Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
UZBEKISTAN TO HOLD MILITARY EXERCISES WITH RUSSIAN PARATROOPERS
Uzbekistan plans to carry out joint military exercises with Russia in 2005 involving Russian paratroopers from the 76th Pskov Airborne Division. Colonel-General Alexander Kolmakov, Commander of the Russian Airborne Troops, confirmed that these plans are part of a series of foreign military exercises scheduled with... MORE
THE BUSH-PUTIN MEETING: SOFTLY, SOFTLY
As President George W. Bush heads to Bratislava for tomorrow's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the rhetoric among commentators in both Moscow and Washington has led to some speculation about a radical shift in U.S.-Russian relations. However, all the signs over the past week... MORE
UKRAINIAN JUSTICE MINISTER THREATENS TO QUIT OVER OIL RE-EXPORT BAN
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's radicalism and a conflict of interest have nearly cost Justice Minister Roman Zvarych his position just two weeks after his appointment. The cabinet-imposed ban on exporting oil imported from Russia has prevented a company linked to Zvarych's wife from meeting... MORE
MOSCOW’S CRACKDOWN ON “ISLAMIC” MILITANTS FUELS FEARS OF PROLONGED CHECHEN CONFLICT
The long-awaited Russian crackdown against Islamic militants in the North Caucasus has begun. For now the emerging law enforcement and military campaign seems more sporadic in its nature than first mooted. President Vladimir Putin, promising to get tough with "terrorists" following the Beslan hostage crisis... MORE
NEW SURVEY IN AZERBAIJAN SHOWS RISING INFLUENCE OF ISLAM
While local and international analysts continue to debate the pluses and minuses of Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev's January trip to Iran, the non-governmental research organization Far Center, based in Baku has released the results of its recent survey on religious freedom in the country. The... MORE
BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY VISITS KABUL TO DISCUSS ANTI-NARCOTICS EFFORTS
Afghanistan remains the world's number one supplier of drugs, mainly opium. In 2001 it produced 600 tons of opium, now, post-Taliban, it produces more than 5,000 tons. Drug money constitutes more than 60% of the country's GNP. A recently announced government amnesty for major growers... MORE
KAZAKHSTAN GAMBLES ON HOMELAND NATIONALISM TO FILL DEMOGRAPHIC GAP
In his annual message to the nation last April, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev expressed concerns about the worsening demographic situation in the country. He challenged government agencies to boost population growth in order to reach a population of 20 million people by the year 2015.... MORE
LITTLE TO SHOW FROM FIRST YEAR OF GEORGIAN ARMY REFORM
Last week two events highlighted the unstable situation in the Georgian armed forces. The army's supreme command shuffled its top personnel yet again and "Justice and Freedom," a military watchdog group, released a report criticizing the government's performance in the field of defense from January... MORE
TIME SHORT, OPTIONS NARROWING, CALL NEEDED FOR A NEW GEORGIA BMO
Two months after Russia killed the OSCE's Georgia Border Monitoring Operation (BMO) -- and many months after Moscow had served advance notice of that move -- Georgia's Western partners are still bogged down in inconsequential talk about organizing a substitute operation. Only two months remain... MORE
YUKOS-MENATEP EXECS TESTIFY BEFORE CONGRESS
The U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations held a hearing yesterday (February 17) on "Democracy in Retreat in Russia." The star witnesses were Steven Theede, the embattled Yukos oil company's chief executive officer, and Tim Osborne, a member of the board of directors of Group... MORE