Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
Upcoming Referendum Seeks to Overcome Moldova’s Constitutional Crisis
Serially recurring and failing parliamentary and presidential elections have fed rivalries within Moldova’s governing Alliance for European Integration (AEI). The upcoming constitutional referendum on September 5, to be followed by new general elections, can only bring the AEI closer to its end.The four parties had... MORE
Communist Strength Slowly Waning Ahead of Moldovan Referendum and Elections
Moldova is headed for a constitutional referendum on September 5, to be followed by yet another round of double elections, parliamentary and presidential. It will be the third round of double elections (or fourth electoral round, counting the referendum) in just 19 months. Intractable rivalries... MORE
Medvedev Disciplines Top Naval Commanders for Negligence
A thick haze of acrid and choking smoke from wildfires mixed with car engine emissions blankets Moscow. A record heat wave has engulfed most of European Russia for more than a month with temperatures exceeding 35 degrees celsius. According to official figures, by August 4,... MORE
IMF Approves New Loan for Ukraine
On July 28, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a $15 billion loan for Ukraine, as most observers expected (EDM, July 21). Ukraine received the first $1.9 billion tranche almost immediately, Serhy Tyhypko, the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic reform, announced (Ukrainski Novyny,... MORE
Arrests Mark Opportunity for Improved Relations Between Tajikistan and its Neighbors
In a rare moment of cross-border cooperation, the government of Tajikistan handed over two suspected terrorists to its neighbors at the beginning of July (www.azattyk.kg, July 8). Officials in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan consider Abduvakhid Aliev and Atabek Toychiev, respectively, to be guilty of a variety... MORE
Turkey’s “Economic Recovery” Raises Questions
The Turkish Exporters’ Assembly (TIM) announced statistics on Turkish export figures in July 2010. Turkey exported around $9.5 billion in goods, which amounted to a 5.97 percent increase since July 2009. Between January and July 2010, its exports increased by 13.14 percent compared to the... MORE
Surge in Nuclear Power Projects Imperils Belarusian Program
According to Belarusian First Vice-Prime Minister, Uladzimir Syamashka, the end of July was scheduled to mark the finalization of an agreement between Belarus and Russia to build the nuclear power station at Astravets in the Hrodna region with construction of the station to start next... MORE
North Caucasus Human Rights Activists Introduce Counter-Measures to Thwart Illegal Detentions
On July 29, six people from the village of Komsomolskoe in northern Dagestan’s Kizilyurt were abducted by unidentified assailants. On August 1, one of those abducted, Kaitmaz Magomedov, was released, apparently by law enforcement agencies without explanation (www.kavkaz-uzel.ru, August 1). As of August 3, the... MORE
Moscow Prepares OSCE “Reform” Proposals for the Summit in Kazakhstan
Ahead of the OSCE summit under Kazakhstan’s chairmanship, Russian officials are resurrecting the agenda of “OSCE reforms” to reconfigure the organization in line with Russian foreign policy objectives. The reform proposals date back for the most part to 2004 and have been promoted since then... MORE
EU Supports Nabucco Against South Stream
On July 30 in Berlin, Gazprom’s Vice-President, Aleksandr Medvedev, deprecated the EU-backed Nabucco project and claimed that Russia would imminently proceed with the rival South Stream. “There is complete certainty about South Stream. We have enough gas to supply 63 billion cubic meters (bcm) every... MORE