On July 17, British Petroleum (BP) presented the 2012 edition of its annual publication, “Statistical Review of World Energy,” in Ashgabat (Trend, Interfax, July 17). Released each year in June, and dubbed a “bible” in the energy business, BP’s Statistical Review covers reserves, production and... MORE

Western governments continue to try to “shift” President Vladimir Putin and the Russian government on the crisis in Syria to allow the passage of a UN Security Council resolution to address the escalating violence. The proposed resolution would threaten to impose sanctions and possible military... MORE

On July 7, in the capital of Dagestan, Makhachkala, the Council of Kumyk Elders gathered for an extraordinary meeting, which focused on issues of land redistribution in the republic. In order to make their voice heard, the Kumyks asked President Vladimir Putin to include an... MORE

Speaking in Helsinki on June 5, Russia’s Chief of the General Staff General Nikolai Makarov made several incendiary remarks about Finland. Since such speeches are only made with official guidance, these outbursts must be assumed to reflect official Russian policy. Makarov warned Finland against cooperating... MORE

On June 28, Uzbekistan announced its decision to suspend its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The CSTO is a predecessor of the Collective Security Treaty that was signed on Uzbekistan’s own initiative in Tashkent on May 15, 1992, at the peak of... MORE

Tashkent’s controversial decision on June 20 to suspend its membership of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) was widely misinterpreted as either signaling its complete withdrawal from the organization or as part of a policy to position itself to develop much closer security ties with... MORE

As the summer combat training period intensifies for the Russian Army, supporting programs and changes to the training schedule suggest that greater attention is being given to improving its quality. Commanders in the Central Military District (MD) report that subunits will remain in the field... MORE

Lidiya Yermoshina, chair of the Belarus Central Electoral Commission, long on the EU travel ban list, was invited to the Vienna-based July 12 OSCE conference “Democratic Elections and Election Observation.” Her deputy, Nikolay Lozovik, also under EU travel sanctions, was invited as well, and both... MORE

Moldova’s parliament initially banned the Communist Party and confiscated all its assets in August 1991, when the pro-Soviet putsch failed in Russia while Moldova proclaimed its independence. The banned party was the local branch of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU). The next... MORE

Twenty-one years after the Soviet Union’s demise and Moldova’s proclamation of independence, the Moldovan parliament has at last repudiated Communism, albeit by a narrow margin. The Communist Party retains a broad base of support in the country. For the last 15 years, Moldova has held... MORE