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Country News Digest Issue #6

10/09/12-10/12/12

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Country News Digest President Aliev criticizedBP’s perormance in oilextraction in Azerbaijan

 Azerbaijan

Georgia

 Russiathis week, threatening to expel the company i necessary.BP is the current leader and majority shareholder o theconsortium ormed by the “contract o the century” ten years ago, but the Azerbaijani government has accused ito ailing to ulll its side o the bargain.

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On Wednesday, theKremlin announced that itdoes not intend to renew the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Treat Reduction Program with the U.S., an agreement credited with removing anddismantling thousands o nuclear weapons in the ormerSoviet Union. Russia says it now has the nances requiredto maintain its own stockpiles without American aid.

 Armenia

 Moldova

 Belarus

Ukraine

Turkey

 ymoshenko is againreusing to appear at her taxevasion trial, and the heado the OSCE election observation mission was denied ameeting with her. Te OSCE will have over 600 observersmonitoring the upcoming elections.

 Te International AtomicEnergy Agency releasedthe Integrated NuclearInrastructure Review on Belarus, a document that bothgave Belarus high marks on reorms it has made in itsnuclear power program and made suggestions on how toimprove them urther. Belarus plans to utilize nancialsupport rom Russia to build two new nuclear reactors by the year 2020.

 Te US and Moldovasigned three bilateralagreements this week,providing an additional $11.5 million in assistence orthe development o the Moldovan economy and publicservices, and to strengthen judicial institutions andthe rule o law. Te signing ceremony took place at aphyto-sanitary laboratory that was ully renovated withUS assistance, helping Moldova meet international oodsaety standards.

President Mikheil Saa-kashvili accepted hisgovernment’s resignation

this week ater his United National Movement lost toopposition leader Bidzina Ivanishvili’s Georgia DreamCoalition in the Oct. 1 parliamentary elections. Tecurrent cabinet will maintain its duties until the new cabinet, already nominated by Ivanishvili, is ormed.

Former oreign ministerVartan Oskanian wasormally charged on

Monday by Armenia’s National Security Service withone count o money laundering and one count o misappropriation o unds. I convicted Oskanian may ace nes and up to 12 years in prison. Te US Ambassadorto Armenia, John Heern, released a statement sayingthis development was “bad or justice and democracy inArmenia”.

NAO secretary generalAnders Fogh Rasmussenannounced that NAO has

“all necessary plans in place to protect and deend urkey i necessary.” urkey ’s Chie o General Sta, Gen. NecdetÖzel, has also signaled urkey’s willingness to respondmore harshly i mortars continue to all on urkey romSyria. On Wednesday urkey orced a Syrian passengerplane in route rom Moscow to Damascus to land inAnkara on suspicions o transporting military equipment.

ABC.az   Washington Post

RIA Novosti Georgia Online Articles:

 Articles:Asbarez  ArmIno

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UN News Centre UPI

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Country News Digest Kyrgyzstan and Russiasigned an agreement onreadmission this week. Te

 Kyrgyzstan

 Kazakhstan

agreement places mutual obligations on the two ormerSoviet states to prevent illegal migration. As part o theagreement Russia has agreed to pay all transportationcosts o deportation.

 Te International CrisisGroup released a reportMonday arguing thatAghanistan is not ready to take over security operationsater the 2014 withdrawal o US and NAO orces. TeICG also asserts it is a “near certainty” the 2014 elections will be plagued with raud, likely resulting in high levelso violence across the country.

 Mongolia

 IranIn his rst public responseto the plunge o the Iranianrial and the resultingprotests last week, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warnedgovernment ocials to curb the inghting over economictroubles and accused the West o blowing the protestsout o proportion. Te rial has lost 40% o its value thismonth and is down 80% against the dollar this year.

 urkmenistan’s cottonharvest is underway.More than 60% o the1.1 million-ton harvest has already been collected. urkmenistan plans to host an international cotton airin late November which would promote urkmen cottonand encourage oreign investment in the industry.

Ulan-Bator is set to removea once prominent, but now decaying bronze statue o Lenin. Many other statues o Lenin were built and thentorn down or scrap metal, but the statue in the capitollasted so long because older Mongols still revere Lenin.

Vladimir Kozlov, leader o the Alga opposition party, was sentenced to 7½ years

in jail or seeking to overthrow the government. Te caserelates to the Zhanaozen uprising last December. Mr.Kozlov, an outspoken critic o President Nazarbayev,claims that the trial was meant to stife the opposition.

Russia has agreed to exemptrom duties and taxes onemillion tons o petroleum

products shipped to ajikistan per year. Russia’s portiono the ajik market has allen rom 95% two years agoto 62% today. Te ajik government predicts that theduty exemption could result in diesel and gasoline pricereductions o up to 40%.

 Te U.S. and Uzbekistanhave agreed to cooperatein eorts to disrupt drug

trade in the Central Asian state. Te U.S. DEA will work with the Uzbek Interior Ministry. Te drug tradethrough Uzbekistan originates in Aghanistan and eithergoes directly over the border or through ajikistan. Drugseizures in the country rose last year to 5,404 kg o drugs, up rom 4,716 kg the year beore.

 Articles:24 News Agency 

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 Articles: urkish Weekly 

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 Articles: urkish Weekly  Fibre2Fashion

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 Articles: Te Guardian ReutersVoice o Russia

Tajikistan

Uzbekistan

 Afghanistan

Interax

New York imes Reuters

Turkmenistan

 urkish Weekly 

 Washington Post

Central Asia Online

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Country News Digest Both Russian and Estoniangovernments are workingon a border treaty. Te 2005

 Estonia

 Lithuania

Czech Republictreaty was rejected by the Russians due to the preamble, which made reerence to pre-war artu territory.European Commission’s papers about visa reedom say Russia should be encouraged to ratiy the treaty to helpsecure visa-reedom.

Numerous members o theCzech Roma community held a “Roma Pride March”this week in Prague. Te Roma community oten endup living in impoverished neighborhoods and risk government displacement, yet still depend heavily ongovernment welare to make ends meet, according toreports.

 Latvia

 Romania

 Hungary

 Poland 

 ensions between Slovak and Roma populations inSlovakia have heightenedthis week. A large anti-Roma march whose participantsincluded some neo-nazis took place in a region o Slovakia. ensions were urther strained when a localgovernment ocial demolished an abandoned buildingthat was previously inhabited by Roma.

Hungary’s infation raterose to 6.6% in September,marking a our-year highor the country. Prices have risen more than 5% in thepast year, particularly on items such as ood, uel, andtobacco. Nonetheless, analysts remain optimistic that theinfation trend can be curbed by the end o the year.

Bulgaria and Romaniasigned an agreement this week to establish a jointcommittee to boost cooperation on projects along theirshared border on the Danube River. Te committee will try and stimulate cross-border transportation andimprove local transportation inrastructure.

Lithuanians are likely tooust their government’scenter-right coalition in

the upcoming October 14th elections. Te Homeland-Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats placed ourthin the recent polls. Te move away rom the center-rightis due to the prolonged austerity measures.

Latvia’s parliamenthas voted to extendthe mandate or the

National Armed Forces’ participation in the NAO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) inAghanistan until October 13, 2013. Saeima’s decision was based on the United Nations Security Council’sdecision to extend the mandate to 2013. Latvia hasparticipated in the ISAF mission in Aghanistan since2003.

An opinion poll conductedin Poland this week revealedthat the conservative

leaning Law and Justice party led by controversialpolitician Jaroslaw Kacynski has unexpectedly overtakenthe ruling party in popular support. Tis upswing insupport ollows a protest engineered by the Law and Justice party against the ruling party.

Baltic Course

 Articles:Business Week  Financial imes

 Articles: Te Baltic Course Leta

 WSJ Europe Focus

 Articles:RealDeal.hu Businessweek 

Slovak Spectator  Te Daily 

Ceske Noviny   Prague Monitor

 Warsaw Business Journal

Slovakia

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Country News Digest President Rosen Plevneliev has nominated outgoingChie Prosecutor Boris

 Bulgaria

 Albania

CroatiaVelchev to a seat on the Constitutional Court. TeBulgarian Constitutional Court is comprised o 12members, 1/3 elected every three years. Te Parliamentelects two members while the President and a group o  judges appoint one each.

Croatia only has ten taskslet to ll beore its July 1, 2013 accession date.Croatia runs the same risks that Bulgaria and Romaniahad - not being prepared enough to join the EU.

Serbia

Macedonia

A journalist rom aprominent Montenegrinnewspaper was attackedby a politician rom the ruling party, ater the PrimeMinister delivered a speech that accused the news outleto supporting the opposition. Members o prominentnon-governmental organizations have criticized theincident. According to reports, attacks on journalists arenot uncommon in Montenegro.

Kosovo and Serbia ormeda committee in order todiscuss the implementationo a previously agreed-to plan that provides or jointoperation o border crossing points between the twocountries. Although tensions between the countries havebeen strained lately, both countries realize that they mustimprove their relationship in order to be considered orintegration into the EU.

On Tursday the Sloveniangovernment introducedlegislation that extendsthe tax on bank assets and introduces a tax on nancialservices. It is believed this will enable the government torake in an additional EUR 35 million in revenue. Te new tax will be levied on commission on loans, loan brokeringand management, loan guarantees, deposits, paymentsand other transactions, including securities trading andinvestment und management.

A second Albaniandissident set himsel on

re in protest o not receiving compensation rom thegovernment. Te compensation is with regard to a law passed in 2007, in which Albania promised ormerpolitical prisoners $19 or every day they were in jail. Te two are among 20 communist-era dissidents whobegan hunger strikes over two weeks ago.

 Te EU stated that it wasnot ready to hold accessiontalks with Serbia because

o its tensions with Kosovo. Belgrade has to do more toreorm its judicial system, and is being urged to hold talkson normalizing ties with Kosovo.

 Te government o PrimeMinister Nikola Gruevskiand his VMRO DPMNE

party have survived a vote o no-condence. Te vote o no condence ollowed several weeks o ethnic tension,that began when the ruling party proposed a bill thatprovided special privileges or veterans o the 2001confict in Macedonia, but excluded ormer Albanianinsurgents.

 Articles:Focus-en EU Inside

 Articles:Scoop News

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 Articles:Bloomberg EIN News

 Articles:Balkan Insight Associated Press

 Articles: Washington Post Reuters

 Articles:BBC Online

 Articles:Focus Novinite

 Montenegro

 Kosovo

Slovenia

Balkan Insight

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Country News Digest 

 Bosnia &  Herzegovina

 Te Bosnian governmenton uesday signedtwo memorandums o understanding with Pakistan on improving trade relationsbetween the two states. Bilateral trade between the twocountries rom July 2011 to April 2012 amounted to$447 million, ar below the level both countries believepossible.

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

Te Center or Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies is a U.S.Department o Education itle VI-unded National Resource Center (NRC)

that strives to increase understanding and appreciation o the cultures and challenges o the region stretching rom Central Europe to the Pacifc and 

  rom the Baltic to the Mediterranean, Black and Caspian Seas

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