Country News DigestIssue #13

12/1/12-12/07/12

Editor: Eugene Imas

Contributors:-Joseph Gates-Matthew O’Brien-Bree Swineford-Jillian Tetirick-Grace Tran

Country News DigestAn Azeri writer has criticized the creators of Armenia’s submission for

Azerbaijan

Georgia

RussiaBest Foreign Film for the Oscars, saying the story line is similar to that in his recent work “Dazzled by the Sun.” The Armenian film “If Only Everyone” tells the story of an Armenian woman who travels to her father’s grave in Azerbaijan and befriends an Azeri man.

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This week, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Turkey on his first foreign visit in two months. In a meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, the two leaders emphasized increasing trade ties between their countries despite continuing disagreement on policy toward Syria.

Armenia

Moldova

Belarus

Ukraine

Turkey

Standard and Poor’s cut Ukraine’s rating down by one notch to a “B.” The rating has a negative outlook, with potential to downgrade further. Ukraine has requested aid from the IMF to meet $10 billion debt.

Belarus is participated in an annual meeting between the heads of state of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which is taking place currently in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The countries are expected to examine issues relating to environmental cooperation and designate Belarus as the chairman of the CIS for next year.

The Ministerial Council of the EU’s Energy Community unanimously agreed to extend Moldova’s deadline to implement the Third Energy Package to 1 January 2020 from the earlier date of 1 January 2016. During the CIS Summit in Ashgabat this week, Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to hold further discussion over this issue. Moldova is currently negotiating a new gas contract with Russia’s Gazprom.

Russia has finally responded to the new Georgian government’s overtures to

re-establish diplomatic ties between the countries. Prime Minister Medvedev expressed willingness to cooperate on a humanitarian level, but stated that diplomatic relations could not resume without Georgian recognition of the “geopolitical reality” of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and Russian President Vladimir Putin

met during the CIS summit in Turkmenistan this week to discuss further integration of the CIS and Armenia’s possible involvement in the Russian-led Customs Union. Until recently Armenia was reluctant to join citing the fact that it has no common borders with union members Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

Tuesday, NATO approved Turkey’s request for Patriot Missiles on its territory

to defend against a possible Syrian attack. The decision comes amid growing concern the Syrian government may be preparing to use chemical weapons on its own people. NATO has insisted the measure is purely defensive, but both Russia and Iran criticized the decision as overactive.

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Country News DigestFormer Mineral Resources Agency head Uchkunbek Tashbayev has been charged

Kyrgyzstan

Kazakhstan

on allegations of corruption. The allegations claim that under Tashbayev the agency embezzled gold and sold licenses on the black market. The government has been trying to clean up the mining industry since 2010.

The US Senate approved Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford as the next commander of the International Security Assistance in Afghanistan. Dunford commanded the Marine force that led the invasion of Iraq in 2003, earning him the nickname “Fighting Joe.” He is one of the few senior military officers that have vocally endorsed the president’s drawdown plans.

Mongolia

IranIran’s naval commander claimed the Islamic Republic downed another US drone this week after it crossed into Iranian airspace in the Persian Gulf. The allegedly captured Scan Eagle drone was displayed on Iranian state-run TV in front of a map of the Persian Gulf with the words “We shall trample on the U.S.” The US Navy and White House deny the allegation.

Today marks the beginning of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) summit in Ashgabat, the capital of Turkmenistan. Leaders from the member states, with the exception of Kyrgyzstan’s president, will discuss greater regional integration in the economic and security spheres. The next CIS leadership summit will take place in Minsk, Belarus in 2013.

Benj Binks, an Australian documentary filmmaker, is debuting his movie “Mongolian Bling” this Friday. Set in Ulaan Baataar, Mongolia’s hip-hop capital, the film focuses on three hip-hop stars: Gennie, Gee, and Quiza.

Kazakhstan celebrated the new “First President’s Day” holiday on December 1.

The holiday corresponds to the first election of President Nursultan Nazarbayev in 1991. The holiday was marked with festivities in the capital city of Astana.

One week after blocking access to Facebook, the Tajik government is reversing

course and allowing telecommunications firms to provide access to the social media website. The government has not stated why it decided to reverse its earlier decision. This is the second time Tajikistan has temporarily shut down Facebook only to reopen it shortly afterwards.

Numerous human rights groups are urging the Karimov regime to mark

Uzbekistan’s Constitution Day by releasing political prisoners. The holiday has been used before to free up room in the overcrowded prisons, but typically amnesty has been given to petty criminals rather than political offenders.

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Tajikistan

Uzbekistan

Afghanistan

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Turkmenistan

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Country News DigestEstonia’s Prime Minister has refused Nord Stream AG Company’s request to

Estonia

Lithuania

Czech Republicconduct research on the country’s waters for a potential expansion route for a pipeline. Estonia’s defense minister stated that the surveys would pose a security risk.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with top Czech officials this week to lobby for the American firm Westinghouse’s bid to build a major extension of a nuclear power plant in the country, citing the Czech Republic’s need to gain greater energy independence. Westinghouse is currently competing with a Russian firm for the project.

Latvia

Romania

Hungary

Poland

Slovakia has abandoned its long-standing policy of holding tax rates at a flat 19% across the board, instead opting for a higher tax rate for corporations and high-earners. Proponents of the measure praise the move as a just method of reducing the budget deficit, while opponents dismiss the move as one that will diminish Slovakia’s ability to attract investment.

During a visit to Baku for the Azerbaijani-Hungarian Intergovernmental Eco-nomic Commission, State Secretary Peter Szijjarto stated that Hungary views Azerbaijan as crucial for Europe’s energy security. He indicated Hungary’s interest in the Nabucco gas pipeline project and recommended faster development of the Azerbaijan-Georgia-Romania-Interconnector (AGRI) option.

The Social Liberal Union (USL) is predicted to win an estimated 57-60% of the vote in parliamentary elections this weekend. The USL is the major party behind Prime Minister Victor Ponta. President Basescu’s centre-right Right Romania Alliance is expected to garner 17% of the vote.

Lithuania’s President Dalia Grybauskaite has announced the

establishment of the composition of the new government. The two candidates who were declined belonged to the Party of Labor.

Latvia’s Association of General Practitioners has called for the resignation of

the country’s Health Minister Ingrida Circene in a letter sent to Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis. The letter stated the Health Minister has still not “developed an adequate strategy for the development of primary health care,” and that her policies are “dangerous to society.”

Janusz Piechocinski, the head of the Polish People’s Party (PSL), will assume

the positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy this week. Piechocinski recently issued statements that reveal the protection of jobs, especially in the industrial sector, as one of his top priorities.

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Slovakia

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Country News DigestPresident Plevneliev vetoed and sent back to Parliament the Investment Promotion

Bulgaria

Albania

CroatiaAct this week. His office cited the high barrier for obtaining residency permits as a primary reason for the veto. Plevneliev says that the proposed barrier of BGN 4 million investment and 50 jobs created is far above the EU average.

Bouygues, a French construction company, is interested in building the Peljesac bridge in Croatia. Croatia revived a plan to build a bridge connecting Dubrovnik to the rest of the country.

Serbia

Macedonia

Montenegro’s Parliament installed Milo Djukanovich as the Prime Minister this week, a position in which he has served for many years previously. Djukanovich has pledged to fight corruption and organized crime, although opponents have frequently accused his regimes of complicity in such crimes in the past.

Albania and Kosovo have released statements calling for the investigation of the former UN prosecutor on war crimes, Carla del Ponte, after she pushed for the retrial of former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj following his acquittal in 2008 on charges of war crimes. The court hearing the retrial has since dismissed the case due to lack of evidence.

Slovenia elected Social Democrat and former prime minister Borut Pahor as the new president after a landslide victory against the incumbent Danilo Türk. Pahor won 67.4 percent of the vote compared to 32.5 percent for Türk. The record low voter turnout of 42 percent comes amid a wave of anti-austerity protests.

Albania set parliamentary elections for June 23, 2013.

Albania is under pressure from the EU to hold free and fair elections.

Serbia’s ambassador to NATO, Branislav Milinkovic, committed

suicide on Wednesday. His motives for taking his own life are unknown.

A man threw a gasoline bomb into the American Embassy compound in

Skopje this week. Reports indicate that the man had been drinking heavily and watching the 1991 American legal drama “Defenseless” prior to the incident. Upon arrest, the man cited the movie, which aired on television, as an influential factor in his decision to attack the embassy.

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Montenegro

Kosovo

Slovenia

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Country News Digest

Bosnia & Herzegovina

The ICTY denied the appeals of Bosnian Serb cousins Milan and Sredoje Lukic. In 2009 the pair was convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Milan Lukic’s life sentence was upheld while Sredoje Lukic’s sentence was reduced from 30 years to 27.

Box 571031, ICC 111, Washington, DC 20057-1031

Email: ceres@georgetown.edu Tel.: (202) 687-6080 Fax: (202) 687-5829

The Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies is a U.S. Department of Education Title VI-funded National Resource Center (NRC)

that strives to increase understanding and appreciation of the cultures and challenges of the region stretching from Central Europe to the Pacific and

from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas

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