Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
KAZAKHSTAN’S INTELLIGENCE CHIEF CALLS FOR NEW APPROACH TO COUNTER TERRORISM
Vladimir Bozhko, first deputy chairman of Kazakhstan's National Security Committee (KNB), believes that the terrorist threat to Kazakhstan is real and growing. Highlighting the nature of that threat as it emerges within the country, he has called for a new approach to the whole issue... MORE
GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT DEBATES DIRECT ELECTION FOR MAYOR OF TBILISI
A political debate about the method of electing the mayor of Tbilisi, as well as talks about the appropriate strategy for the forthcoming by-elections to the Georgian parliament, has led to a rapprochement among several opposition groups. Currently consultations are underway between the opposition New... MORE
PEOPLE’S UNION-OUR UKRAINE MAKES SURPRISING CHOICE TO LEAD KYIV BRANCH
On June 18, President Viktor Yushchenko's new "party of power," People's Union-Our Ukraine (NS-NU), finally held its inaugural congress. Speculation had been rife that Kyiv Mayor Oleksandr Omelchenko would become head of the Kyiv branch of NS-NU, but that did not happen. The Kyiv branch... MORE
THIS YEAR, UKRAINE’S GAS WOES BEGIN EARLY
Ukraine's ability to pay for natural gas is already severely stressed on both the Russian and the Turkmen fronts. Ukraine's own, growing budget deficit has contributed to that stress. On June 20, Turkmenistan publicized the scolding administered that same day by President Saparmurat Niyazov to... MORE
IS AMERICA’S MILITARY BASE IN UZBEKISTAN AT RISK?
The debate over an independent investigation of the May massacre in Andijan, Uzbekistan, has left America's ties to Uzbekistan and the future of its base at Karshi Khanabad engulfed by turmoil. The European Parliament is raising the issue of EU sanctions on Uzbekistan, and Secretary... MORE
KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT BLAMES AKAYEV FOR COUNTER-REVOLUTIONARY UPRISING IN BISHKEK
On June 17 an angry crowd of about 5,000 people gathered in central Bishkek to support Urmat Baryktabasov, who had been refused official registration for the July 10 presidential election. For Bishkek residents this riot was puzzling. How could Baryktabasov, an unknown politician, a citizen... MORE
MOLDOVA ELEGANTLY DISPOSES OF THE POROSHENKO-YUSCHENKO PLAN
With President Viktor Yushchenko's name pro forma on its cover, the flawed Ukrainian conflict-settlement plan for Moldova/Transnistria seems to have met an early demise in Moldova's parliament. In a respectful tenor toward the Ukrainian president, with whom official Chisinau seeks the best possible relations, the... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN’S FOREIGN MINISTER REJECTS WESTERN ACCUSATIONS OF DEMOCRATIC BACKSLIDING
During the last two months, Kazakh state officials have made an unprecedented number of "working trips" to remote regions of the country. In what was widely perceived as a pre-election publicity stunt, President Nursultan Nazarbayev toured the coal-rich Karaganda region on June 15 and praised... MORE
UKRAINE BENDS MARKET ECONOMICS FOR ENERGY SUPPLY DIVERSIFICATION
Ukrainian officials continue what look like almost frantic attempts to diversify oil and gas supply sources in order to reduce dependence on Russian supplies (see EDM, May 18, 19, 23, June 11). Driven mainly by reasons of state, these efforts seem to overlook market economic... MORE
CHUBAIS SURVIVES YET AGAIN, BUT THE PROSPECTS FOR HIS REFORMS ARE NOT GREAT
In Russian politics, there is no other individual -- except, certainly for Vladimir Putin -- that triggers so much emotional reaction as Anatoly Chubais. Many impoverished Russians hold him personally responsible for the dubious privatization program of the mid-1990s, while new entrepreneurs praise him as... MORE