Even as President Vladimir Putin is liquidating Russia's federal system, Russia and the OSCE's American-led Moldova Mission persist with a U.S. State Department-approved project to appoint Russia as the main "guarantor" of a new Moldova-Trans-Dniester "federation." Moldova's appeals to ostracize Trans-Dniester's Russian-installed dictatorship and to... MORE

Uzbekistan has implemented a series of practical measures in Namangan Region (Eastern Uzbekistan, bordering Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan), aimed at raising public confidence in the ability of the local authorities to cope with the threat posed by terrorism. The regional law-enforcement bodies have established close cooperation... MORE

On September 22, Zagipa Balieva, chair of Kazakhstan's Central Election Commission, announced preliminary results for the September 19 elections to the lower chamber of Parliament, the majilis. In general, the race played out as analysts had predicted. Four political parties led the balloting and will... MORE

July 2-4, 2004 THE WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE NATO’s summit, just held in Istanbul, seemed consumed with the ongoing crises in Iraq and Afghanistan, and preoccupied to heal internal disagreements over those crises. Allied leaders did little more than glance at their strategically pivotal neighborhood... MORE

While the murder of a businessman is hardly news in Russia, the death of the head of a private security company in St. Petersburg on September 24 has raised eyebrows. According to press reports, Roman Tsepov, general director of the Baltik-Eskort private security firm, had... MORE

Although Ukraine's presidential elections are still six weeks away, last week the authorities hinted at two methods it could use to secure the election of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. First, officials could deploy all available "state administrative resources" to win additional percentage points for Yanukovych.... MORE

The joint parliamentary election and referendum campaign in Belarus is well under way. Last week, President Alexander Lukashenka outlined his platform to students at the Brest State Technical University. He has developed three main themes for the campaign: the nature of the presidency; the economic... MORE

With seven CIS member governments in tow, Russia has renewed its campaign to "reform" the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Moscow's two-fold goal is to use OSCE mechanisms in ways that would increase Russian clout on post-Soviet countries and promote "all-European" security arrangements... MORE

Forty-eight percent of Russians polled by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM) have expressed disagreement with the centerpiece of President Vladimir Putin's recently announced plan to centralize political power. Asked whether they agreed with the president's proposal to do away with... MORE

Confirming the growing Russianization of Ukrainian security policy, Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk was dismissed on September 22. Marchuk had only been appointed to this post in June 2003. His removal resembled that of the pro-Western Foreign Minister Borys Tarasiuk in October 2000. Tarasiuk claims that... MORE