Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
WITH LUKASHENKA OUT OF SIGHT, BELARUS OPPOSITION STAGES INDEPENDENCE DAY RALLY
The 89th anniversary of the formation of the Belarusian National Republic was commemorated in Minsk with the largest public anti-government demonstration since last year's Chernobyl march. Although the authorities reacted harshly and at times resorted to violence and arrests, the official response was surprisingly tentative.... MORE
UKRAINE NAMES NEW FOREIGN MINISTER
On March 21 Ukraine’s parliament approved President Viktor Yushchenko’s choice for foreign minister, Arseny Yatsenyuk, 32. The appointment ends a standoff of nearly four months between Yushchenko and the Cabinet of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych. The new minister has no experience with diplomatic work, but,... MORE
MOSCOW ASSAILS ESTONIA ON DEPORTATIONS ANNIVERSARY DATE
On March 25 Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania commemorated the mass deportations to Siberia that were carried out on that date in 1949 by Soviet Russian authorities. Some 95,000 people were deported that day from the Baltic states, including more than 20,000 from Estonia alone, a... MORE
AKHMETOV CALLS FOR SYSTEMIC MILITARY REFORM
After years of touting successful military reform under the direction of former defense minister Army-General Mukhtar Altynbayev, Kazakhstan has announced plans to change the command structure of its troops. Daniyal Akhmetov, the current defense minister, plans systemic reform in order to bring Kazakhstan up to... MORE
YUSHCHENKO’S PARTY THREATENED BY DEFECTIONS
On March 21 Anatoliy Kinakh accepted an offer from Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s government to become minister of economics. The government is allied to the National Unity (formerly Anti-Crisis) coalition composed of the Party of Regions, Communist, and Socialist parties. Kinakh’s appointment marks a... MORE
A BAD WEEK LEAVES PUTIN WITH ANOTHER 50 TO GO
Russia saw a truly macabre chain of disasters last week. On Saturday, March 17, a Tu-134 missed the runway and crash-landed in Samara, killing six passengers but miraculously not bursting into flames. On Monday, March 19, a gas explosion at the Kuzbass coal mine claimed... MORE
HUNGARY’S PRIME MINISTER IN MOSCOW GIVES NABUCCO ANOTHER CHANCE
For the moment at least, Hungary's Socialist Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany is not abandoning the last line of defense against Gazprom's monopolization of pipeline routes to the European Union. That remaining defense is the EU's Nabucco project to pump Caspian gas via Turkey to Europe.... MORE
EU MISSING OPPORTUNITY TO USE TURKEY AS RELIABLE ENERGY CORRIDOR
Amid great fanfare, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, and Bulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev assembled in Athens on March 15 to initial an agreement on a $1.25 billion, 173-mile-long pipeline running from Bulgaria’s Black Sea Burgas port to Greece’s Adriatic port... MORE
POST-SOVIET SECESSIONIST LEADERS WORRIED BY RUSSIA’S KOSOVO POLICY
Russia’s seemingly staunch defense of Serbia’s “territorial integrity” and threat to veto any form of recognition of Kosovo’s independence is alarming the post-Soviet secessionist leaderships. These had counted on quick international recognition of Kosovo -- whether against Russia’s will or as part of a Western... MORE
OPPOSITION NOT CONVINCED BY BAKIYEV’S ABOUT-FACE
On March 21, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev agreed to yield to opposition demands after two major opposition blocs, “United Front” and “For Reforms,” announced their intentions to stage a demonstration on April 11 against his government. In the coming weeks the president is expected to... MORE