
Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles

CSTO Exercises Rapid Reaction Forces in Armenia
Russia is staging a number of military exercises in September and October as part of the training year for its Armed Forces, designed to road test elements of its ongoing conventional forces reform, promote defense cooperation and strengthen the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Although... MORE

Rogun Dam Project Epitomizes Central Asian Security Dilemmas
Speaking in Kazakhstan on September 7, Uzbek President Islam Karimov strongly voiced his opposition to Central Asian water projects like the Rogun Dam in Tajikistan and the Kambarata-1 hydroelectric project in Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, he insisted, along with Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev, that any such water... MORE

Anti-Caucasian Russian Separatism on the Rise in Stavropol Region
On September 6, the Russian president’s plenipotentiary representative in the North Caucasus, Alexander Khloponin, intervened in a protracted conflict between the Dagestani and Stavropol authorities. The Stavropol region’s eastern districts have been increasingly populated as a result of inward migration from the neighboring republic of... MORE

Finnish Leaders Emphasize Bilateral Cooperation and Good Relations with Russia
On August 20–23, Finland’s foreign policy establishment convened in Helsinki for the Annual Meeting of Heads of Mission. In addition to speeches by President Sauli Niinisto and Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was given the opportunity to give a short... MORE

Nazarbayev-Karimov Summit Imparts New Momentum to Kazakhstani-Uzbekistani Relations
In his first official bilateral visit to Kazakhstan since April 2008, President Islam Karimov and other senior Uzbekistani officials discussed a range of important bilateral, regional and international issues with their Kazakhstani counterparts in Astana on September 6–7, 2012. These topics included boosting two-way economic... MORE

Dagestan Remains the Deadliest Republic of the North Caucasus
On August 28, Dagestan’s President Magomedsalam Magomedov presided over an extraordinary joint meeting of the Security Council of Dagestan and the Coordination Council for Law Enforcement in Dagestan. The leader of the republic unexpectedly proposed the idea of establishing self-defense units in the republic (https://05.mvd.ru/news/302958/).... MORE

Filat’s Reset: Moldovan Prime Minister Reaches out to Putin and Medvedev
Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat’s September 10–12 back-to-back visits with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (see accompanying article) amount to a reset of bilateral relations initiated by Filat. This marks the first time since 2003 (Kozak Memorandum’s collapse) that Putin deigns... MORE

Moldova’s Filat Discusses Energy Sector Agreement with Russia’s Putin and Medvedev
On September 10–12, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev received Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat with his governmental delegation in Moscow and Sochi, respectively. The Transnistria conflict did not figure on the official agenda and seemed almost unmentioned in these discussions. Instead,... MORE

Will Tajikistan’s Karategin Valley Again Become a Militant Stronghold?
The Karategin (literally “black mountains”) Valley—also called Rasht Valley, located in the West-Central part of the country—is a very special region of Tajikistan. During the 1992–1997 Tajikistan Civil War, the Karategin was a stronghold for the Islamic opposition and became the site of numerous battles... MORE

Ingushetia Experiences Spike in Violence as Militants Mount New Attacks
August ended with fresh casualties among both civilians and law enforcement personnel in Ingushetia. According to independent estimates, there were 44 casualties in Ingushetia in August—19 killed and 25 injured. Of the 19 people killed, nine were law enforcement officers, seven were rebels and three... MORE