Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
UKRAINE IN QUEST FOR IRANIAN GAS
Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary, Petro Poroshenko, and Naftohaz Ukrainy chairman Oleksiy Ivchenko paid little-noted visits to Iran on July 14 and July 24-25, respectively. The visits in quick succession evidenced Kyiv's sense of urgency about reducing its dependence on Russian energy supplies,... MORE
MILITANTS IN NORTHERN PAKISTAN ALLEGEDLY INCLUDE KAZAKH NATIONALS
Kazakhstan's security services have repeatedly resorted to the tactic of denying offhand any possible connections between Kazakh nationals and international extremist organizations. This tested rule of the game worked well after terrorists seized a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, last September and after the terrorist... MORE
TASHKENT INSISTS ANDIJAN HAD KYRGYZ LINK
Law-enforcement agencies from Osh district in southern Kyrgyzstan are continuing to investigate the possible involvement of Kyrgyz citizens in the May 10 armed uprising in Andijan, an Uzbek city near the border with Kyrgyzstan. Uzbek authorities have given a list of names of the 33... MORE
WOMEN REGISTER FOR AFGHAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION DESPITE STIFF SOCIAL RESISTANCE
Afghanistan's Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) has issued its final list of the 5,805 candidates registered for the parliamentary and local council elections that are to be held on September 18. However, there are an increasing number of questions about the screening process in general,... MORE
MOLDOVAN LAW CHANGES THE LOGIC OF SETTLEMENT ON TRANSNISTRIA
On July 22, at President Vladimir Voronin's initiative, the Moldovan parliament adopted an Organic Law on the principles of resolving the separatist conflict in Transnistria. The law completely reverses the logic of a 13-year old, futile negotiating process, with which Moldova had until recently gone... MORE
TBILISI ARRESTS SUSPECT IN BUSH GRENADE INCIDENT, BUT MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN
After an intense search, on July 20 Georgian police arrested an individual suspected of tossing a hand-grenade towards U.S. President George W. Bush during his speech at Tbilisi's Freedom Square on May 10. Vladimir Arutyunian, 27, is an ethnic Armenian resident of Tbilisi. The police... MORE
UKRAINIAN POLICE TARGET DONETSK TYCOON
The uncrowned king of the Donbas, Renat Akhmetov, may be in serious trouble. Though Akhmetov has not been formally charged with any crime yet, Kyiv investigators do not conceal that they want to see him behind bars for an attempted murder in the 1980s. Akhmetov... MORE
ARMS RACE IN THE SOUTH CAUCASUS: A TIME BOMB?
Locked in a decade-old conflict over Karabakh, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been increasing their military expenditures over the last few years. Lately this trend seems to have accelerated dramatically. The competition has launched an informal arms race in the South Caucasus that could easily lead... MORE
MOSCOW TARGETING YUKOS IN LITHUANIA
As anticipated (see EDM, July 1), Russia has delivered to Lithuania an official request to prohibit transactions involving assets of the Yukos company on Lithuania's territory (ELTA, July 22). Those assets consist of the 53.7% stake in the Mazeikiai oil-refining and -transport complex, the largest... MORE
REBIRTH OF AGITPROP: RUSSIA’S SPENDING ON PATRIOTIC PROPAGANDA WILL TRIPLE
On July 18, the Russian government adopted a special federal program of patriotic education that will promote national and state values through the year 2010. The blueprint was reportedly lobbied by Russia's siloviki -- the omnipotent representatives of the defense and security agencies -- and... MORE