Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
ABKHAZ RHETORIC CALCULATED TO STALL TALKS WITH TBILISI
Abkhaz authorities are derailing political talks with Tbilisi, ostensibly in protest against Georgian actions in a July 3 maritime incident and in its wake. On that day, Georgia's coast guard stopped a Turkish cargo vessel off Pitsunda en route to an Abkhaz port, impounded the... MORE
SAKHALIN ENERGY PROJECTS FACE REALITY CHECK
As the Shell-led Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the Russian Far East faces cost overruns and delays, now Russian Sakhalin ventures appear to be facing a reality check, cooling Moscow's ambitious plans to tap lucrative energy markets in the Asia-Pacific. Earlier this month,... MORE
CORRUPTION UNDERMINES RUSSIAN MILITARY REFORM
High-profile efforts by Russia's authorities to promote a positive image of military reform, notably its efforts to switch more divisions to contract service, are being undermined by allegations of financial corruption within the military. These allegations have become commonplace in post-Soviet coverage of the Russian... MORE
NEW UKRAINIAN LEADERSHIP EMBRACES SOVIET-STYLE CONSPIRACY THEORIES
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko sent an open letter to Ukrayinska pravda yesterday (July 26) following his public broadside against the publication at a press conference one day earlier. Yushchenko has accused Ukrayinska pravda of deliberately trying to discredit his son, Andriy, and his presidency. Yushchenko... MORE
UKRAINE IN QUEST FOR IRANIAN GAS
Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Secretary, Petro Poroshenko, and Naftohaz Ukrainy chairman Oleksiy Ivchenko paid little-noted visits to Iran on July 14 and July 24-25, respectively. The visits in quick succession evidenced Kyiv's sense of urgency about reducing its dependence on Russian energy supplies,... MORE
MILITANTS IN NORTHERN PAKISTAN ALLEGEDLY INCLUDE KAZAKH NATIONALS
Kazakhstan's security services have repeatedly resorted to the tactic of denying offhand any possible connections between Kazakh nationals and international extremist organizations. This tested rule of the game worked well after terrorists seized a school in Beslan, North Ossetia, last September and after the terrorist... MORE
TASHKENT INSISTS ANDIJAN HAD KYRGYZ LINK
Law-enforcement agencies from Osh district in southern Kyrgyzstan are continuing to investigate the possible involvement of Kyrgyz citizens in the May 10 armed uprising in Andijan, an Uzbek city near the border with Kyrgyzstan. Uzbek authorities have given a list of names of the 33... MORE
WOMEN REGISTER FOR AFGHAN PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION DESPITE STIFF SOCIAL RESISTANCE
Afghanistan's Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) has issued its final list of the 5,805 candidates registered for the parliamentary and local council elections that are to be held on September 18. However, there are an increasing number of questions about the screening process in general,... MORE
MOLDOVAN LAW CHANGES THE LOGIC OF SETTLEMENT ON TRANSNISTRIA
On July 22, at President Vladimir Voronin's initiative, the Moldovan parliament adopted an Organic Law on the principles of resolving the separatist conflict in Transnistria. The law completely reverses the logic of a 13-year old, futile negotiating process, with which Moldova had until recently gone... MORE
TBILISI ARRESTS SUSPECT IN BUSH GRENADE INCIDENT, BUT MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN
After an intense search, on July 20 Georgian police arrested an individual suspected of tossing a hand-grenade towards U.S. President George W. Bush during his speech at Tbilisi's Freedom Square on May 10. Vladimir Arutyunian, 27, is an ethnic Armenian resident of Tbilisi. The police... MORE