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Country News Digest Issue #5

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Country News Digest On Sept. 29, Azerbaijanipolice arrested oppositionactivist and blogger Zaur

 Azerbaijan

Georgia

 RussiaQurbanli, a 25-year-old man who took part in the Singor Democracy movement during the Eurovision contestearlier this year and who has authored anti-regimeelection pamphlets. He has been charged with resistingarrest, and will be held or at least 15 days.

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 Te Parliamentary Assem-bly o the Council o Europe (PACE) issued aresolution condemning Russia’s recent laws limiting theopposition and curtailing reedoms, ater Russian DumaSpeaker Sergey Naryshkin canceled his visit to PACE last week. Russian leadership called the resolution a “doublestandard.”

 Armenia

 Moldova

 Belarus

Ukraine

Turkey

Ukrainian First Deputy Prosecutor, Renat Kuzmin,in an open letter toCongress denied that ymoshenko is a political prisoner,and claims that he has evidence o her participation inthe 1996 murder o a Donetsk lawyer and three otherpeople. His letter comes as a response to the Senateresolution calling or possible sanctions against Ukrainei the country does not release ymoshenko and otherpolitical prisoners.

Economic data has revealedthat Belarus misrepresentedthe export o millions o tons o Russian gasoline, calling them “solvents”, in aneort to avoid around $1 billion worth o customs dutiesthat they would otherwise owe to Russia. Ater Russiacriticized the action, Belarus has claimed that they stopped the illegal practice.

PACE, the Parliamentary  Assembly o the Councilo Europe, adopted aresolution demanding Russia withdraw military troopsand equipment rom Moldovan territory. Addressingthe PACE session on Wednesday Moldovan presidentNicolae imoti called or the withdrawal o Russianorces and the reintegration o ransnistria with theRepublic o Moldova.

On Oct. 1, oppositionleader Bidzina Ivanishvili’sGeorgia Dream coalition

 won the country ’s parliamentary elections over incumbentPresident Mikheil Saakashvili’s United NationalMovement. President Saakashvili has conceded deeat,resulting in the country’s rst democratic and peaceultransition o power.

 Te Armenian parliament voted to allow prosecutiono ormer oreign minister

Vartan Oskanian, stripping him o his parliamentary immunity. He is now expected to be ormally charged with misappropriating a $1.4 million donation madeto his Civilitas Foundation in late 2010. Oskanian andhis Prosperous Armenia Party maintain the charges arepolitically motivated.

On Tursday the parliamentauthorized cross-bordermilitary operations into

Syria ater a deadly shelling on a urkish village killed5 and wounded 10. Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay stated this is not a declaration o war on Syria, but gives urkey the right to respond in the event o any utureattacks. Members o the opposition Republican People’sParty (CHP) and Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) voted against the motion.

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Country News Digest Protestors attempted toseize control o the WhiteHouse in Bishkek on

 Kyrgyzstan

 Kazakhstan

 Wednesday. Police repelled the rioters and a small numbero people were being treated or injuries. Te protestollows the Kyrgyz parliament’s reusal to nationalize theKumtor gold mine. Tree members o Parliament wereamong those arrested.

 Te United States hasabandoned plans or apeace deal with the aliban. Te US will instead work towards setting the stage orthe Aghan government to secure a deal with the alibanater the withdrawal o American troops in 2014. NAOSecretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen statedMonday that Western troops may withdraw beore the2014 deadline.

 Mongolia

 Iran Te Iranian rial plummetedto its lowest rate againstthe dollar in more thantwo decades this week, sending people into the streetsprotesting the skyrocketing cost o basic goods. Europeanand US sanctions are largely credited with the rial’sdecline, but protesters are placing the blame on theIranian government.

On 27 Sept., Deputy PrimeMinister o urkmenistanRashid Meredov addressedthe UN General Assembly and stressed the need or aninternational energy security ramework. He called or adrat resolution on the creation o a legal system whichtakes into account the needs o energy producers, transitnations, and consumers.

Chinese aluminum giant,Chalco, has pulled out o a second Mongolian coaldeal. Te company was unable to win approval romChinese and overseas authorities.

 Te Kazakh governmentannounced this week that U.S. oil rm

ConocoPhillips will sell its share in the Kashagan oileld.ConocoPhillips owns an 8.4% stake in the oileld. Testate-owned KazMunaiGas is interested in purchasingConocoPhillips’ share in the project. Te Kashaganoileld is considered to be the largest oileld discoveredin the past 40 years and has many international partners.

Russia and ajikistanare expected to sign anextension allowing the

Russian 201st Mobilized Rie Division to stay in ajikistan. Te division is the largest deployment abroador the Russian military which maintains a presence inmany o the ormer Soviet states in Central Asia.

Uzbek President IslamKarimov and his urkmencounterpart Gurbanguly 

Berdimuhamedov met last week to discuss joint security measures relating to the region. Te discussion ocusedprimarily on Aghanistan and joint approaches the twocountries can take to secure regional security ater the withdrawl o Western orces rom the country.

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Tajikistan

Uzbekistan

 Afghanistan

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Country News Digest In an ofcial speech,Estonian Minister o Deense Urmas Reinsalu

 Estonia

 Lithuania

Czech Republiccriticized European colleagues on cutting their deensebudgets. He reiterated that no concessions should bemade in the current security environment, “We likely  would never have been able to speak about peace inEurope without NAO...”

 Te President o the CzechRepublic was shot at closerange by a toy air-sot gunthis week. A protester wielding the gun managed to pushhis way through a crowd and shoot the President withoutany immediate response rom security. Although thePresident was only bruised, the head o the security hasaccepted responsibility and stepped down.

 Latvia

 Romania

 Hungary

 Poland 

In a move to reduce itsbudget decit, Slovak Prime Minister Fico hasdecided to push or a higher corporate tax rate o 23%(ormerly 19%) and increase the income tax rate on thehighest earners rom 19% to 25%. Experts believe thatthe Parliament will pass these measures quickly, sincePM Fico’s Smer party is in the majority.

Hungary’s Central Bank has urged cabinet membersto readjust the budget inorder to achieve decit reduction targets, at the sametime that the IMF has advised the country to ocus lesson austerity and more on growth. Prime Minister ViktorOrban rejected an IMF loan package on Oct. 1.

 Te re-elected presidento the Party o EuropeanSocialists, Bulgariansocialist Sergei Stanishev, vowed in his acceptance speechto support Romanian Prime Minister Victor Pontapersonally in upcoming elections. Mr. Ponta and hisSocial Democrat party were heavily criticized or theirattempt to remove rom ofce center-right President raian Basescu. Parliamentary elections are scheduledor December 9.

Lithuania is ling a $1.9claim on Gazprom, statingthat the gas company has

grossly overcharged the Baltic country or gas. Tey are taking the suit to an arbitrage court in Stockholm.Lithuanian state ofcials say that ever since 2004, when Gazprom acquired the Lithuanian gas company,Lietuvos Dujos, prices on gas have greatly increased.

 Te Latvian stateprosecutor’s ofceannounced it was reversing

a decision by the state police to not investigate theinvolvement o Latvian banks in an alleged multi-million dollar Russian tax raud made public by SergeiMagnitsky, the amed lawyer who died in detention inRussia in 2009. Colleagues o Magnitsky at London-based Hermitage Capital have accused Latvian banks o laundering up to $63 million.

 Te issue o abortion hasdominated the Polishpolitical landscape this

 week, with rival parties each proposing a bill that addressesthe topic. United Poland’s bill would ban the abortion o etuses with deormities, while the Polikot Movement’sbill would legalize abortions up to three months into thepregnancy. Meanwhile, Poland remains one o the only countries in Europe where abortion is illegal.

Baltic imes

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IB imes Novinite

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Business Week  Reuters

BBC News UPI

New Poland Express

Slovakia

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Country News Digest  Te Bulgarian Supreme Judicial Council (VSS) wasormally seated this week 

 Bulgaria

 Albania

Croatiaand elected its rst representative, Sonya Naydenova. Te VSS is composed o 22 members elected to ve-yearterms. 11 members are selected by the Parliament and11 by the judiciary. Te judiciary elected six judges, ourprosecutors and one investigating magistrate to the VSS.

Croatian armers are usingnuclear technology to helpght ies. ermed nuclear“birth control,” armers are spraying their crops withsterilized ies, who have been bombarded with radioactiveCobalt-60, in order to reduce the y population.

Serbia

Macedonia

NAO Secretary-GeneralRasmussen indicated atthe 67th Meeting o theUnited Nations General Assembly that Montenegro wasullling its commitments in line with the Membership Action Plan. Te Membership Action Plan is designed toprepare Montenegro or ull NAO membership, a stepthat some experts believe Montenegro could take by the year 2014.

Serbian Prime MinisterDacic publicly suggestedpartitioning a northernregion o Kosovo inhabited primarily by Serbs. TePrime Minister o Kosovo Hashim Taci, as well asanalysts rom other countries, have called such a proposalunrealistic. Improving relations with Kosovo remains thebiggest obstacle in Serbia’s path to integration into theEuropean Union.

Meeting in the Sloveniancapital on Tursday, theEuropean Central Bank (ECB) announced there would be no change to itshistorically low interest rate o 0.75 percent. MarkoKranjec, member o the European Central Bank’sGoverning Council and head o the Slovenian centralbank, stated at the meeting that its “it’s too early” to say i Slovenia will need a nancial aid package.

 Albania has recently soldits state owned oil company,

 Albpetroil, to Vetro energy, a US and Singapore-basedoil company. Prime Minister Sali Berisha said that this venture will allow Albpetroil to explore o-shore oil andgas elds.

Serbia’s Interior Ministry has banned a gay parade,scheduled or October 6th,

as well as any related events to the parade. Te state citedsecurity concerns as the only reason or cancelling theparade. Civil Rights activists are not convinced, whilestate ofcials reminded that hundreds o people wereinjured by anti-gay groups in the 2010 parade.

Macedonian oppositionparties led by the SocialDemocrats have begun the

process o calling or a no-condence vote. Te oppositionhas criticized the ruling party or ailing to deal withthe deteriorating economic situation in the country andinstead ocusing on ethnic issues. Despite this, expertsexpect the government to survive.

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 Montenegro

 Kosovo

Slovenia

Balkan Insight

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Country News Digest 

 Bosnia &  Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina’sNational Museum is closingdue to the ongoing politicalunding crisis. Te National Museum has operatedalmost continuously or 124 years, including remainingpartially open during the Second World War. Te prideo the National Museum is the Sarajevo Haggadah, a14th Century Jewish manuscript.

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

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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