Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
BELARUS-POLAND DISPUTE REFLECTS LUKASHENKA’S GROWING MISTRUST OF THE WEST
The continuing dispute between Belarus and Poland appears to be reaching a climax, as Poland has recalled its ambassador from Belarus and appears to be considering the expulsion of the Belarusian ambassador to Poland. The conflict follows a police raid on the headquarters of the... MORE
PUTIN’S ANTI-BALTIC MONOLOGUE REBUFFED
In an unprecedented development, a European head of state has publicly and outspokenly refuted Russian President Vladimir Putin's accusations that Estonia and Latvia oppress their Russian residents. Most European officials are aware that those accusations are unfounded, but would not contradict the Kremlin publicly. Visiting... MORE
TENSIONS SIMMERING IN GEORGIA’S JAVAKHETI REGION
The recent anti-terrorist operations in Georgia (see EDM July 25, 29) have overshadowed coverage of anti-Georgian developments flaring in Georgia's turbulent Javakheti region, a southern area predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians. On July 17, Armenian residents of Samsar blocked efforts by students and nuns from... MORE
UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENTARY SPEAKER TO BE PROGRESSIVELY MARGINALIZED
While President Viktor Yushchenko remains outwardly confident that his Our Ukraine party, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko's bloc, and parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Lytvyn's People's Party (NPU) will enter the 2006 parliamentary elections as a coalition, this scenario is now unlikely (Ukrayinska pravda, July 25). As a... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN, UN DISAGREE OVER REMAINING ANDIJAN REFUGEES
Uzbek human rights activists officially thanked Kyrgyzstan, the UN, and the OSCE for letting refugees from the May riots in Andijan, Uzbekistan, find asylum in a third country. Last week 439 Andijan refugees were sent to Romania en route to host countries that had agreed... MORE
DEPARTURE OF ANDIJAN REFUGEES MAY DESTABILIZE FERGANA VALLEY
"We shall return with victory and invite you all to the celebration party!" With these parting words to journalists, 439 refugees from the May uprising in Andijan, Uzbekistan, boarded an airplane that would carry them to Romania and on to a new host country. However,... MORE
TASHKENT ASKS U.S. TO CLOSE AIR BASE
On July 29, Uzbekistan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs delivered a note to the U.S. Embassy in Tashkent, asking the United States to vacate the Karshi-Khanabad air base, withdraw the troops and materiel from Uzbekistan, and terminate the 2001 bilateral agreement within 180 days. The document... MORE
NAZARBAYEV LINES UP HIS MEN AHEAD OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN
On July 8 Rakhat Aliev, the son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, was promoted from Kazakhstan's ambassador to Austria to first deputy foreign minister. The move left analysts guessing about the hidden rationale behind this personnel change. First, Aliev, husband of the president's eldest daughter... MORE
DISENTANGLING THE MOSCOW-BERLIN AXIS: FOLLOW THE MONEY
Russian foreign policy under Vladimir Putin’s presidency has been generally undetermined and often opportunistic with only one constant: strategic partnership with Germany. This country definitely occupies the central place in Putin’s worldview: those several years he spent in the KGB’s Dresden office in the mid-1980s... MORE
RUSSIAN FORCES BEGIN WITHDRAWAL FROM GEORGIA, DIG HEELS IN MOLDOVA
Presented with flowers and Georgian champagne by demonstrators cheering their withdrawal, Russian soldiers set out from the Batumi base at dawn on July 30 in a convoy bound for Russia. The move marks the beginning of Russia’s implementation of the agreement, signed May 30 by... MORE