Borislav Milosevic, brother of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, arrived in Moscow yesterday to take up his post as Belgrade's new ambassador to Russia. "We hope for the closest cooperation with Russia," Borislav Milosevic was quoted as saying. "Russia has thus far played a major role... MORE

The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), which has opened its ninth congress in Moscow, is getting a lot of attention from the powers-that-be. President Boris Yeltsin had a telephone conversation on October 19 with Arkady Volsky, the union's president. According to Kremlin spokesman... MORE

Various individuals have declared their candidacies for Kazakhstan's January 1999 presidential elections, brought forward by President Nursultan Nazarbaev on October 8 (see the Monitor, October 13), but the 46-year-old ex-prime minister, Akezhan Kazhegeldin, is widely held to be the only serious contender. The majority of... MORE

Former Prime Minister Kazhegeldin of Kazakhstan is already being hounded on grounds of both corruption and participation in unsanctioned meetings. Last week, state television broadcast countless accusations against Kazhegeldin, naming the ex-prime minister's substantial foreign bank accounts. He is also accused of participating in the... MORE

Kyrgyzstan held on October 17 a national referendum on changes to the constitution, initiated by President Askar Akaev. Preliminary returns issued by the Central Electoral Commission indicate that the turnout was high and that the electorate has overwhelmingly approved the changes. The amendments and supplements... MORE

Haidar Aliev was inaugurated yesterday for a second term of five years as president of Azerbaijan. Timed to coincide with Azerbaijan's independence day (October 18), the inauguration ceremony saw Aliev take the oath of office on both the constitution and the Koran. His address reaffirmed... MORE

Addressing a meeting of the NATO Council at the Brussels headquarters, President Guntis Ulmanis detailed Latvia's efforts to qualify for an invitation to NATO accession talks. Ulmanis cited Latvia's progress on economic reforms, its recent admission to the World Trade Organization ahead of all post-Soviet... MORE

President Leonid Kuchma headed his country's delegation to the second European Union-Ukraine summit, held on October 16 in Vienna. Austrian Chancellor Viktor Klima, whose country currently holds the European Union's (EU) rotating chairmanship, European Commission Chairman Jacques Santer of Luxembourg and other leaders represented the... MORE

Despite the bland statements of assurance issued on October 17, there were indications over the weekend that the two countries are continuing to stumble on the thorniest issue confronting them--the dispute over ownership of the southern Kuril Islands--and that this obstacle is impeding efforts to... MORE

Over the weekend Russia and Japan reaffirmed their intention to continue improving bilateral relations. The vagueness of the statements which followed talks in Moscow on October 17 between Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura and several Russian leaders, however, suggested that the two sides had papered... MORE