Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

CHANGE OF GUARD PROCEEDING APACE ON THE TAJIK-AFGHAN BORDER

After 112 years, Russia's military presence in the Pamir Mountains ended on December 5. Russia's flag was lowered, and that of Tajikistan raised, on the Kala-i-Khum fort on the Tajik-Afghan border, where Russian troops are handing responsibility over to Tajik border guards. Similar ceremonies were... MORE

MOSCOW ENFORCES BLOCKADE OF ABKHAZIA, INVALIDATES BAGAPSH’S ELECTION

Under Russian pressure, Abkhaz presidential election winner Sergei Bagapsh agreed on December 5 to postpone his inauguration, which had been scheduled for December 6, and to discuss a power-sharing deal with the loser, Kremlin-supported ex-KGB officer Raul Khajimba. Russia's First Deputy Prosecutor General, Vladimir Kolesnikov,... MORE

UKRAINE WITHOUT A CABINET

Last week Ukrainian opposition presidential candidate Viktor Yushchenko won a major victory. The opposition achieved one of its main goals -- the invalidation of the November 21 runoff -- and almost achieved its other major goal -- the dismissal of the cabinet formed by Prime... MORE

KARZAI MUST WALK A FINE LINE IN FORMING NEW CABINET

On October 9, Hamid Karzai became the first directly elected Afghan president, winning by more than 55% of the vote. Seven weeks later, he is still brooding over his cabinet. Speculations are rife about the people who may take the helms of the various ministries.... MORE

MOLDOVA DECRIES “RUSSIAN OCCUPATION,” DRAWS MIXED WESTERN RESPONSE

On November 30, in its strongest-ever international statement, Moldova decried the "foreign military occupation, namely by the Russian Federation, of a part of Moldova's territory," demanded those troops' withdrawal, described Trans-Dniester's authorities as Russian-installed proxies, and characterized the negotiations with them as a discredited process.... MORE

YANUKOVYCH-GATE UNFOLDS AFTER UKRAINIAN ELECTIONS

The first year of Leonid Kuchma's second term as president of Ukraine was marked by a scandal that eventually became known as Kuchmagate. The affair was triggered by the release of secret tape recordings made in his office by a security guard. Two years later... MORE

YAVLINSKY: KREMLIN MUST STOP TRYING TO “SPLIT” UKRAINE

Several leading Russian liberals have strongly criticized Russia's role in Ukraine's ongoing election crisis. On December 2, Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky accused Russian authorities of interference in Ukraine's internal affairs. "Russian ruling circles should stop facilitating a split in Ukraine and provoking clashes there," Yavlinsky... MORE

PUTIN TO CANCEL JAPAN TRIP?

The brief excitement created by President Vladimir Putin's mid-November announcement that the Russian government would be prepared to honor the 1956 Soviet-Japanese declaration (pledging to return two disputed islands to Japan) has evaporated as quickly as it appeared. The brief meeting between Putin and Japanese... MORE

RUSSIA BLOCKADING ABKHAZIA TO OVERTURN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

On December 1, Russia's government introduced a set of blockade measures against Abkhazia for the declared purpose of preventing the inauguration of president-elect Sergei Bagapsh, victor over the Moscow-backed candidate Raul Khajimba in Abkhazia's October 3 presidential election. Gennady Bukayev, an aide to Russian Prime... MORE