Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
TBILISI ACCUSES MOSCOW OF SPONSORING TERRORISM
This week the Georgian special services celebrated breakthroughs in two high-profile criminal cases. Shortly after arresting a man accused of throwing a hand grenade at U.S. President George W. Bush in May (see EDM, July 25), the Georgian Interior Ministry made arrests in connection with... MORE
RUMSFELD VISIT FIRMS UP KYRGYZ, TAJIK COMMITMENTS TO U.S.-LED COALITION
On July 25-27, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld visited Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to shore up those countries' commitments to support the American-led coalition. Both countries were wavering. Earlier this month, Moscow and Beijing had orchestrated demands in the framework of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization... MORE
FEW REAL SIGNS OF CRISIS FOR YUSHCHENKO AND ORANGE REVOLUTION
Western media reports are increasingly claiming that the Orange Revolution is floundering in Ukraine. The Independent (July 25) asserted, "There is a growing consensus in Ukraine that Mr. Yushchenko and Ms. Tymoshenko have frittered away much of their political capital." The International Herald and Tribune... MORE
BISHKEK RESISTING TASHKENT’S PRESSURE TO RETURN ANDIJAN REFUGEES
On July 27 more than 300 refugees from the May riots in Andijan, Uzbekistan, were transported from Jalalabad oblast to Bishkek Manas International Airport en route to a third country. The head of the Kyrgyzstan mission of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Carlos Zaccagnini,... MORE
AS ANGER MOUNTS, OFFICIALS STILL CANNOT ACCOUNT FOR MISSING BOROZDINOVSKYA VILLAGERS
Russian and local authorities have been confronted with another refugee problem in the North Caucasus. On July 15 the residents of the Chechen village of Borozdinovskaya moved to Dagestan and set up a refugee camp there for the second time this summer. Late last month... MORE
ARMENIAN OPPOSITION CONSIDERS SUPPORTING CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
The Armenian authorities have been given a major boost in their standoff with the opposition with the Council of Europe's effective endorsement of their draft amendments to Armenia's controversial post-Soviet constitution. Experts from the Venice Commission have declared that the amendments' passage at a referendum... MORE
ABKHAZ RHETORIC CALCULATED TO STALL TALKS WITH TBILISI
Abkhaz authorities are derailing political talks with Tbilisi, ostensibly in protest against Georgian actions in a July 3 maritime incident and in its wake. On that day, Georgia's coast guard stopped a Turkish cargo vessel off Pitsunda en route to an Abkhaz port, impounded the... MORE
SAKHALIN ENERGY PROJECTS FACE REALITY CHECK
As the Shell-led Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Russian Far East faces cost overruns and delays, now Russian Sakhalin ventures appear to be facing a reality check, cooling Moscow's ambitious plans to tap lucrative energy markets in the Asia-Pacific. Earlier this month,... MORE
CORRUPTION UNDERMINES RUSSIAN MILITARY REFORM
High-profile efforts by Russia's authorities to promote a positive image of military reform, notably its efforts to switch more divisions to contract service, are being undermined by allegations of financial corruption within the military. These allegations have become commonplace in post-Soviet coverage of the Russian... MORE
NEW UKRAINIAN LEADERSHIP EMBRACES SOVIET-STYLE CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko sent an open letter to Ukrayinska pravda yesterday (July 26) following his public broadside against the publication at a press conference one day earlier. Yushchenko has accused Ukrayinska pravda of deliberately trying to discredit his son, Andriy, and his presidency. Yushchenko... MORE