Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
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
RUSSIA’S NEW CHINA-BOUND GAS PIPELINE PLAN SPARKS CONTROVERSY
As the Kremlin pledged to build two huge natural gas pipelines to China by 2011, one of these routes has already triggered an environmental controversy. When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited China on March 21-22 for talks with President Hu Jintao, he reiterated pledges to... MORE
DAGESTAN CONTINUES TO SINK INTO CHAOS DESPITE APPOINTMENT OF NEW LEADER
More than a month has passed since the Kremlin appointed a new leader for Dagestan, the largest republic in the North Caucasus. On February 20, Russian President Vladimir Putin put 65-year-old Mukhu Aliev at the helm of the North Caucasus republic and Dagestan's legislature readily... MORE
AZERBAIJAN SPEARHEADING INITIATIVE ON TRANS-CASPIAN GAS PIPELINE
Addressing an international energy conference in progress in Baku, Azerbaijan's Industry and Energy Minister Natig Aliyev outlined the advantages of a trans-Caspian gas pipeline from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan via the South Caucasus to European markets. Natig Aliyev underscored the project's value for diversifying supplies and... MORE
NEW TENSIONS COMPLICATE RELATIONS BETWEEN BAKU AND TEHRAN
More than 600 representatives of Azerbaijani diaspora organizations in 49 countries assembled in Baku on March 16 for the second World Azerbaijani Congress. The event was organized by the State Committee on the Affairs of Azerbaijanis Living Abroad, which was established in 2003 by a... MORE
ELECTION DEFEAT A COLD SHOWER FOR YUSHCHENKO
The Our Ukraine (NU) bloc of President Viktor Yushchenko lost the March 26 parliamentary elections not only to the opposition Party of Regions (PRU) of Viktor Yanukovych, whom Yushchenko defeated in the presidential poll in 2004, but also, quite unexpectedly, to its former Orange coalition... MORE