In January, government forces killed 26 militants in the North Caucasus Federal District. Eight of those killed were referred to as leaders of the illegal armed groups. In the same period, 101 police operations were carried out in the district. Russia’s law enforcement agencies noted... MORE

One year after the Bulgarian parliament adopted a moratorium on shale gas exploration under pressure from environmental groups, public protests against high prices of electricity and heating have swept the country. The protests, however, seem to target the energy distribution companies and their pricing policies... MORE

Hugo Chavez’s reported life-threatening illness has repercussions beyond Venezuela and even Latin America. The prospect of a potential change in Venezuela’s leadership has led Russia to seek to ensure its strong position in Venezuela and its availability as a base for Russian activity throughout Latin... MORE

The former prime minister of Tajikistan, Abdumalik Abdullojonov, was arrested in Ukraine last week at the request of Tajik authorities. Abdullojonov claims that his life would be in jeopardy if he were extradited to Dushanbe. He was declared wanted internationally 16 years ago. Tajikistan charges... MORE

On February 5, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili made a number of statements addressed to Defense Minister Irakli Alasania, some of which sounded like accusations and warnings against the leader of the Our Georgia-Free Democrats (OGFD) party and one of the leaders of the ruling... MORE

The Russian government has been forced to admit it is worried not only about Islam’s proliferation in the North Caucasus, but also about the proliferation of ideas of the North Caucasian militants spreading to other regions of Russia. Russian authorities are trying to prevent the... MORE

This week, speaking at a meeting of Russia’s top security officials—the so called “extended collegium” of the Federal Security Service or FSB—Alexander Bortnikov, the FSB chief, announced: “Geopolitical pressure on Russia, coming from the United States and its allies who still consider our nation one... MORE

On the last day of January, Kazakhstani media reported that Major-General Talgat Yessetov, the director of the Border Service Academy under the National Security Committee, had committed suicide in his office in the country’s capital. Before his appointment as the head of an elite military... MORE

In his TV interview on February 1, Turkish Prime Minster Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that Turkey is ready to drop its European Union membership bid and become a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), comprising Russia, China and four Central Asian states—three of them... MORE

On February 1, the head of the Russian parliament’s Committee for Nationalities, Gadzhimet Safaraliev, stated that the State Duma was preparing amendments to the country’s citizenship law that would allow former subjects of the Soviet Union and Russian Empire to migrate to the Russian Federation... MORE