Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
SAAKASHVILI REPLACES TBILISI MAYOR WITH PRESIDENTIAL INSIDER
After weeks of vehemently denying media speculation about the imminent dismissal, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili fired Tbilisi Mayor Zurab Chiaberashvili on July 12. Chiaberashvili had called the rumors "a well-planned campaign," coming from people he had accused of stealing from Tbilisi's budget. At the same... MORE
MADELEINE ALBRIGHT IN BAKU: ANOTHER PUSH FOR DEMOCRATIC ELECTIONS
Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright arrived in Baku on July 11 to meet with Azerbaijani politicians, NGO activists, and mass media and to discuss the situation in the country ahead of the November 6 parliamentary elections. Albright is currently chair of the National... MORE
SOUTH OSSETIA AUTHORITIES REJECT GEORGIA’S OLIVE BRANCH
South Ossetia's pro-Moscow leaders have lost no time rejecting Georgia's offer for direct negotiations toward South Ossetian autonomy. President Mikheil Saakashvili's offer, unveiled at an international conference in Batumi on July 10, entails a preparatory stage during which Georgia and international donor organizations would provide... MORE
YUSHCHENKO’S PARTY PROJECT A FAILURE?
Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's dream of unifying the right-of-center political continuum into a mega-party in order to win the 2006 parliamentary elections has failed to materialize. The party's formal head, Deputy Prime Minister Roman Bezsmertny, intended for the first congress of Yushchenko's party, People's Union-Our... MORE
INTERNAL DIVISIONS MAY DEFEAT YUSHCHENKO’S WTO ASPIRATIONS
The Ukrainian parliament went into summer vacation this week after adopting only six of the 14 legislative acts needed for possible WTO membership. Two related laws were adopted earlier. The government had wanted parliament to consider all 14 laws as a package, but parliament refused.... MORE
BAKIYEV WINS PRESIDENCY IN ONE ROUND — HOW LONG WILL THE HONEYMOON LAST?
With roughly 90% of the vote, Kurmanbek Bakiyev won Kyrgyzstan's July 10 presidential elections in the first round. Bakiyev had served as acting president since the March 25 Tulip Revolution. He was able to unite many former opposition figures, among them Azimbek Beknazarov, Daniyar Usenov,... MORE
IRANIAN NUCLEAR TEAM IN MOSCOW, SEEKING NEW PARTNERSHIPS
Senior Iranian officials have indicated that Russia could become a partner in lucrative projects to build 20 nuclear power stations in Iran. "A plan has been approved in parliament obliging the government to study the possibility of building 20 nuclear power stations. Many countries, including... MORE
RUSSIA REAPPRAISES MILITARY “AWARENESS” OF TERRORISM
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has expressed confidence in the growing awareness of the Russian military, not only about the nature of the terrorist threat it faces, but on the need to implement practical security measures to improve the safety of security personnel. That is... MORE
GEORGIA UNVEILS INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO SOUTH OSSETIA CONFLICT RESOLUTION
At a conference in Batumi on July 10, President Mikheil Saakashvili and the government of Georgia along with Georgian NGOs unveiled a blueprint for the stage-by-stage resolution of the conflict in South Ossetia. Foreign envoys accredited in Tbilisi, American and European experts, Georgian government officials,... MORE
OSCE PARLIAMENTARY RESOLUTION SETS STAGE FOR RECOGNITION OF TRANSNISTRIA
On July 8, Moldova's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a protest against the content of the Moldova resolution, adopted at the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's (OSCE PA) annual session on July 5 in Washington, and against the procedural maneuvers that were used to push the resolution... MORE