CIS Executive Secretary Boris Berezovsky on Tuesday (November 10) repeated his demand that the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) be banned. Berezovsky, one of Russia's leading tycoons, said the communists had in fact become "fascists," adding that they were both a "spent political... MORE

The most intriguing--and, for many, alarming--aspect of Tuesday's Duma session was the reaction of Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov. He reportedly laid down conditions for both his party's support of an austerity budget and its ceasing opposition to the passage of the START II arms control... MORE

According to leaks from Tuesday's closed parliamentary session devoted to the government's anticrisis economic plan, the cabinet, represented by First Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Maslyukov, made the case for a super-tight 1999 budget envisaging a 2 percent budget surplus. Such a budget would apparently win... MORE

Russian government leaders reportedly made a strong pitch yesterday for parliamentary ratification of the START II arms reduction treaty. It was unclear, however, whether the government's entreaties had moved reluctant lawmakers to take quick action on the issue. The START II Treaty--which cuts the nuclear... MORE

The U.S. State Department on November 5 condemned Kazakhstan's electoral commission for rejecting that day the candidacy of former Prime Minister Akezhan Kazhegeldin for the early presidential elections of January 10, 1999 (Reuters, November 5). The grounds for the rejection were that the former prime... MORE

More than twenty Azerbaijani opposition parties and groups yesterday signed an agreement that creates a Movement for Democracy (MFD). Its stated purpose is to unite the country's "democratic forces" and remove the present authorities--termed "dictatorial regime"--from power by using legal means. The bloc demands the... MORE

Tajik government troops yesterday continued mopping-up operations against isolated rebel units close to the Uzbek border and near the strategic Anzob pass. The goal of the operations are, first, to prevent the remaining rebel forces from withdrawing into Uzbekistan and, second, to capture their leaders.... MORE

Toomas Ilves, who has resigned in high standing as foreign minister of Estonia (profile in the Monitor, October 1), is sharply questioning the concept of Baltic unity. That concept essentially assumes that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania possess a common identity as "Baltic states," form a... MORE

On November 7 Russian workers at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan began fueling the Zarya cargo module--the first component of the new International Space Station (ISS). The five days of fueling are in preparation for a planned November 20 launch. The Russian-made cargo module--built under... MORE

On Monday, during an address to a rally in the village of Gekhy-Chu marking the seventh anniversary of Dzhokhar Dudaev's inauguration, Chechen President Aslan Maskhadov promised to reveal in the near future the spot where Chechnya's first president is buried. The decision was taken Sunday... MORE