
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

New Italian Government Will Likely Struggle to Boost Ties With Russia
Addressing the Italian parliament, Italy’s new Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said his government, recently formed by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the Eurosceptic and anti-immigrant League party, was in favor of an opening toward Russia (Ansa, June 5). Moscow voiced satisfaction with Conte’s words... MORE

Cossacks at the 2018 World Cup: Law and Disorder?
After “neo-Cossacks” brutally whipped anti-Kremlin demonstrators at the May 5 “He Is Not Our Tsar” protests, in downtown Moscow (see EDM, May 14), concerns in Russia have been mounting that the authorities will similarly employ such quasi-paramilitary forces to maintain order at the World Cup,... MORE

Clichés Clashing With Real Life in Belarus
In many ways, contemporary Belarus bears less and less resemblance to the persistent but worn narratives about this country. And three choice developments from the past several weeks illustrate this point in various telling ways. First, it is worth examining Yury Zisser’s recent publicized contention... MORE

Moscow Throws Oligarchs Lifeline in Form of ‘Offshore’ Zones in Kaliningrad and Vladivostok
On April 9, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev asked his Cabinet for specific measures to alleviate the consequences of the economic sanctions the United States passed (on April 6—see EDM, April 9) against Russian companies and individuals, with metallurgy, the energy sector and the defense industry... MORE

Moscow Hopes Gagauz Nation Can Help Save Russian Language in Moldova
Now that the Moldovan Constitutional Court has annulled the special status the Russian language has enjoyed in that republic since independence, Moscow is hoping to use the Gagauz nation within Moldova to defend the position of Russian there. But this decision to turn to the... MORE

Is the Georgian Opposition Capable of ‘Dismantling the System?’
A so-called “Nationwide Protest Action” will be held in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, on June 10. This decision was made by the Council of Opposition Parties after Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili refused to resign (Kommersant, June 5). The opposition accuses the government of... MORE

Moscow Aims to Relocate Caspian Flotilla From Astrakhan to Kaspiysk in Dagestan
In early April, the minister of defense of Russia, Sergei Shoigu, announced the relocation of the Caspian Flotilla from Astrakhan (Astrakhan oblast, on the northwest coast of the Caspian Sea) to Kaspiysk, a Dagestani city just south of the republican capital of Makhachkala. The first... MORE

Aggravated Situation Around Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Exclave
An Azerbaijani soldier stationed in the country’s large western exclave of Nakhchivan was killed, on May 20, during a combat mission while suppressing enemy provocations coming across the border from Armenia. The incident came only two days after a visit by Armenia’s defense and foreign... MORE

Babchenko’s Staged Assassination: Political Consequences for Ukraine and the West
In the week since Russian journalist Arkady Babchenko’s staged assassination on May 29 (see EDM, May 31), plenty of smoke and dozens of unanswered questions remain. At this point, Ukrainian law enforcement and the security services have still not provided any clear evidence of the... MORE

Successful International Security Gathering in Belarus Brings Together East and West
In his May 24 speech at the Minsk Dialogue forum, “Eastern Europe: In Search of Security for All,” President Alyaksandr Lukashenka reminded that Belarus came forward with the initiative to launch a new large-scale international dialogue on security that should strive to overcome existing disagreements... MORE