Two identical texts in English (https://www.eurasiareview.com/28062013-belarus-and-the-eurasian-union-incremental-integration-analysis/) and in Russian (https://naviny.by/rubrics/economic/2013/06/29/ic_articles_113_182193/) specify pluses and minuses of Belarus’s involvement in the Russian-led Eurasian integration project. In the opinion of the Belarusian Institute for Strategic Studies (BISS), a Minsk-based think tank funded by the West, the biggest plus... MORE

Even though over the past several years militants in the North Caucasus have not adhered to their old tactic of intensifying attacks in the spring-fall period, observers still tend to expect some escalation in the warmer period of the year in comparison to the cold... MORE

On July 5, President Vladimir Putin had a meeting with Mikhail Fedorov, presidential advisor and chairman of the Presidential Council on human rights (Soviet po pravam chyeloveka or SPCh), Vladimir Lukin, the human rights commissioner of Russia, and former SPCh chairwoman Ella Pamfilova, whom Putin,... MORE

The world heavyweight boxing champion, Vitaly Klichko, may become the strongest challenger to the incumbent President Viktor Yanukovych in the presidential election scheduled for early 2015, recent opinion polls show. If his popularity stands the test of time, Ukraine may, for the first time, elect... MORE

On July 1, the Georgian government unilaterally revoked the 45-day visa-free travel rules with Iran (www.iveroni.com.ge, July 3). Georgia implemented a visa-free regime with Iran in January 2011, under President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration. Although, the step increased the number of Iranian visitors in Georgia from... MORE

On June 29, a conference in support of the Syrian Circassians took place in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria. The participants in the conference demanded that Moscow relax visa rules and simplify the granting of refugee status to Circassians from Syria, who have reportedly experienced extreme hardship there... MORE

In the midst of the deepening political crisis in Bulgaria, Gazprom’s Chairman Alexei Miller arrived in Sofia on July 8 to make sure construction of the South Stream natural gas pipeline is not further delayed. The project was already delayed when the center-right government of... MORE

A discussion sparked by calls from some Ukrainian nationalists to transform the Crimean Autonomous Republic into the 27th oblast of Ukraine has led to a remarkable admission by a Ukrainian expert. The autonomy that Crimea has enjoyed since 1992 is so small that the republic... MORE

On July 1, in Astana, President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron signed a joint declaration on strategic partnership between Britain and Kazakhstan. A large business delegation accompanied Cameron. He became the first serving British prime minister to visit Kazakhstan, although... MORE

On July 2, Kazakhstan’s government announced that it has decided to sell an 8.4-percent stake in Kashagan, the supergiant oilfield development project, to China’s National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The CNPC has prevailed against India’s Videsh, external operations branch of Indian state-controlled Oil & Natural Gas... MORE