While Latvia and Estonia push for closure, the Russian side is raising the ante ahead of the EU-Russia summit, calculating to use this issue as leverage to extract Latvian concessions on other issues, such as changing Latvia's legislation on citizenship and language. As the summit... MORE

The leadership of Georgia's separatist region Abkhazia is beefing up its military potential, while the Georgian armed forces are continuing their military exercise. Televised reports about the Georgian exercises began with title cards reading "Sukhumi" (capital of Abkhazia) and "Tskhinvali" (capital of breakaway South Ossetia).... MORE

Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual state of the nation address, given April 25, was remarkable for one glaring omission. It was quite surprising that Putin did not say one word about Russia's "brotherly" relations with Belarus, providing only an abbreviated sketch of the whole area... MORE

"Revolution" is again a buzzword in Armenia. Armenian opposition leaders, buoyed by a series of successful anti-government uprisings across the former Soviet Union, have opened a new political season with pledges to effect regime change in their country in a similar fashion. Some of them... MORE

Kazakhstan has moved significantly nearer its ambition to gain closer and more effective relations with the NATO Alliance. Astana has decided to abandon its long-term reliance upon dated Soviet munitions and Russian replacements. Instead, it will now prioritize the manufacture of NATO-standard ammunition for its... MORE

At the April 20-21 summit of NATO foreign ministers in Vilnius, Ukraine was invited to begin an Intensified Dialogue on Membership. The Intensified Dialogue is commonly viewed as the precursor to being invited to enter the Membership Action Plan (MAP) process, a stage that is... MORE

Kyrgyzstan's acting president, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, visited Almaty on April 22. Despite the ceremonial pleasantries, Bakiyev's reception was not nearly as pompous and cordial as the one given to Kyrgyzstan's toppled president, Askar Akayev, during his first visit in 1997. Instead, Bakiyev seemed to be the... MORE

On April 17 a new voice was added to the rather crowded airwaves in Afghanistan: Shariat Zhagh, the "Voice of Shariat." For those Afghans who had all but forgotten the Taliban, it was a disturbing and chilling surprise (VOA, April 22). Literally meaning the "Voice... MORE