On May 24-25 many portraits of President Saparmurat Niyazov suddenly disappeared from the streets of the capital of Turkmenistan. This was done on orders from Turkmenbashi. Hundreds of portraits of the president, which until recently were conspicuous on government buildings, businesses, clinics and schools, disappeared... MORE

Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, which had expressed some moderately phrased objections to Georgia’s anti-crime measures in South Ossetia on May 31, (see EMD, June 1) reverted to its familiar style yesterday. Two communiqués in rapid succession described Georgia’s actions as “provocations” -- a serious accusation... MORE

Georgian Internal Affairs Ministry troops, backed up by a special-forces unit, armored vehicles and helicopters, entered the so-called Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone on both sides of the demarcation line at noon on May 31. Tbilisi's move was an instant response to the 10 AM warning by... MORE

Human rights groups in Russia and in the West have reacted strongly to President Vladimir Putin's state of the nation speech last Wednesday, in which he darkly warned Russian civil society that it was too dependent on foreign money. Clearly, when Putin talked about civic... MORE

Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych was nominated on April 14 as the candidate of the pro-presidential camp for the October 31 presidential election in Ukraine. The nomination came six days after a parliamentary vote on constitutional changes failed. Opinion polls show Yanukovych to have overtaken Communist... MORE

In Russia, a wrathful prosecutor declared his inability to sentence Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky to more than 10 years in prison, adding that miscreants still at large should bear this in mind. The guarantor of the Constitution - President Vladimir Putin - has not... MORE

Following a meeting on May 27 with Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Alvaro Gil-Robles, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov declared that the issue of Chechnya "is dropping off the politicized agenda of our relations with the Council of Europe just as it has... MORE

Whether by strategic design with Russia, by bureaucratic drift or a combination thereof, Western diplomats are rushing a pseudo-settlement of the Trans-Dniester problem that would, if implemented in the next few months, turn Moldova into a Russian satellite and ensure a Communist landslide in upcoming... MORE

A demarcation ceremony was held at the Gishtkuprik customs checkpoint on May 19 to officially delineate the Uzbek-Kazakh border. The demarcation process was begun in fall 2003. Gishtkuprik is located 17km from Tashkent. Astana and Tashkent plan to plant border poles along the entire length... MORE

As summer approaches in Afghanistan and the peak fighting season lies ahead, the 20,000-strong U.S. military is making increasing contact with the enemy. But the enemy is no longer limited to pockets of suspected al-Qaeda fugitives and their Taliban allies in the mountains near the... MORE