Latest Eurasia Daily Monitor Articles
ANDIJAN’S AFTERMATH RAISES SECURITY STAKES IN KYRGYZSTAN
Heightened security and increased concerns among Uzbekistan's immediate neighbors mark the uneasy atmosphere produced by Tashkent's crackdown in Andijan on May 13. Kyrgyzstan's security agencies are particularly anxious to avoid any spillover of political violence across the Uzbek-Kyrgyz border. Tension is high on the border... MORE
ATTEMPT AT MASS PROTEST IN KYIV DEMONSTRATES OPPOSITION WEAKNESSES
The former Ukrainian authorities, now in opposition to President Viktor Yushchenko, are trying to attract public attention to their problems. The popular Eurovision Song Contest, held May 19 in Kyiv, provided an opportunity to play to the visiting international media. Protesting against "political persecution," the... MORE
VICTORY DAY EVENTS SHOCK BELARUS
The 60th anniversary of Victory Day, commemorated on May 9, brought about two controversial and quite unexpected events for Belarus. The first was Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka's failure to appear at the grand celebrations in Moscow as anticipated. The second was the renaming of the... MORE
ASTANA’S SLAVIC HONEYMOON NEARS ITS END
The meeting between Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, in Chelyabinsk on May 17, and the subsequent arrival of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenka for a two-day visit to Kazakhstan the following day, allowed Astana to reiterate its commitment to Kazakhstan's alliance... MORE
RUSSIAN-UKRAINIAN OIL SUMMIT: AN UNEASY, FLEETING COMPROMISE
On May 19 in Kyiv, President Viktor Yushchenko, Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, and other senior Ukrainian officials met in an emergency conference with Russia's Ambassador Viktor Chernomyrdin, Russian state pipeline monopoly Transneft chairman Semyon Vainshtok, and top executives of Russian oil companies and their branches... MORE
MOSCOW SIGNS BORDER AGREEMENT WITH ESTONIA
On May 18 in Moscow, Ministers of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov and Urmas Paet signed a long-awaited agreement on the Russia-Estonia border. The agreement had been initialed in 1996 and reconfirmed in 1999, its content fully approved by the Russian side in all details. However,... MORE
RUSSIAN PUNDITS DIVIDED ON HOW TO REACT TO THE DEATH THROُES OF POST-SOVIET WORLD
The violent unrest spreading across eastern Uzbekistan may symbolize the second, and final, stage of the Soviet Union's collapse. Russian strategists appear divided as to what Moscow's response should be to the ongoing geopolitical transformations. While the liberal minority suggests Russia would be well advised... MORE
RUSSIAN POLICIES DRIVE NORTH CAUCASUS INTO ARMS OF REBELS
On May 16 the separatist Kavkazcenter website published a decree from Abdul-Khalim Sadulaev, the new Chechen rebel leader after Aslan Maskhadov's death in March. Sadulaev ordered the insurgents to establish a new front in the North Caucasus. According to the decree, the "Caucasus Front" will... MORE
IMPLICATIONS OF THE ANDIJAN CRACKDOWN FOR U.S. SECURITY ASSISTANCE
As details emerge from the military crackdown in Andijan, Uzbekistan, the foreign governments giving security assistance to Uzbekistan are assessing the implications. Comments offered by senior defense officials in neighboring Kazakhstan suggest that Tashkent needs further military reform, especially for promoting speedy progress towards professionalizing... MORE
KYRGYZSTAN EXTENDS RELUCTANT WELCOME TO UZBEK REFUGEES
Reports about the number of Uzbeks fleeing the Andijan and Pakhtaabad massacres for southern Kyrgyzstan range from 500 to 6,000. Kyrgyz Ombudsman Tursunbai Bakir predicts the refugee flows will increase up to a million if the Uzbek conflict continues to intensify (Akipress, May 17). It... MORE