Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
U.S. RELUCTANT TO PRESS YEREVAN DESPITE FREEDOM PLEDGE
U.S. President George W. Bush's emphatic endorsement of Georgia's 2003 "Rose Revolution" and its consequences was meant to demonstrate U.S. support for similar change elsewhere in the world. But it exposed a fundamental contradiction in his administration's stated pursuit of democratization across the South Caucasus... MORE
UKRAINE MOVING TO REDUCE RUSSIAN MONOPOLY ON OIL MARKET
On May 17, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passed a government-submitted bill eliminating import duties on high-octane gasoline and diesel fuel. The legislation aims to stimulate such imports in response to artificially induced shortages and steep price hikes by the informal cartel of Russian oil-product suppliers in... MORE
TWO DOWN, ONE TO GO? UKRAINIAN OFFICIALS TARGET ANOTHER OLIGARCHIC CLAN
The May 13 arrest of the former governor of Trans-Carpathia, Ivan Rizak, follows the capture of the head of the Donetsk oblast council, Borys Kolesnykov, one month earlier. The widespread arrests of lower-ranking officials for election fraud and corruption have now moved up to medium-level... MORE
RUSSIA BLAMES TALIBAN FOR UPRISING IN UZBEKISTAN
Official statements emanating from Moscow on the unfolding crisis in eastern Uzbekistan firmly place the blame on Taliban elements promoting political violence within Andijan. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov first emphasized this aspect on Saturday, May 14, asserting that the disturbing news from Uzbekistan was... MORE
CITING NEED FOR STABILITY, KYRGYZ LEADERS FORM POLITICAL UNION
On May 13, Kurmanbek Bakiyev and Felix Kulov signed an agreement to form a political team for Kyrgyzstan's July 10 presidential elections. Kulov agreed to withdraw his candidacy with the stipulation that he would become prime minister in case Acting President Bakiyev wins (Akipress, May... MORE
POROSHENKO ADOPTS PRIMAKOV’S CONCEPT FOR TRANSNISTRIA SETTLEMENT
On May 13, a session of Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) approved a modified version of NSDC Secretary's Petro Poroshenko's plan to resolve the Transnistria problem. President Viktor Yushchenko chaired the session, which approved Poroshenko's plan "unanimously" (Interfax-Ukraine, May 13) -- a further... MORE
POLAND, LITHUANIA, UKRAINE CREATE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY, JOINT BATTALION
On May 13, Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, Arturas Paulauskas, and Volodymyr Lytvyn, chairmen of the Polish, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian parliaments, respectively, signed the founding declaration of an Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the three countries. The ceremony was held in Lutsk, Ukraine. The forum's ambit is that of the... MORE
KARIMOV ORDERS BLOODY END TO ANDIJAN UPRISING
Troops dispatched by Tashkent have put down last week's popular uprising in Andijan, Uzbekistan. Undeterred by the thousands of demonstrators, troops opened fire on the crowd, shooting women and children as well as the rebels. Rather than waiting until nightfall, when the crowds diminish, the... MORE
MOSCOW IS UNIMPRESSED BY PUTIN’S CELEBRATIONS
The long-heralded celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Victory Day are finally over, and many Muscovites find themselves with an odd aftertaste. The event that was supposed to be both a patriotic rally and an international gala turned out to be neither. Most of the... MORE
YUSHCHENKO SHARES PLANS WITH THE NATION
Ukraine's new government has realistic plans for integration with the West; there will be no re-privatization; the government will continue to get rid of officials who served the old regime; and there is no serious opposition in the country. This is President Viktor Yushchenko's vision... MORE