Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
GEORGIAN PRESIDENT LAUNCHES SOUTH OSSETIA PEACE INITIATIVE
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on January 26, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili unveiled an offer of full autonomy for South Ossetia. Under this offer, South Ossetia would enjoy -- both de facto and de jure -- a higher... MORE
KREMLIN POLITICAL REFORMS FACE FIRST REAL CHALLENGES
On January 1 a new law came into force, whereby Russia's regional executive leaders will be appointed by the president rather than elected directly by the people. The people's voice will only be able to sway local parliaments, but even this influence will be limited... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN INCHES TOWARDS NATO
Kazakhstan's Deputy Defense Minister, Major-General Bolat Sembinov, concluded a successful series of meetings with senior NATO officials in Brussels on January 21. The meetings signify a clear turning point in Kazakhstan's relations with the Alliance, seeking mechanisms through which the Kazakhstani armed forces may benefit... MORE
RUSSIAN-KAZAKH BORDER AGREEMENT SPARKS NATIONALIST REACTION
The Russia-Kazakhstan border delimitation agreement concluded during President Nursultan Nazarbayev's January 17 visit to Moscow was heralded as an historic accord. It was the first such agreement ever signed between Caspian states and took five years to conclude. Now, for the first time in its... MORE
YUSHCHENKO IN STRASBOURG: EUROPEAN ASPIRATIONS VERSUS ZERO-SUM GAMES
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on January 25, President Viktor Yushchenko defined "Ukrainians as a European nation that could not tolerate an assault on its freedoms, [and] stood up and defended their right to a free and fair election."... MORE
YULIA TYMOSHENKO TO BECOME UKRAINIAN PRIME MINISTER
One day after he was inaugurated as Ukraine's third president, Viktor Yushchenko appointed a powerful and radical triumvirate. Yulia Tymoshenko, of the eponymous bloc, was named prime minister; businessman Petro Poroshenko secretary of the National Security Council; and Oleksandr Zinchenko, the head of the Yushchenko... MORE
RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT IN DISARRAY
Some observers continue to hope that Russian President Vladimir Putin's centralization of power will at least produce more effective economic decision-making, along the lines of South Korea in the 1960s. Alas, that does not seem to be the case. The government of Mikhail Fradkov, who... MORE
BASHAR ASSAD COMES TO MOSCOW, SEEKING GIFTS
Earlier this month a scandal broke out when it became known that Moscow was planning to sell Syria the Iskander-E and Igla anti-air missiles (see EDM, January 17). Rumors of this sale prompted first Israel and then America to publicly warn Russia about disturbing the... MORE
YUSHCHENKO IN MOSCOW
On January 24, one day after his inauguration as President of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko paid a visit to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Yushchenko thus fulfilled a campaign promise to head for Moscow on his first presidential trip abroad, as a reassuring gesture to opponents in... MORE
SOUTH OSSETIA OFFERS TO BARGAIN WITH TBILISI FOR RELEASE OF SUSPECTED MURDERERS
While Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is preparing to address the January 26 session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe with "unprecedented" peace proposals for Georgia's breakaway regions, a hostage drama in South Ossetia threatens to cloud his plans. On January 19, the... MORE