Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
AUTHORITIES REFUSE TO RECOGNIZE INSURGENCY IN NORTH OSSETIA
On February 1 three homemade bombs exploded almost simultaneously in casinos and gambling clubs in the center of Vladikavkaz, the capital of North Ossetia. Two persons were killed and 25 wounded in the blasts. The republican prosecutor's office subsequently initiated criminal proceeding under the "terrorism"... MORE
TAJIKISTAN CONCENTRATES ON NATIONAL GUARD REFORM
Tajikistan's President Emomali Rahmonov has declared his intention to raise the combat readiness of the Tajik armed forces in order to address adequately the security threats facing the country. Such familiar language, usually employed for wider political reasons, was utilized in the unusual setting of... MORE
POST-SOVIET SECESSIONISTS HEDGING THEIR BETS ON A “KOSOVO PRECEDENT”
The London meeting of the Contact Group, which launched the negotiations toward defining Kosovo's status (Interfax, February 1, 2), is being assessed by the post-Soviet secessionist leaderships cautiously. They do not seem to assume that the outcome in Kosovo would necessarily set an international precedent... MORE
RUMORS SUGGEST MAJOR RUSSIAN MILITARY REORGANIZATION IMMINENT
Western accounts of Vladimir Putin's Russia have almost wholly ignored the regime's ongoing efforts at defense reform, even though they have been steadily underway for at least two or three years. Indeed, there are numerous signs that reforms are not only continuing but may actually... MORE
OUR UKRAINE, PARTY OF REGIONS LOOK FOR COALITION ALLIES, MAY FIND EACH OTHER
Just a year ago, the idea of a union between president-elect Viktor Yushchenko and his arch-rival Viktor Yanukovych, defeated and disgraced by vote-rigging accusations, would have been bizarre. But current realities make quite possible a coalition between Yushchenko's Our Ukraine and Yanukovych's Party of Regions... MORE
MOSCOW KILLS BODEN PAPER, THREATENS TO TERMINATE UNOMIG IN GEORGIA
During his five-day visit to Germany, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told the press that Russia's process of self-definition includes the issue of recognizing where Russia's borders end. In Georgia's case, the unlawful presence of Russian troops within Georgia's borders represents the only real source of... MORE
ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT TO REPLACE DEFIANT HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
Armenia's Office of the Human Rights Defender is facing an uncertain future after a government-engineered leadership change. The country's first human rights ombudsperson, Larisa Alaverdian, is set to be replaced by a staunch loyalist of President Robert Kocharian after two years of high-profile activities that... MORE
RUSSIA REGISTERS GROWTH IN TRADE WITH CHINA, BUT INCREASE DUE TO HIGHER PRICES, NOT MORE TURNOVER
The Kremlin has boasted that Russia's growing trade with China is a manifestation of Moscow's "strategic" bilateral partnership with Beijing. Yet despite Russia's stated reluctance to limit itself to the role of raw materials supplier for the Chinese economy, actual export and import trends in... MORE
ENERGY DILEMMA FOR BELARUS
On January 24, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenka met with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Constantine Palace near St Petersburg prior to a session of the Russian-Belarusian Supreme State Council. Lukashenka remarked that the integration process between the two states had taken on an irreversible... MORE
PUTIN, GAZPROM, AND “THE OTHER NORWEGIAN COMPANY”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has every reason to be pleased with his performance at last week's press conference. For three and a half hours he confidently and smoothly handled a barrage of questions, not all of them conveniently pre-arranged, projecting the image of a competent... MORE