Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
OPPOSITION IN BASHKORTOSTAN AND INGUSHETIA VOW TO NOT RETREAT
At 1:21 pm local time (3:21 am in Washington DC), a charter plane loaded with citizens opposed to the rule of Bashkortostan President Murtaza Rakhimov left Ufa airport for Moscow. Two days ago (April 5), Bashkir opposition leaders announced that 150 of its members were... MORE
ARE MOSCOW AND TOKYO DOUBTING WISDOM OF NAKHODKA PROJECT?
Dmitry Medvedev's recent interview in the Russian journal Ekspert (April 4) raised eyebrows for a variety of reasons. The fact that he even consented to give an interview is news in itself. The Kremlin Chief of Staff has been largely invisible to the public eye... MORE
RUSSIAN ARMY REMAINS IN DECLINE
Russia's military manning system continues to struggle with unwilling conscripts forced to serve in deplorable conditions and with inadequate training. Health problems among young conscripts arriving in the barracks are compounded by the widespread persistence of draft dodging and the rising numbers of men seeking... MORE
U.S.-UKRAINE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP RECEIVES BOOST
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's three-day official visit to the United States cemented a new strategic partnership. On April 4 Yushchenko attended meetings with President George W. Bush and two days later gave a well-received speech to a joint session of Congress. His last evening in... MORE
MANY QUESTIONS ABOUT ZHVANIA’S DEATH STILL UNANSWERED
The mysterious death of Georgia's Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania continues to worry many Georgians because the investigation has yet to fully clarify the circumstances. Zhvania was found dead on February 3 at the home of Raul Usupov, who was about to become deputy governor of... MORE
RUSSIA PLAYS PEACE ADVOCATE IN KYRGYZ “REGIME CHANGE”
Russia's military presence in Central Asia has come into focus again through its participation in the Rubezh 2005 military exercises involving participants from the Commonwealth of Independent States. Although in itself there is nothing unusual about this exercise, the involvement of Russian air force units... MORE
RUSSIA PURSUES TURKMEN RICHES, WITH MIXED RESULTS
Russia has been courting Turkmenistan's authoritarian regime in an apparent attempt to secure its energy interests in the gas-rich Central Asian state. However, the pursuit has been dealt a number of setbacks recently. In the wake of regime change in Kyrgyzstan, Russian President Vladimir Putin... MORE
SECESSIONIST LEADERS HOLD “MINISTERIAL” TALKS, PREPARE “SUMMIT”
The self-styled "ministers of foreign affairs" of Transnistria and Abkhazia, Valery Litskay and Sergei Shamba, along with South Ossetia's "permanent representative" to Russia, Dmitry Medoev, held a tripartite meeting and talks with Russian officials on April 3-4 in Moscow. On March 30, Transnistria's "president" Igor... MORE
MOLDOVA’S VORONIN REELECTED PRESIDENT WITH BROAD DEMOCRATIC SUPPORT
On April 4, Moldova's President Vladimir Voronin was reelected to a second four-year term by an unprecedented -- indeed, until now, unthinkable -- political alliance, ranging from his Communist Party to right-wing Christian-Democrats and right-of-center Social-Liberals. This informal alliance defeated Moscow's goal of unseating Voronin.... MORE
AKAYEV OFFICIALLY RESIGNS WHILE KULOV DECLARES CANDIDACY FOR PRESIDENT
Although the mass lootings in Bishkek have ended, Kyrgyzstan's political crisis is not over. The legacy of Askar Akayev's regime is patently apparent as the new government begins to revise the ownership status of the country's major businesses. At the same time, more and more... MORE