Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
BALTIC SOLDIERS IN AFGHANISTAN
Colonel Gintautas Zenkevicius, commander of the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team in Chaghcharan, Ghor province, western Afghanistan, announced on July 14 that the PRT has reached its initial operating capacity, as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. ISAF is currently extending its operations in... MORE
KOZAK PLAN RESURFACES UNDER OSCE COLORS
Moldova/Transnistria topped the agenda of talks held by the OSCE's Chairman-in-Office, Dimitrij Rupel of Slovenia, with Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on July 13. In their concluding press briefing, Rupel resurrected the Kremlin's defunct Kozak plan that would have cemented Transnistria's... MORE
LEAKED MEMO SHOWS KREMLIN FEARS COLLAPSE OF DAGESTAN
The increasing rebel attacks in Dagestan (see EDM, July 7) have finally forced Russian authorities to focus on the problems of the republic. Officials in Moscow now realize that the region needs special handling. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov recently conceded, "Of course we are... MORE
U.S. MILITARY PRESENCE IN CENTRAL ASIA IN DOUBT
The future of the U.S. military deployment in Central Asia has been thrown into doubt by Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Both local politics and the geopolitical dynamics have changed since the Andijan crisis in May and the July 10 Kyrgyz presidential election. As the Shanghai Cooperation... MORE
SAAKASHVILI REPLACES TBILISI MAYOR WITH PRESIDENTIAL INSIDER
After weeks of vehemently denying media speculation about the imminent dismissal, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili fired Tbilisi Mayor Zurab Chiaberashvili on July 12. Chiaberashvili had called the rumors "a well-planned campaign," coming from people he had accused of stealing from Tbilisi's budget. At the same... MORE
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT IN BAKU: ANOTHER PUSH FOR DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrived in Baku on July 11 to meet with Azerbaijani politicians, NGO activists, and mass media and to discuss the situation in the country ahead of the November 6 parliamentary elections. Albright is currently chair of the National... MORE
SOUTH OSSETIA AUTHORITIES REJECT GEORGIA’S OLIVE BRANCH
South Ossetia's pro-Moscow leaders have lost no time rejecting Georgia's offer for direct negotiations toward South Ossetian autonomy. President Mikheil Saakashvili's offer, unveiled at an international conference in Batumi on July 10, entails a preparatory stage during which Georgia and international donor organizations would provide... MORE
YUSHCHENKO’S PARTY PROJECT A FAILURE?
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's dream of unifying the right-of-center political continuum into a mega-party in order to win the 2006 parliamentary elections has failed to materialize. The party's formal head, Deputy Prime Minister Roman Bezsmertny, intended for the first congress of Yushchenko's party, People's Union-Our... MORE
INTERNAL DIVISIONS MAY DEFEAT YUSHCHENKO’S WTO ASPIRATIONS
The Ukrainian parliament went into summer vacation this week after adopting only six of the 14 legislative acts needed for possible WTO membership. Two related laws were adopted earlier. The government had wanted parliament to consider all 14 laws as a package, but parliament refused.... MORE
BAKIYEV WINS PRESIDENCY IN ONE ROUND — HOW LONG WILL THE HONEYMOON LAST?
With roughly 90% of the vote, Kurmanbek Bakiyev won Kyrgyzstan's July 10 presidential elections in the first round. Bakiyev had served as acting president since the March 25 Tulip Revolution. He was able to unite many former opposition figures, among them Azimbek Beknazarov, Daniyar Usenov,... MORE