N215 (44) Tuesday, March 15th, 2005
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Politics
Vladimir Socor
RUSSIA REPUDIATES ISTANBUL COMMITMENTS IN JCG MEETINGS
On November 9 and 16, the OSCE’s Joint Consultative Group (JCG), meeting in Vienna, witnessed Russia’s overt repudiation of its obligation to withdraw its troops from Georgia and Moldova. . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
ABKHAZIA’S COUNCIL OF ELDERS CONVENES TO ADDRESS CURRENT CRISIS
Abkhazia’s political polarization deepened suddenly on November 17, amid continuing attempts by presidential election loser Raul Khajimba and his Moscow backers to prevent the election’s winner, Sergei Bagapsh, from taking . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
Ukraine Isn’t the Only Target
The Kremlin-led assault on democracy in Ukraine, ongoing these past few months, is the latest and most visible move in a strategy that extends to the entire EU/NATO neighborhood, even . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
MOSCOW SCUTTLES OSCE YEAR-END CONFERENCE
Russian hegemonic claims regarding Georgia, Moldova, and now also Ukraine, torpedoed the OSCE’s year-end meeting at the level of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Sofia on December 6-7. The annual . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
RUSSIA EXPLOITS THE OSCE TO PRESSURE GEORGIA
The OSCE’s failed year-end meeting in Sofia on December 6-7 also marked its conclusive failure as a would-be security organization. Russia demonstrated that it could kill the OSCE’s one and . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
OSCE “REFORM” - OR A NEW LEASE ON LIFE?
With two weeks remaining from the OSCE’s 2004 budgetary authorization, Moscow threatens to block adoption of the 2005 budget unless the organization introduces Russian-proposed “reforms.” Those proposals seek to: boost . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
BALTIC DILEMMAS AND THE MOSCOW SUMMIT
On January 12, Latvia’s President Vaira Vike-Freiberga announced that she would be attending the VE-Day 60th anniversary summit to be held in May in Moscow. The issue is deeply controversial . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
MOSCOW THREATENS, SLOVENIAN CHAIR DITHERS, UKRAINE RALLIES AT OSCE
Addressing the 2005 inaugural session of the OSCE Permanent Council on January 13, Russia openly threatened to sink the organization unless it accepts Russian-prescribed “reforms.” Permanent representative Alexei Borodavkin declared, . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
Moscow Threatens Georgia as Bush-Putin Summit Nears
Testing the West’s collective credibility, Russia is again fabricating pretexts for possible military action on Georgian territory, ostensibly to go after “Chechen and international terrorists” in the Pankisi Gorge. This . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
UN SECURITY COUNCIL’S HANDLING OF ABKHAZIA: A DISQUIETING PRELUDE TO BUSH-PUTIN SUMMIT
On January 28, the UN Security Council (UNSC) voted to approve a routine six-month extension of the UNOMIG (UN Observer Mission in Georgia) mandate to observe the ceasefire in Abkhazia. . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
YUKOS CASE REVERBERATING IN LITHUANIA AND FAR BEYOND
In a further disquieting signal ahead of the upcoming George W. Bush—Vladimir Putin summit (see EDM, January 31), the White House announced on January 31 that the United States would . . .
Economy
Vladimir Socor
AZERBAIJAN’S PRESIDENT IN IRAN
Some flowery rhetoric from Tehran notwithstanding, Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliev’s January 24-26 official visit to Iran turned out to be a routine event that confirmed the tension-free relations between neighboring . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
KREMLIN REDEFINING POLICY IN “POST-SOVIET SPACE”
In a marathon-length press conference on February 3, Kremlin political consultant Gleb Pavlovsky laid certain Russian markers in Eurasia ahead of the George W. Bush-Vladimir Putin summit and, by the . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
KWASNIEWSKI, TARASYUK URGE A EUROPEAN SOLUTION IN TRANSNISTRIA
“Ukraine is the start, next up is Moldova,” Polish President Alexander Kwasniewski told the Wall Street Journal on February 17, referring to Poland’s active role in shaping European Union policy . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
MOSCOW MULTIPLYING EXTRANEOUS PRECONDITIONS TO TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM GEORGIA
After a two-year interruption and ten years of futile talks, another round of Russian-Georgian negotiations on the withdrawal of Russian troops was held in vain on February 10-11 in Tbilisi. . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
Black Sea Watch
Romanian President Traian Basescu’s just-completed first visit to Moscow occasioned discussion on a new proposal on Black Sea sub-regional security. The matter came up during Basescu’s session with Russian President . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
“DOUBLE VECTOR,” DOUBLE GAME: MOLDOVA’S CENTRIST OPPOSITION AND MOSCOW
The presidents of Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko, and Georgia, Mikheil Saakashvili, held meetings with Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin on March 1 in Kyiv and March 2 in Chisinau, treating him as . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
PRO-WESTERN GOVERNING COALITION POSSIBLE IN MOLDOVA
On March 11, Moldova’s Central Electoral Commission released the final results of the country’s March 6 parliamentary elections. The outcome, verified by election observers in parallel vote-counting, shows the Communist . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
YUSHCHENKO PROPOSES INTERNATIONAL CONSORTIUM FOR CENTRAL ASIAN GAS
On an official visit to Ashgabat on March 22-23, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko proposed creating an international consortium to build, own, and operate a new large-capacity gas pipeline from Turkmenistan . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
BEWARE OF TRAPS IN GEORGIA-RUSSIA TROOP WITHDRAWAL AGREEMENT
The Georgian Parliament passed a resolution on March 10 that requires Russia unconditionally to withdraw its forces from Georgia no later than January 1, 2006 — unless Moscow reaches agreement . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
RISKS IN GEORGIA’S JAVAKHETI PROVINCE CAN BE DEFUSED
Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Robert Kocharian of Armenia met informally on April 1-2 in the Georgian mountain resort of Gudauri, without media coverage. Their agenda included the situation . . .
Crime
Vladimir Socor
The Jamestown Foundation
BMO RIP; TAP STILLBORN
On April 14 in Vienna, the OSCE’s Permanent Council approved a Training Assistance Program (TAP) for Georgian Border Guards to replace the OSCE’s Georgia Border Monitoring Operation (BMO). Russia had . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
The Jamestown Foundation
EU POLICY DISARRAY IN GEORGIA AND MOLDOVA
Javier Solana’s ill-prepared, mishap-filled visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi (see EDM, April 11) culminated with an incident that was kept under wraps for some days before finally . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
The Jamestown Foundation
GUAM SUMMIT: A NEW LEASE ON LIFE (PART 2)
The meeting of presidents of GUAM countries (Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova) in Chisinau on April 21-22 has the potential to turn GUAM from a virtual into a real and possibly . . .
Politics
Vladimir Socor
VORONIN REQUESTS NATO IPAP, WESTERN SUPPORT TO RESOLVE TRANSNISTRIA
On June 7 in Brussels, Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin addressed the North Atlantic Council (NAC, the main decision-making body of NATO) in ambassadorial session, as part of NATO-Moldova consultations within . . .