Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
IDLE PETRO-RUBLES ARE A RECIPE FOR STAGFLATION
Russia's economy is growing at a pace that invites envy from most European states. The ruble holds steady against the dollar, and Russia's trade balance for the first quarter of this year shows a record $25.9 billion. Its Central Bank, opting for a euro-shift in... MORE
MOSCOW NOT COMING TO TERMS WITH SOVIET OCCUPATION OF BALTIC STATES
Alone among the three Baltic heads of state, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga will attend the Moscow festivities for the 60th anniversary of Victory Day. Her stated goal in accepting the invitation is to refute Russia's official version of history about the Baltic states having freely... MORE
RUSSIAN HISTORIANS DENOUNCE RE-STALINIZATION
With the 60th anniversary Victory Day celebrations set for May 9, the architect of perestroika and a leading historian of that period have spoken out against what they both see as the rehabilitation of Joseph Stalin. There are ample signs that something like a rehabilitation... MORE
MOSCOW CONTINUES TO UNDERMINE DEMOCRACY IN INDEPENDENT UKRAINE
Russian President Vladimir Putin's plans to purchase Leonid Brezhnev's residence in the Crimea have collapsed. USSR Dacha No.1, "Hlitsyniya," is among the Ukrainian properties excluded from privatization. Nevertheless, Putin attempted to acquire it from Ukrainian president Leonid Kuchma as a token of gratitude for supporting... MORE
RUSSIA EYES GREATER STATE CONTROL OVER SAKHALIN HYDROCARBON PROJECTS
Gazprom's efforts to merge with the state-owned oil firm Rosneft appear to be part of a larger strategy to boost state-control over Russia's energy sector. The Gazprom-Rosneft merger, which likely will wrap up before Gazprom's June shareholder meeting, will raise the government's stake in Gazprom... MORE
BUSH SUPPORTIVE, EU A BYSTANDER ON BALTIC VERSUS SOVIET VISION OF HISTORY
On the eve of the Moscow celebrations of the Soviet victory in the Second World War, the Baltic states prepare to commemorate at home the event that sealed for them a half-century of captivity. The Kremlin expected to isolate the Baltic states by highlighting the... MORE
CHECHEN FORCES ENTER DAGESTAN WITH FSB HELP
Early in the morning of April 20, Yusup Adjiev's bodyguards saw masked gunmen climbing down from the fence surrounding his house in Toturby-Kala, a village in Dagestan. Adjiev is the head of Dagregiongaz, a state-owned company that controls gas supplies in the Khasavyurt district of... MORE
ONE YEAR AFTER THE FALL OF ABASHIDZE, AJARIA STILL PLAGUED WITH GOVERNANCE PROBLEMS
"Aslan has fled, Ajaria is free!" With these words, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili greeted his countrymen on the morning on May 6, 2004. A popular revolution in the Georgian Autonomous Republic of Ajaria had toppled the region's strongman, Aslan Abashidze, ending his 13-year rule and... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN ON UNEASY PATH TO PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION AND CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM
Discussions on reform and preparations for the July 10 presidential election in Kyrgyzstan are proceeding against a backdrop of instability with some symptoms that border on anarchy. On May 3, Acting President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, on a working visit to Jalalabad, criticized self-appointed officials who had... MORE
KYRGYZ ACTING PRESIDENT OUTLINES REFORM PLANS
Addressing the country on television on April 30, Kyrgyzstan's acting president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, outlined a comprehensive program of constitutional and political changes to be achieved in the short and medium terms. He spoke of a transitional period of several years during which the country must... MORE