Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
ALTERNATIVE SOUTH OSSETIAN LEADER INAUGURATED
On December 1 Dmitry Sanakoyev was inaugurated as alternative South Ossetian leader and announced the formation of an alternative local administration in Georgian and mixed Ossetian-Georgian areas of South Ossetia. Sanakoyev and his Union for the National Salvation of Ossetians (UNSO) enjoy support also in... MORE
PRESIDENT BAKIYEV REASSESSING BISHKEK’S FOREIGN SECURITY RELATIONS
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, shaken by recent events within Kyrgyzstan, used the opportunity presented by the November 28 Commonwealth of Independent States summit in Minsk to reassert his efforts to improve national security. During his meeting in Minsk with his Tajik counterpart, Emomali Rakhmonov, he... MORE
LUGAR URGES ACTIVE ROLE FOR NATO IN ENERGY SECURITY POLICY
In a keynote speech during NATO's summit in Riga, Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called for updating NATO's basic role to include protection of allied countries' energy security. Addressing a summit event sponsored by the German Marshall Fund... MORE
MOSCOW OFFERS ANKARA EXPANDED COOPERATION IN ENERGY SPHERE
As both Russia and Turkey are increasingly dissatisfied with the nature of their relations with the West, the two Eurasian countries appear intent to further develop their bilateral cooperation. Continuing to build energy ties seems to be the surest way to enhance Moscow and Ankara’s... MORE
GAIDAR’S APPARENT POISONING FUELS CONSPIRACY THEORIES
The international scandal triggered by the murder of former Federal Security Service (FSB) lieutenant colonel Alexander Litvinenko, who died in London on November 23 after apparently being poisoned by the radioactive element polonium-210, has intensified with news of the apparent poisoning of former prime minister... MORE
ARMENIAN, AZERI PRESIDENTS REKINDLE HOPES FOR KARABAKH PEACE
The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan have produced a new glimmer of hope for a resolution of the Karabakh conflict following their third face-to-face meeting in less than a year. Robert Kocharian and Ilham Aliyev have indicated that they made further progress towards a mutually... MORE
AZERBAIJANI-RUSSIAN RELATIONS ENTER TURBULENT PHASE
Azerbaijani-Russian relations, increasingly warm in the past five years, are about to enter a difficult phase that could turn both countries into regional rivals. There are three reasons for the shift: Azerbaijan’s increasing gas production, Russia’s fight against illegal migration, and the recent visit by... MORE
WILL POLITICAL CHANGES IN KYRGYZSTAN AFFECT U.S. MILITARY PRESENCE?
At the November 27-29 NATO summit in Riga, Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer mentioned the importance of the U.S. military base in Kyrgyzstan and its role in the anti-terrorist operations in Afghanistan. Today, Kyrgyzstan is the only location in the Central Asian region where the... MORE
RUSSIAN POLITICAL INTRIGUE MEANS PUTIN COULD NOT HAVE BEEN IN THE DARK ABOUT LITVINENKO ATTACK
The apparent murder of former Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officer Alexander Litvinenko in London has caused an uproar in Britain and the West, but is not much of a top story in Russia. Litvinenko fell ill November 1 and died in a London hospital... MORE
CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM QUESTIONED IN UKRAINE
The constitutional reform that Ukraine’s parliament passed during the Orange Revolution in December 2004 and that came into effect after the March 2006 parliamentary election may now be revised. President Viktor Yushchenko and the parties that are in opposition to Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych believe... MORE