29.05.2009
Eurasia: News In Review
Central Asia and Eastern Europe
and their Relations with Russia
May, 2009The following resource is meant to give readers a quick overview of recent events within the FSU but outside of Russia. Much of the news here concerns how Russia and/or the US are affected by these generally small but politically, economically, and militarily important nations. This news review is part of SRAS's monthly "obzor" publications. For more reviews, see the newsletter for this corresponding month. To receive the free monthly newsletter and obzori by email, simply sign up. General EU reaches out cautiously to help stabilise ex-Soviet states
European Union nations hold landmark talks Thursday with six former Soviet states aiming to foster stability and dilute Russia's influence without angering Moscow or encouraging their EU ambitions. Trouble in Georgia
It is clear that Georgia remains extremely tense. Any provocation could easily become a pretext for renewed conflict. Both Russia and Georgia were quick to link the mutiny to NATO exercises that started in Georgia on May 6th. Georgia said it was a bid to derail the exercises, Russia that it was proof of NATO's folly. Karimov Gives Washington the Air Base It Needs For Afghan Operations
Uzbek President Islam Karimov revealed on May 11 that a cargo airport in the city of Navoi is already being used for the airborne transport of NATO non-lethal supplies destined for coalition forces in Afghanistan. The announcement coincided with a state visit by South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak. South Korea is overseeing a major renovation at Navoi airport that will turn the facility into a world-class air freight hub. The E.U. Backtracks on its Eastern European Partners
Initially conceived to forge a new relationship between the European Union and six former Soviet republics, the May 7 summit launching the E.U.'s Eastern Partnerships accord wound up more like the first date from hell. Instead of feeling the welcoming embrace the program had promised, representatives from Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine instead got a European straight-arm designed to keep them at a safe distance. EU Won't Apologize For 'Attracting' Neighbors
In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL, Poland's foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, says the European Union will not apologize for the "civilizational attraction" of its Eastern Partnership project, a Polish-Swedish initiative that Russia claims is a front for an attempt to secure the bloc a "sphere of influence". Lithuania's Foreign Minister On EU Eastern Partnership
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas spoke with RFE/RL correspondent Ahto Lobjakas on the sidelines of the European Union's Eastern Partnership Summit in Prague on April 7. He talked about the program's goals. Central Asia Is war inevitable
In a time of shooting wars, it is easy to lose sight of wars waiting to happen. This is dangerous, especially for a new US administration with an ample international agenda. Serious attention is required on Nagorno Karabakh, the simmering dispute between Armenia and Azerbaijan. As Economic Fortunes Dim, Migrants' Children Left Behind
The post-Soviet period saw millions of people from Central Asia and the South Caucasus migrate to Russia in search of work. One consequence of the mass migration cycle of the past 20 years has been a rise in Kazakh, Uzbek, and other children living in Russian orphanages. Slighted By Russia, Ashgabat Courts EU
Officials at the European Commission have attempted to downplay the significance of meetings this week between Turkmen Foreign Minister Rashid Meredov and EU officials. Belarus Irate Belarus says moving away from Russia
The future of Belarus can no longer depend on Russia, President Alexander Lukashenko declared Friday, a day after talks between the once close ex-Soviet allies ended in acrimony. Does the Political Regime in Belarus Change
Alexander Lukashenka has been the president of Belarus for almost 15 years. Since he came to power, the political regime has become more and more authoritarian: there is no conventional opposition. Moldova Recession hits a frozen conflict
There will be no revolution in Moldova, but the worldwide wave of economic pain has officially hit what is technically the poorest country in Europe. And apparently right on schedule. Moldova in presidential deadlock
Moldova's parliament has failed to elect a new president - increasing the possibility the country will have to hold a new general election. The last election sparked violent scenes as protesters claimed the Communist Party victory was fraudulent. Moldova presidential vote delayed
Moldova's parliament has voted to postpone the second and final round of the presidential election until 3 June. New elections set for deadlocked Moldova
Moldovan lawmakers failed for a second time Wednesday to elect a president, meaning the Parliament elected in April will be dissolved and a new election will be held this summer. Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan not in talks over US base
Kyrgyzstan's prime minister said Wednesday that his government is not in talks with Washington on the possibility of allowing U.S. forces to remain at an air base that provides support for military operations in Afghanistan. Georgia Is A New Russia-Georgia War On The Horizon
Mushrooming discontent with the leadership of President Mikheil Saakashvili has sparked a debilitating political crisis that is escalating just as fears mount that another armed conflict with neighboring Russia could be looming on the horizon. NATO, partners wrap up Georgia military training
Georgian and Ukrainian troops neutralized simulated suicide bombers and a mock mob on a wind-swept hilltop military base near the Georgian capital Sunday as part of monthlong military exercises that have angered Russia. Georgia's Peach
The hardest thing for opposition groups to do is to criticize their governments while supporting their country. Any regime, especially one that has enjoyed domestic or international support in the past, can typically count on people to view its opponents as opponents of the country. Georgian officials in US warn of Russian buildup
Georgia's defense minister is warning about Russia's military buildup as he meets with Obama administration officials in Washington this week. Russia defends military buildup in Caucasus
As New Year's Eve approached, Russian military gun sights remained pointed at the Presidential Palace of Chechen President Dzhokhar Dudayev. A showdown awaited between Russia's finest, its airborne and marines, and the chiseled, wily, and experienced freedom fighters and mercenaries of Chechnya. President Boris Yeltsin and Defense Minister Pavel Grachev both had hoped for a quick victory. Does Russia Even Need To Invade Georgia
Nearly nine months after the war between Russia and Georgia last August, the situation surrounding the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia remains tense. Fewer in Georgia Want to Join NATO
Fewer people in Georgia—yet still a majority—are expressing support for their country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to a poll by the Institute of Polling and Marketing, Baltic Surveys/Gallup, and the International Republican Institute. 63 per cent of respondents back NATO accession, down 24 points since September. Georgia Denies Existence Of Chechen Resistance Fighters On Its Territory
Georgian Foreign Ministry official Zurab Kachkachishvili rejected on April 27 as a provocation Russian claims that the counterterrorism regime imposed in several districts of southeastern Chechnya last week was necessitated by the danger that Chechen militants currently based in Georgia might seek to cross the border into Chechnya to stage terrorist attacks there. Saakashvili denies Georgia attacked Russian troops in South Ossetia
Georgian troops did not attack Russian peacekeepers in South Ossetia during Tbilisi's assault on the separatist republic in August 2008, Georgia's president said Monday on Ekho Moskvy radio. "With full responsibility I can say there were never any and there could not have been any attacks on Russian peacekeepers," Mikheil Saakashvili said. "We have never been suicidal and are not today." Russia vetoes deal on OSCE monitors in Georgia
Russia on Wednesday vetoed a plan for keeping monitors from Europe's top security and human rights watchdog in Georgia, insisting on terms that drove home its view of breakaway South Ossetia as an independent territory. OSCE Chief Dismisses Criticism, Says 'We're Working on the Long Haul'
In an exclusive interview, OSCE Secretary-General Marc Perrin de Brichambaut talks to RFE/RL about a range of issues facing Europe's leading human-rights organization, including Kazakhstan's upcoming chairmanship, Russia's influence on the organization, and the political upheaval in Moldova. There Are No Pro-Russian Politicians in Georgia
The confrontation between the Georgian authorities and opposition has a long history. The understanding of this conflict requires the analysis of more than the situation in April 2009, when mass opposition protest actions started. The year 2007 was the turning point, which a lot of events, above all the 7 November demonstration dispersal, favored. Then the authorities used force against the opposition, which extremely complicated their dialogue. Political Unrest U.S. Hails Government's 'Measured Response'
In a phone conversation with Georgian President, Mikheil Saakashvili, on May 14 Vice President Joe Biden "emphasized the United States' unwavering support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity". Georgians Want Saakashvili to Stay in Power
Most people in Georgia reject calls by some opposition politicians for president Mikhail Saakashvili to step down, according to a poll by the Institute of Polling and Marketing, Baltic Surveys, Gallup, and the International Republican Institute. Only 28 per cent of respondents agree with the notion that the president should resign. Georgia govt blames GDP contraction on opposition
Massive street protests against Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili will turn Georgia's economic growth into contraction in 2009, Prime Minister Nika Gilauri. Several policemen beaten by opposition in Georgia
Protesters demanding Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's resignation beat several police officers and stabbed one with a knife. The opposition locks itself up, and out
The stage was set for President Saakashvili, who fought a losing war with Russia in August last year, to break up the protests by force, as he had done in 2007. But for all of Russia's talk of "blood on the streets", the president did not play his appointed role as a hothead. Georgia frees 3 to defuse anti-government unrest
Georgian authorities released three opposition protesters Thursday, trying to defuse a wave of unrest that erupted into violence when police clashed with demonstrators clamoring for the resignation of President Mikhail Saakashvili. Georgian president faces 4 fiercest opponents
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili agreed to meet opposition leaders on Monday after a month of street protests in the former Soviet republic. Georgian opposition say 23 hospitalized after clashes with police
Twenty three people injured in clashes between the police and opposition in Georgia are still in hospital. The opposition, who have been demonstrating in the capital for the past month, claim over 60 people, including six police officers, were injured in clashes at a police compound in Didi Digomi, a Tbilisi suburb. Mutiny Saakashvili's Televised Address to the Nation on Mukhrovani Mutiny
I want to address you in connection with the attempts to stage disorders in the Mukhrovani unit.As you know, NATO exercises are planned in Georgia. The EU summit is planned in Prague on May 7-8 on the sideline of which Georgia will sign Eastern Partnership Agreement with the European Union. The first event is an important, symbolic event because for the first time after Russia's aggression NATO is taking this step on the territory of Georgia. Georgia arrests 2 senior commanders over coup plot
Georgia has detained the commanders of the 1st and 3rd infantry brigades over the mutiny at the Mukhrovani military base last week. Georgia: Suspected Mutiny Masterminded Killed in Shootout
Georgian police have shot dead one of the accused masterminds of a military mutiny and badly wounded his two accomplices. The incident is sparking fresh controversy over a tank battalion rebellion against President Mikheil Saakashvili earlier in May. South Ossetia and Abkhazia Self-Ruled Region Remains Wary of Russian Backers
Sergei Bagapsh wants to make it perfectly clear: Abkhazia is not now, and will not become, part of the Russian Federation. Abkhazia Welcomes Back Its Expatriates, One by One
Now that Russia has recognized the territory as a sovereign nation, authorities hope ethnic Abkhaz will return from the places they fled to in the 19th century, in part to escape the expanding Russian empire. They hope that some percentage of the estimated half-million Abkhaz in Turkey will replenish Abkhazia's Abkhaz. Georgian rebel region upbeat, EU angry, after vote
Georgia's rebel South Ossetia region said on Monday that an election there vindicated its independence, but the European Union echoed Georgia in denouncing the poll as illegal. Russia takes control of rebel borders with Georgia
Russia took formal control over the de-facto borders of Georgia's rebel regions on Thursday a week before NATO military exercises in Georgia that President Dmitry Medvedev said amounted to a challenge from the West. South Ossetian Opposition Leader Bewails Lost Opportunity
Oleg Teziyev, who served in the early 1990s as prime minister of the then-unrecognized breakaway republic of South Ossetia, accused the republic's current president, Eduard Kokoity, of squandering the opportunity to build a truly independent republic after Russia formally recognized South Ossetia as an independent state. S. Ossetia votes in post-war test of local ruler
Separatist leader Eduard Kokoity is expected to extend what the opposition calls his tyranny over South Ossetia when the Russian-backed rebel region holds an election on Sunday, nine months after an invasion by Georgia. Saakashvili Comments on S.Ossetia
According to Civil Georgia, President Saakashvili said that parliamentary elections in breakaway South Ossetia, which he described as Russia's "military camp," did not deserve much attention. Caucasus peace talks: little hope for progress
As the fifth round of international talks on the peace settlement in Caucasus opens in Geneva, the prospect of progress in resolving the conflict between Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia seems bleak. Georgia, Russia resume security talks in Geneva
Georgia and Russia have resumed security talks after international mediators and a UN report helped nudge Moscow's negotiators back to the table. South Ossetian Opposition Leader Bewails 'Lost Opportunity'
Speaking at a press conference in Moscow on May 12, Oleg Teziyev, who served in the early 1990s as prime minister of the then-unrecognized breakaway republic of South Ossetia, accused the republic's current president, Eduard Kokoity, of squandering the opportunity to build a truly independent republic after Russia formally recognized South Ossetia as an independent state. Ukraine Ukraine PM says gas tension with Russia easing
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko on Wednesday said Kiev and Moscow had put behind them disputes over their vital energy trade, after cut-offs in January affected a swathe of EU states. Russia to help pay for gas transit, risks remain
Russia will help pay for supplying enough natural gas to ensure transit to European consumers via Ukraine, but supply risks have not yet been eliminated. Ukraine Soothes Putin With Invitation to Upgrade Gas Pipelines
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's new proposal to regulate energy relations between consuming and producing nations will not replace an existing international charter. Ukraine should remove all Communist monuments
Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko on Sunday equated communism with fascism, and said the country should get rid of all remaining symbols of Soviet rule. Prison, revolution and reconciliation. Ukraine's PM, Yulia Tymoshenko, gives interview
Ukraine's PM, Yulia Tymoshenko, tells how friends have become foes – and vice versa. Putin Raises the Stakes in his Black Sea Gas Gamble
With its underdeveloped multi-party system and state institutions, dysfunctional law-enforcement and internal security apparatus, budget revenues drying up amid an international financial crisis, and the unresolved Transnistria conflict simmering on the back burner, Moldova now faces the risk of a constitutional crisis. Russia, Ukraine on verge of new gas row
Russia and Ukraine are on the verge of a new gas dispute, a Russian government source said on Thursday, adding the row was now centred around gas stocks in Ukraine to ensure smooth Russian gas transit to Europe. Gazprom Urges European Action to Avoid New Ukraine Gas Crisis
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Yulia Timoshenko reached an agreement on natural-gas supplies that may see shipments to Europe resume after almost two weeks of disruption.
Ukraine on the brink
Russia has always had a knack for overshadowing its neighbors - and this time the West, focused on Moscow, is distracted from a crisis in Ukraine. As U.S. President Barack Obama gears up to "reset" Russia relations.
Yanukovych First, Yushchenko Last in Ukraine
Since seceding from the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine has tried to balance its close ties with Russia with its aspirations of broader cooperation with the European Union. Ukrainian Parties in Coalition Negotiations
Ukraine's two leading political parties are in negotiations for an alliance that could isolate pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko and fuel political tensions ahead of presidential elections set for January. EU to send mission to Moscow and Kiev over gas dispute
The EU commission said Thursday it would send a fact-finding mission to Moscow and Kiev to shed light on their gas payment dispute after a previous row disrupted European supplies. Putin Urges Europe to Help Ukraine Avoid New Gas Halt
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged Europe to help Ukraine make payments for supplies of natural gas because transit from Russia may otherwise be halted in weeks for the second time this year. Ukraine pledges to pay $500 mln for Russian gas on Friday
Ukraine will pay around $500 million on Friday for Russian natural gas pumped into underground storage in May ahead of the June 7 deadline, President Viktor Yushchenko said.
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