Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
SURGE IN RUSSIAN GAS PRICES RAISES EYEBROWS IN ARMENIA
Russia's decision to drastically raise the cost of the natural gas it supplies to several former Soviet republics has been widely attributed to its desire to stave off a further spread of Western influence across its "near abroad." What makes it even more noteworthy is... MORE
AZERBAIJAN OPPOSITION DENOUNCES ITS LONG-TIME SUPPORTER ON ELECTION COMMISSION
As Azerbaijan's November 6 parliamentary elections fade into the distance, the more the Azerbaijani opposition is realizing that they missed their best opportunity to secure a role in national politics. Having inflated their expectations prior to the elections and convinced themselves that November 6 would... MORE
SECURITY GUARD MELNYCHENKO RETURNS TO UKRAINE
Mykola Melnychenko, the presidential guard who was involved in bugging President Leonid Kuchma's office between 1998 and 2000, returned to Ukraine on November 29. Exactly five years earlier Melnychenko fled Ukraine to Poland and then Prague, where he lived until obtaining political asylum in the... MORE
OSCE YEAR-END CONFERENCE FAILS TO ADOPT KEY DOCUMENTS ON SECURITY
The OSCE's year-end conference on December 5-6 foundered over Russia's defiance on two sets of issues: First, Moldova and related issues of implementing the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty and Russia's 1999 Istanbul Commitments on troop withdrawal from Moldova and Georgia. And, second, Russian-prescribed... MORE
MOLDOVAN EXPERTS BLAST RUSSIA-OSCE MILITARY PLAN
In the run-up to the OSCE's year-end conference, which began yesterday, December 5, the organization's Moldova Mission made public on November 29 in Chisinau the hitherto secret package of force-reduction and confidence-building measures that Russia and the OSCE have jointly authored and proposed to the... MORE
NAZARBAYEV CRUISES TO LANDSLIDE VICTORY IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
On Sunday December 4, citizens of Kazakhstan went to the polls to elect their president. While the incumbent, Nursultan Nazarbayev was expected to win, his principal challenger, Zharmakhan Tuyakbay of the opposition bloc "For a Fair Kazakhstan," played to the cameras. Giving a forced smile... MORE
RUSSIA OFFERS HELP COMBATING DRUGS IN CENTRAL ASIA
Russia has long expressed concern about the rising security risks associated with burgeoning drug trafficking through Central Asia, though its assistance to these countries has often been questioned in terms of its practical results. Moscow has stepped up its emphasis on this aspect of its... MORE
HIGH-RANKING KYRGYZ OFFICIAL PROPOSES NEW NATIONAL IDEOLOGY
Following the removal of Kyrgyzstan's long-time President Askar Akayev on March 24, 2005, the new government led by Kurmanbek Bakiyev terminated some of Akayev's efforts to build an official state ideology. But aside from anti-corruption slogans aimed at remnants of Akayev's regime, the Bakiyev government... MORE
CSTO SEEN AS A SHIELD AGAINST OUTSIDE MEDDLING
Russia has reiterated its pledges to strengthen the regional security grouping it has established with five former Soviet states. At an unprecedented November 29-30 meeting in Moscow of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO, which includes Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan) Council of... MORE
MOSCOW VOTES FOR LUZHKOV AS RIVALRY WITH PUTIN INTENSIFIES
On Sunday, December 4, Muscovites elected the members of their City Duma. Elections of this kind usually attract so little attention from voters that the minimum turnout was set at only 20%. The city council has even less power within its borders than the State... MORE