Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
CIS SPLIT AT MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
The meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States member countries, held on April 21 in Moscow, exposed a profound split in the organization. Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and Azerbaijan formed a common front on issues of shared concern, opposing Russian policies... MORE
BISHKEK WELCOMES EXPANDED RUSSIAN MILITARY PRESENCE IN KYRGYZSTAN
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev met with Russian President Vladimir Putin during his first state visit to Moscow on April 24-25. The meeting began with Bakiyev stating that Kyrgyzstan today needs economic assistance, which Russia is able to provide. Putin welcomed the idea of intensifying bilateral... MORE
EUROPE CALLS GAZPROM’S BLUFF AND PONDERS ITS THREAT
The unprecedented exchange of public demarches between Gazprom and the EU last week left both sides dissatisfied and the issues muddled rather than clarified. The firm message issued by the European Commission last Thursday, April 20, with the emphasis on the need to diversify energy-supply... MORE
RUSSIA-PACIFIC PIPELINE PROJECT BRUSHES OFF ENVIRONMENTAL OBJECTIONS
The Kremlin appears keen to deliver on its repeated pledge to connect Russia's oil fields with the Asia-Pacific region by a pipeline running from eastern Siberia to the Pacific Ocean, despite protests by environmentalists. Semyon Vainshtok, head of the Transneft pipeline monopoly, recently dismissed objections... MORE
DUSHANBE HOSTS CIS INTERIOR MINISTERS’ MEETING
On April 21 a session of the CIS Council of Interior Ministers opened in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The agenda included the routine security issues of combating terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking, and the arms trade. The meeting could lead to the creation of a single center holding... MORE
EUROPE REJECTS GAZPROM’S ULTIMATUM
The European Union signaled that it was not particularly impressed by Gazprom's recent statement that it might seek alternative markets elsewhere if it is prevented from developing operations in Europe. Gazprom's warning came right after British competition regulators proposed changing takeover rules amid market speculation... MORE
KYRGYZ PRESIDENT WARNS OF DEADLINE ON AMERICAN AIR BASE
On April 19, five days before his scheduled visit to Russia, Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev threatened on national television to close the U.S.-led Manas air base by June 1, unless the United States agrees by that date to sign a new agreement on terms demanded... MORE
KAZAKH OFFICIALS HUSH UP MOUNTING RUSSIAN NATIONALISM
Unlike Kazakhstan's Russian-language papers, the Kazakh-language media are full of frightening stories of frequent attacks by Russian extremists in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other locales. The complacent attitude of the Russian authorities toward the surging attacks on foreigners leads observers to believe that official Moscow... MORE
RUSSIAN REACTION TO JAMESTOWN CONFERENCE REVEALS KREMLIN FEAR OF FREE SPEECH ABOUT THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH CAUCASUS
On April 18 the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented William Burns, the U.S. Ambassador in Moscow, a note of protest in connection with a Jamestown Foundation-sponsored seminar that took place in Washington on Friday, April 14, "Sadullaev's Caucasian Front: Prospects for the Next Nalchik."... MORE
MOMENT OF TRUTH IN KYRGYZSTAN FOR U.S. POLICY
American strategic and democratic interests in Kyrgyzstan are increasingly coming under pressure, one year after the purported democratic "Tulip Revolution" in that country. Russian influence and that of local organized crime groups are growing while U.S. influence is steadily eroding. At the overt level, Moscow... MORE