Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
RUSSIA BOOSTING GAS EXPORT CAPACITY TO EUROPE
Russia's Gazprom is moving rapidly to preempt potential competitors on European markets, far outpacing the European Union's development of a supply-diversification strategy. Gazprom will soon complete the first trunk line of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline and is set to embark on the North European gas... MORE
RUMSFELD EXPECTED IN KYRGYZSTAN TO SETTLE BASE ISSUE
On July 20, Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Defense announced that U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is expected to arrive on July 25. Rumsfeld will discuss the future of the U.S.-led air base Manas with the new Kyrgyz leadership, in the wake of Moscow- and Beijing-inspired demands... MORE
KREMLIN GROWS WARY OF NORTH CAUCASUS GOVERNMENTS
On July 15, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an unannounced visit to the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, the very place where he began his climb to the presidency in 1999. In August 1999, Islamic militants from neighboring Chechnya invaded two districts of Dagestan, and... MORE
RUSSIAN TAKEOVER OF ARMENIAN POWER GRID PROMPTS CONCERN
Armenia is under fire from the United States and other Western donors over the legally questionable transfer of its electricity distribution network to Russia's Unified Energy Systems (UES). The deal could have far-reaching repercussions for the country's economic independence and hamper continued Western assistance to... MORE
MOSCOW BOOSTS SECURITY IN THE FAR EAST
From July 18 to 24, Russia is holding large-scale military maneuvers aimed at countering potential terrorist attacks in its Far East region. However, since terrorists have not yet really targeted Russia's Far East, the drill is understood to have other purposes as well. The drill,... MORE
RUSSIAN AND GEORGIAN MILITARIES BICKER OVER TANK MOVEMENTS
While the Russian military bases in Georgia are scheduled to close in 2008, their continued presence keeps the Georgian leadership on alert. Moscow appears to be using the bases to impede Tbilisi's efforts to bring stability to the country. On July 15, the Georgian military... MORE
RESOLUTION OF GONGADZE MURDER BLOCKED
Despite hopes to the contrary, the election of a new president of Ukraine has not sped the investigation into the murder of opposition journalist Heorhiy Gongadze. At the Davos World Economic Summit in January, President Viktor Yushchenko promised that the Gongadze case would be submitted... MORE
ASTANA YIELDS TO WESTERN PRESSURE OVER UZBEK DISSIDENT
In a seemingly democratic gesture, Kazakh authorities handed over prominent Uzbek human rights activist Lutfulla Shamsuddinov to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on July 1. With this move the government resolved a difficult dilemma that had brought a flood of criticism from... MORE
MOSCOW TO BALTICS: ANNEXATION WAS LEGAL, RESISTANCE CRIMINAL
In a news conference for Baltic journalists on July 18 in Moscow, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Chizhov added an innovative nuance to Russia's official thesis that the 50-year occupation of the Baltic states had been legal. While rejecting the term "occupation," Chizhov asked... MORE
MOSCOW HARDENS TONE TO WASHINGTON ON CENTRAL ASIA
Two new terms, loaded with adversarial connotations, made their appearance in Moscow's discourse on Central Asia, in the context of demands to set a deadline on the use of military bases in that region by U.S.-led forces (see EDM, July 6, 7). Elaborating on that... MORE