Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
ABKHAZ MILITARY ACCUSED OF FORCIBLY DRAFTING ETHNIC GEORGIANS
Recent developments in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway region, do not bode well for the forthcoming Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations scheduled for mid-November in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia. These UN-mediated talks have already been delayed because the sides failed to finalize a draft of a joint Georgian-Abkhaz declaration... MORE
NAZARBAYEV LEADING PRE-ELECTION POLLS IN KAZAKHSTAN
With less than a month remaining before election day, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his advisors are certainly following the November 6 parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan. While separated geographically by thousands of miles, the two countries share political systems rooted in nepotism and family clan... MORE
OPPOSITION COURTS THE BELARUSIAN PUBLIC
Following the election of Alexander Milinkevich as the leader of the united opposition at the Democratic Convention in early October, the Belarusian opposition has begun to elaborate its tactics for the anticipated elections in the summer of 2006. The Political Council created after the Convention... MORE
GULIYEV’S SECOND ATTEMPT TO RETURN TO AZERBAIJAN FAILS
After his first unsuccessful attempt to return to Azerbaijan on October 17, Rasul Guliyev, chairman of the Azerbaijan Democratic Party and former speaker of parliament, announced that he would return between October 31 and November 3 (see EDM, October 19). Such a vague timeline put... MORE
RUSSIA PLEDGES TO UP TRADE AND INVESTMENT TIES WITH CHINA
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov visited Beijing November 3-4 to discuss trade and investment ties with China. But despite repeated promises, Moscow made no legally binding commitment to build an oil pipeline to China. Instead, Fradkov only said that consultations "continue" and that Russian and... MORE
YUSHCHENKO CHANGES PROSECUTORS
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko has replaced Prosecutor-General Sviatoslav Piskun with Oleksandr Medvedko. Piskun was too close to former prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who is set to be Yushchenko's most dangerous rival in the parliamentary election next March. Furthermore, Piskun failed to solve a single major... MORE
FROM “PEACEKEEPING” TO PEACEKEEPING? THE EU LOOKS AT MOLDOVA
Both officially and unofficially, Moldova will again top the European security agenda at next month's OSCE year-end ministerial conference. This will again be an exercise in futility, unless the European Union and the United States decide to act on their own, outside the OSCE's framework... MORE
AZERBAIJAN’S MODERATE OPPOSITION ON THE EVE OF ELECTIONS
Azerbaijan's moderate opposition has been relegated to undeserved obscurity in terms of international media coverage and Western policy assessments of the situation in Azerbaijan. The attention has focused on the radicals because of their confrontational tactics and "revolutionary" phraseology. Meanwhile, the moderate opposition's Yeni Siyasat... MORE
PUTIN PERFORMS A EUROPEAN PIROUETTE
A visit to the Netherlands on November 1-2 provided Russian President Vladimir Putin with a timely opportunity to re-establish his European credentials. The previous week had a distinct Asian flavor with the prime-ministerial meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Moscow (Kommersant, October 27).... MORE
DEAD BODIES HIDING TRUTH ABOUT RUSSIAN FAILURE IN NALCHIK
During his visit to the Netherlands this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin was asked about the massive October 13 rebels attack on Nalchik, the capital of Kabardino-Balkaria. Dutch journalists wondered why the attack happened in what had been considered the most peaceful republic of the... MORE