Addressing the parliament on December 12, State Minister (equivalent to prime minister) Vazha Lortkipanidze described official corruption in Georgia as a "threat to the very existence of the state. Corruption pervades the state authorities practically at all levels," he charged. Urging law enforcement agencies to... MORE

Recent Armenian visitors to Azerbaijan's Nakhichevan Autonomous Republic have accused the regional authorities of deliberately destroying "Khachkars," ancient Armenian funeral monuments in the shape of crosses made of stone. According to these travelers' accounts, the historic Armenian cemetery at Jugha--site of as many as 2,000... MORE

Russia's Fuel and Power Ministry and the Transneft company have decided to allow Kazakhstan to export an extra 1.5 million tons of crude oil annually through the Russian pipeline system in 1999. Russia had until now limited Kazakhstan--a potential competitor--to 7.5 million tons (Russian agencies,... MORE

Sixty-two battle tanks from Ukraine have arrived in Uganda, and a further consignment of twenty-eight tanks is due to follow by the same route via Tanzania. The ninety tanks were delivered at the port of Dar-es-Salaam, reportedly by a Bulgarian ship, to be taken by... MORE

Ukrainian Premier Valery Pustovoytenko has publicly reacted to the statement of former Acting Prosecutor General Oleh Lytvak, who, following the Swiss arrest of former Premier Lazarenko, said that there are corrupt ministers in the current cabinet (see the Monitor, December 8). At the cabinet meeting... MORE

Estonia and Lithuania must exert every effort to buttress Latvia's independence, writes Estonia's former Defense Minister Hain Rebas--currently a professor at Kiel University, Germany--in the December 11 issue of the Tallinn daily "Eesti Paevaleht." Rebas warns that any setbacks to Latvia's independence could not fail... MORE

The Chechen authorities anticrime mobilization plans were probably spurred, in part, by the Russian special forces' success Saturday (December 12) in freeing from captivity Vincent Cochetel, a UN refugee worker. The hostage rescue took place in Ingushetia, near its border with Chechnya. The kidnappers had... MORE

In the wake of the beheading of four Western telecommunications workers last week, the Chechen authorities Sunday (December 13). announced that they had mobilized 1,100 reservists and war veterans to launch a "decisive battle" against crime and terrorism. "Thousands" of armed reserves reportedly showed up... MORE

Russian Defense Minister Igor Sergeev painted a dismal picture of conditions in the armed forces in remarks delivered to Russian lawmakers on December 11. The one-time Strategic Rocket Forces commander told the State Duma that about one-third of the armed forces' military hardware is not... MORE

Russia and the United States butted heads yet again this weekend over Russian arms dealings with Iran, but there was little indication that the two sides had in any way resolved their differences. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott was at the head of... MORE