERN OF SERBIA’S KOSTUNICA — OR DJINDJIC?
This week has been both good and bad for Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. Good, because his new government headed by Yuriy Yekhanurov is taking shape. The new government is set to be more market-reform minded, a step favored by foreign investors. But these positives come... MORE
CHANCE MISSED TO SAVE KARSHI-KHANABAD
On September 27-28, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried headed an interagency delegation to Tashkent on the first leg of a Central Asian tour. A hoped-for Uzbek consent to continued American use of the irreplaceable Karshi-Khanabad (K-2) air base did not materialize during this... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S OPPOSITION ANGERED BY LIMITS ON FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY
After three month of peaceful demonstrations, last Sunday (September 25) Azerbaijan's opposition parties and police clashed in downtown Baku. Ministry of Interior forces broke up the unauthorized rally by the main opposition alliance, Azadliq (Freedom), which unites the three largest opposition parties (Musavat, Popular Front,... MORE
CRUNCH TIME FOR SAAKASHVILI’S GOVERNMENT
So far, the Georgian government has weathered the latest cycle of disturbances in the country's restive regions. Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, came under mortar fire on the heels of its celebration of the 15th anniversary of its declaration of secession from Georgia. The coincidence... MORE
RUSSIA WANTS TO BE MORE THAN CHINA’S SOURCE FOR RAW MATERIALS
While Moscow reiterates its pledges to beef up Russia's strategic partnership with China, some Russian officials are warning that Russia would not accept the role of raw materials supplier for China's energy-hungry economy. As Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Russian Federation Council, traveled to China... MORE
PUTIN PRAISES STABILITY AND PROMISES PROSPERITY
Yesterday, September 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin spent nearly three hours answering questions from Russians who had gathered in specially organized studios across the country. The questions had been carefully selected from over a million messages and the answers were shown live on two main... MORE