On July 2 in Kyiv, Naftohaz Ukrainy and Ferrostaal Industrieanlagen signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for a pilot project to upgrade Ukraine’s gas transit system. That system carries more than 70 percent of Russia’s gas exports to Europe at present. Germany’s powerful lobby for... MORE

On June 27-29 in Brussels, Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat wrapped up four agreements between Moldova and the European Union, advancing his country’s European integration process. Filat led a governmental delegation to the high-level annual meeting of the EU-Moldova Cooperation Council. The sectoral agreements just... MORE

Prior to the wave of terrorist attacks in 2011, the problem of Islamic radicalism in Kazakhstan was less ubiquitous than in the other Central Asia republics. Kazakhs (who were nomads in the past) are less religious then Uzbeks and Tajiks, and the proportion of the... MORE

Belarusian president Alyaksandr Lukashenka signed a decree on June 18, which announced that the 2012 elections to the House of Representatives (HR or Parliament) would be held on September 23. Elections for the upper house of the National Assembly, the Council of the Republic (64... MORE

On June 18, the Federal National-Cultural Autonomy of Lezgins held its first conference in Moscow. Issues facing ethnic Lezgins and Avars, both of whom are divided between Dagestan and Azerbaijan, were discussed at the forum. The political importance of the event was reflected in the... MORE

The lull in street protests in Moscow is seen by President Vladimir Putin’s administration as a perfect opportunity to squeeze and discredit the leaders of the disunited opposition and thus to restore the political torpor that had been the norm of his reign until last... MORE

Turkey-Syria relations have entered a new stage after Syrian forces shot down a Turkish F-4 fighter jet on June 22 in international waters over the Mediterranean Sea. Syria claimed that the Turkish jet violated Syrian airspace, but Turkey protested that its aircraft was in Syrian... MORE

It came as a complete surprise when Chechen TV, on the evening of June 13, broadcast a meeting between Ramzan Kadyrov and Khizri Aldamov, who was the general representative in Georgia for the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria from 1994-2004 and is now a Georgian... MORE

On June 28, the Shah Deniz gas producers’ consortium in Azerbaijan announced that it has selected the Nabucco-West pipeline project to be the route for Caspian gas into Central Europe. This decision is an immediate consequence of the Azerbaijan-Turkey inter-governmental agreement, signed on June 26,... MORE

The Azerbaijani-Turkish Trans-Anatolia gas pipeline project (TANAP), officially launched on June 26 (see EDM, June 27), is impacting a vast field ranging from Turkmenistan, across the South Caucasus and Turkey, to Central Europe and EU authorities in Brussels.This project encourages Turkmenistan to pursue a trans-Caspian... MORE