Latest Monitor Articles
PUTIN OPTIMISTIC ABOUT VICTORY IN CHECHNYA.
Acting President Vladimir Putin declared on March 19 that the large-scale military operation in Chechnya is reaching its logical finish. The main force of the Chechen extremists had been defeated, he said, while adding that "the animals under the name Raduev" can still come together... MORE
PROSECUTORS INVESTIGATE ALLEGED KILLINGS BY RUSSIAN TROOPS.
On March 20, federal prosecutors in Chechnya began a criminal case involving the alleged murder of sixty civilians in Aldi, a suburb of the Chechen capital. According to eyewitnesses, Russian troops carried out mass shootings of civilians there during a special operation last month (Kommersant,... MORE
RUMP GUUAM ACTIVELY CONSIDERS JOINT BATTALION.
During President Leonid Kuchma's official visits last week to Georgia and Azerbaijan, Ukrainian Defense Minister [and General] Oleksandr Kuzmuk and Deputy Foreign Minister Dmytro Tkach discussed military and political aspects, respectively, of GUUAM's prospects (see the Monitor, March 20). Interviewed yesterday in Lviv, Kuzmuk lifted... MORE
AZERBAIJAN FACES FURTHER LOAN DELAYS FROM WORLD BANK.
The World Bank in mid-March delayed the first US$60 million tranche of a US$200 million loan citing Azerbaijan's lack of progress in public sector reform. This follows an IMF decision in late February to delay a US$22 million tranche of a US$57 million structural loan,... MORE
UKRAINIAN PREMIER IN DIRE STRAITS.
After three months of work, the reform-minded government of Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yushchenko faces serious problems in its interaction with the center-right majority in parliament, the Verkhovna Rada. In December, the pro-presidential oligarchs played a key role in the Rada endorsing Yushchenko's appointment. But... MORE
UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION URGED TO ACT ON CHECHNYA VIOLATIONS.
Russia's never-ending battle to ward off international censure for its bloody war in Chechnya continued yesterday as pressure intensified for the UN Human Rights Commission to take up the issue. In an address opening up the annual session of the commission, UN human rights chief... MORE
ST. PETERSBURG CENTER-RIGHT SPLITS OVER MATVIENKO.
As St. Petersburg prepares for gubernatorial elections, scheduled for May 14, the atmosphere is becoming more confrontational, pitting the city's political circles against the federal center. The main factor in the rising tension is the Kremlin's decision to put forward Valentina Matvienko, the government's social... MORE
TITOV SAYS THE SPS IS CLOSE TO SPLITTING.
Konstantin Titov, the Samara regional governor and presidential candidate, declared last week that the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) is on the verge of a split following the decision by its coordinating council to back Acting President Vladimir Putin in the March 26 State Duma... MORE
CIS ECONOMIES MARCHING TO SEVERAL DIFFERENT DRUMMERS.
End-year GDP data are now available for most CIS countries and show a remarkable divergence in performance across the region. Several countries registered solid growth in 1999. The most rapid was reported by Azerbaijan (7.4 percent), followed by Uzbekistan (4.4 percent), Tajikistan (3.7 percent), Kyrgyzstan... MORE
LUKASHENKA DISCOMFITED BY OPPOSITION’S SHOW OF STRENGTH.
At least 25,000 citizens, predominantly young, demonstrated on March 15 in Minsk to mark Constitution Day--the anniversary of the 1994 constitution, rewritten two years later unilaterally by President Alyaksandr Lukashenka when he established personal rule. The Popular Front, Social-Democrat, United Civic Action and other opposition... MORE