Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

VIKTOR YUSHCHENKO DECLARED UKRAINE’S PRESIDENT

On January 10, Ukraine's Central Election Commission (CEC) officially declared opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko to be Ukraine's third president. The final vote count stood at 51.99% for Yushchenko compared to Viktor Yanukovych's 44.20%. Thirteen CEC members voted in favor of the ruling while two abstained.... MORE

RUSSIA’S PACIFIC OIL PIPELINE SEEN AS DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD

Russia has long heralded its "strategic energy partnership" with China, yet Moscow has recently approved the Japan-bound East Siberia-Pacific oil pipeline. Now Russia is struggling to offer Beijing a sufficient consolation prize. In December, Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated that China' state oil company, CNPC,... MORE

RIVAL GEORGIAN MINISTERS CROSS SWORDS

Last week, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was forced to mediate between two bickering members of his government. Ultimately, Saakashvili reached a temporary truce in the standoff between Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili and his predecessor, Gia Baramidze, currently State Minister for European Integration. Baramidze had replaced... MORE

DEFENSE MINISTER TARGETS CORRUPTION IN GEORGIAN MILITARY

Irakli Okruashvili, Georgia's Minister of Defense has alleged the continued existence of widespread corruption within the military. On January 4, he named senior Ministry of Defense officials, whom he said were involved in misappropriating funds, and set the target of seeing them imprisoned within one... MORE

ASTANA WORKS TO STAVE OFF UKRAINE’S ADVANCING ORANGE TIDE

Days before New Year 2005 began, leaders of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan, Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan, and Ak Zhol Democratic Party paid a visit to Kyiv to congratulate Viktor Yushchenko on his victory in the Ukrainian presidential elections. This symbolic gesture of solidarity between... MORE

PHASE-OUT DILEMMAS AT LITHUANIA’S NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

On December 31, Lithuania shut down the first of two Soviet-era nuclear reactors at the Ignalina nuclear power plant and began the decommissioning process. The European Union required the closure of Unit One by December 2004 and of Unit Two by December 2009, as part... MORE

WHO WILL REPLACE YANUKOVYCH?

Viktor Yushchenko, who was elected Ukraine's president on December 26, has promised to come up with a candidate for prime minister this week. The candidate will need to be approved by parliament. This will be the first test of Yushchenko's ability to negotiate with the... MORE

RESENTMENT STILL SMOLDERS IN MOSCOW AFTER UKRAINE ELECTIONS

Just as President-elect Viktor Yushchenko predicted, Supreme Rada Chairman Volodymyr Lytvyn chose Moscow as the destination of his first visit abroad after Ukraine's presidential election. Lytvyn, who had switched allegiance from the Kuchma-Yanukovych camp to the constitution of Ukraine and supremacy of law during the... MORE