CERES News Digest Vol.5 Week 6; Oct.6-10

8/11/2019 CERES News Digest Vol.5 Week 6; Oct.6-10

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On Wednesday, the Duma gave provisional approval to alaw that would compensate individuals hit by sanctions andallow the seizure of foreign assets in the country. The lawwas originally tabled in April, but was recently resurrectedafter the Italian government froze approximately $36million of property belonging to Arkady Rotenberg, one ofPresident Putins long-time allies. The controversial lawwas approved by a slim margin of 233 to 202 votes.

ABCBloomberg

On Thursday, Turkeys foreign minister, Mevlet Cavusoglu,insisted it wouldnt be realistic for the world to expectunilateral Turkish military action against ISIS. Cavusoglufurther explained that airstrikes would not tip the balance ofpower in the region against ISIS. The remarks come as ISISis inching closer to taking the town of Kobani, a Kurdishenclave in Syrias north which is visible from the Turkishborder.

CNNBBC

The U.N. released a report on Wednesday providing anupdated tally of the casualties in Ukraine since theSeptember 5 ceasefire. According to the report, there havebeen at least 331 deaths in the month following theceasefire, in addition to the 3,600 people killed over the lastsix months. While there have been no large-scale offensivessince the agreement, fire continues to be exchanged daily,particularly around the Donetsk Airport and Luhansk.

Another 8,756 people have been wounded since April.

Deutsche WelleWall Street Journal

In response to a statement made by the Russian ForeignMinistry on October, Georgian Defense Minister IrakliAlasania stated that the country would continue createinfrastructure as outlined in the NATO Wales Summit inSeptember. The Russian Foreign Ministry originally calledthe development of such infrastructure a destabilizing forcein the Transcaucasus region. Alasania countered by sayingthat the only threat to stability is Russian occupying forcesin the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Trend.azCivil.ge

A meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council inMinsk today will finalize the agreement for Armenia to jointhe Eurasian Economic Union on January 1, 2015.Presidents from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and Armeniawill be present at the meeting, and the group will alsodiscuss a potential roadmap for Kyrgyz accession to theUnion. In addition, discussions will also address increasedUnion cooperation with Vietnam, Israel, India, and Egypt.

ArmRadioTASS

President Timofti was in Minsk today, where he made astatement at the CIS Heads of State Council that Moldovassigning of the EU Association Agreement will notnegatively affect Moldovan relations with the CIS. RussianPresident Putin, however, criticized Chisinau for notholding consultations with Moscow on the accord, sayingthat the agreement could lead to negative economic tiesbetween the two countries. Moldova signed the AssociationAgreement in June.

RFE/RLBelta

Charter 97RFE/RL

On Wednesday, 23 Azerbaijani Peacekeepers left forAfghanistan to join the International Security AssistanceForce (ISAF). At the moment around 90 servicemen fromthe Azerbaijani Armed Forces are involved in thepeacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. Azerbaijan joinedthe ISAF mission in Afghanistan in 2002 with the aim ofcontributing to peace and security in the region.

Trend.az Azernews

On Wednesday, Belarusian activist Paval Vinahradau, amember of the opposition group Zmena, was charged with15 days in jail for disorderly conduct and fined forappearing at the police station drunk. A few weeks earlier,he was sentenced to 15 days in jail for using vulgar words inpublic. Throughout the last few years, Vinahradau has beensentenced 17 times on what he claims have been politically-motivated charges.


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An explosion occurred at the Parchin military facility on theoutskirts of Tehran on Sunday, killing two people. TheInternational Atomic Energy Agency has not been givenaccess to the site since 2005. The IAEA suspects that Iranhas conducted explosives tests related to nuclear weaponsresearch at Parchin in the past. Iran maintains that the site isa conventional military facility and denies that an explosiontook place on Sunday, stating that the deaths were the resultof a fire at an explosives factory.

New York TimesHaaretz

On October 9, Tajikistans Supreme Court declared theopposition movement Group-24an extremist group andbanned the organization in the country. The group hadrecently begun using social media to call for street protestsin Dushanbe on October 10. Western news media havereported that YouTube, Facebook, and other social media

sites have been inaccessible in Tajikistan since October 5.

Eurasia.Net RFE/RL

President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov of Turkmenistanmade an official visit to Belarus on October 8 and 9. Heheld official talks with President Alexander Lukashenko todiscuss increasing economic cooperation between the twocountries, including the construction of the Garlyk potashmining and processing plant in Turkmenistan.

Trend Belta

The 24-story Shangri-La Hotel currently underconstruction in Ulaanbaatar caught fire last week, takingnearly 40 firefighters over two hours to extinguish the fire.23 people were stranded on the roof, though they were allrescued safely. The incident raised questions forMongolias limited fire truck capabilities, with the head ofthe National Emergency Management Agency calling forhelicopters and other means to fight future fires.

UB Post Hotelier Middle East

The US Department of Labor released a report on October 8detailing the persistent forms of child labor present inUzbekistan. Although President Karimovs administrationcontinues to deny that children are forced into cotton fieldwork, the Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Laborreport concludes that Uzbekistan is still complicit in the useof forced child labor.

On Tuesday, a parliamentary committee in Kyrgyzstanpassed draft legislation that intends what they consider asgay propaganda and makes it punishable by up to oneyear in jail. It would also ban groups supporting LGBTrights. Kurmanbek Dyikanbaev, co-author of the bill, saidthat the proposal aims to protect traditional family valuesagainst values espoused in the West.

RFE/RL Buzzfeed

EurasiaNet UzNews

On Wednesday, five men were executed for the rape of fourwomen outside of Kabul in late August. The executionfollowed a national debate about the case, in which seven menwere convicted of robbery and extramarital sex, but not rape.(The other two men received sentences of 20 years in prisoneach.) While Afghan protesters called for the men to beexecuted, international human rights group asked the newadministration to reevaluate the sentences in light of trial

inconsistencies and uninvestigated claims.

GuardianReuters

The EU and Kazakhstan announced on Thursday that theywill sign a modified partnership and cooperation pact.The agreement will significantly deepen political andeconomic ties between Astana and Brussels. EU officialsstated that the agreement shows that countries do not haveto choose between the EU and the Eurasian Union. AsEuropean Commission President Jose Manuel Barrososaid, Europe is open to building strong and solid relationswith the members of the Customs Union.

EurasiaNetWall Street Journal


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On Wednesday, Polands central bank announced interestrate cuts that were deeper than expected, reducing thebenchmark rate to 2.0%. In a policy statement, the bank saidthat it does not rule out further adjustments later this year ifeconomic projections show a risk of inflation remainingbelow the banks target of 2.5%. The Polish economy hassuffered recently from Russias ban on European foodimports and from the economic slowdown in Germany.

Romania Insider Reuters

Slovakia announced that it may seek compensation from theEU for losses incurred as a result of a shortfall in gasdeliveries from Russia. European Energy CommissionerOettinger confirmed that Slovakia could potentially receivecompensation if Bratislava calculates that it has incurredlosses. A spokeswoman for Slovakias Ministry of Economystated that the issue would be brought up at the next EuropeanCouncil meeting. Russian energy company Gazpromcontinues to deny any shortfalls in its gas deliveries toSlovakia.

Reuters EU Bulletin

Last week, prosecutors announced that they wereinvestigating Lukoil's Petrotel refinery in Romania oncharges of tax evasion and money laundering amounting toan estimated 230 million euros. On Monday, the refineryannounced that it had stopped production after authoritiesfroze its assets and seized its raw materials, crude oil andproducts. Lukoil appealed the freeze and was able to resume

production on Tuesday, but the investigation continues.

eske Noviny Radio.czWall Street JournalABC

Elections for the Saeima were officially held on Saturday.The opposition Harmony party which appeals to ethnicRussians received 23% of the vote, giving them 24 of theparliaments 100 total seats and making them the biggestsingle party in Latvia. However, a center-right coalition ofparties, including Prime Minister Straujumas Unity Party,together received 58% of the vote, and 61 chairs in theparliament, an increase from the 47 chairs coalition receivedat the revious election. Turnout was 58.8%.

Wall Street Journal Bloomberg

Reuters Wall Street Journal

Delfi.lt

Portfolio.hu BBJ

BuzzFeed

Czech citizens started going to the polling stations to cast

votes in municipal and Senate elections. There are 165

parties and movements that are taking part in the elections.

As Czech President Zeman declared, the elections will not

lead to radical change. This is not France where the

president changed the government after local elections, he

added. Citizens have two days to cast their vote.

Foreign Minister Linas Linkeviius stated in an interview

that Russia is financing propaganda inside Lithuania. In his

words, Russia is testing the limits of its actions within

Lithuania on a political, practical and public level. I dont

think we could be manipulated so easily, he said. But we

do feel this influence really quite strongly.

Estonia passed a civil partnership law on Thursday thatrecognizes the civil union of couples regardless of gender.According to the law, which is planned to come into effectby January 1, 2016, same-sex couples will now enjoy thesame rights as heterosexual married couples, includingfinancial, social, and health benefits. The law passed with anarrow margin of 40 to 38. Estonia is the first former Sovietnation to legalize gay partnerships.

Hungary is preparing for municipal and local elections onSunday. Political parties have been touring the countryintensively to win popular support. Prime Minister Orban,part of the Fidesz party, made several statements ahead ofthe elections, reminding the public that the Fidesz-KDNPcoalition has won every election since the 2010parliamentary elections and promising a sweeping set ofeducational and economic reforms after the elections.


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Bulgaria held early parliamentary elections on Sunday. TheCentral Election Commission announced the official resultson Thursday, confirming that the center-right party GERBwon the largest share of votes, with 32.67% of the votes and84 seats in parliament. GERB leader Boyko Borisov islikely to become the next Prime Minister. Seven otherparties won seats in parliament and GERB announced that itwould begin holding talks with the other parties on forming

a coalition government on October 13.

Sofia Globe Novinite

Nine doctors and health officials were arrested in Kosovoon Thursday as part of an investigation into corruption inthe countrys healthcare system. The suspects are accusedof taking bribes from private clinics to refer patients therefor heart surgery. In an official statement, the prosecutorsoffice reported that one of the clinics was unlicensed andthat the doctors were not authorized to carry out heartsurgery.

Reuters Daily News

Russian Energy minister Alexander Novak told Russian pressthat Serbia had approached Russia seeking a free-traderegime for certain classes of goods, including sugar,cigarettes, alcohol, meat, and automobiles. The agreementwould entail changes to current customs duties by both sides.As Russia is a member in the Eurasian Customs Union, theproposed free-trade regime is subject to Customs Uniondiscussions.

Moscow Times RT

Human Rights Watch reported on Monday that over 8,200people with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities are livingin segregated institutions and psychiatric hospitals in Croatia.HRW further reported that the patients have little controlover decisions that affect their lives, including lack ofprivacy. HRW described the institutions as similar to prisons.Today, Croatia is exploring methods to convert suchinstitutions into community-based living arrangements.

Human Rights Watch Voice of America

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama will visit Serbia later thismonth in the first visit by an Albanian premier in last 68years. Rama will visit Belgrade to discuss the situation of theAlbanian community in the southern Serbian province ofPresevo and the recognition of Kosovo. Serbia has notrecognized independence of Kosovo, formerly a province ofSerbia. Kosovo's has been recognized by more than 100countries, including the United States and most EuropeanUnion member states.

On Wednesday night, the European Parliamentoverwhelmingly rejected Slovenias nominee to theEuropean Commission, the former Prime Minister AlenkaBratusek. She had been nominated by incoming EuropeanCommission President Jean-Claude Juncker as one of his

senior vice presidents in charge of energy policy.

Financial Times Irish Times

ABC NewsTimes of India Balkan InsightWorld News Report

GuardianBBC

A British man who had travelled to Macedonia for businessdied in Skopje on Thursday from symptoms including fever,vomiting, and internal bleeding, prompting officials to testfor Ebola. Staff at the mans hotel and all of the people withwhom he had come in contact have been quarantined. Bloodand tissue samples have been sent to a lab in Frankfurt fortesting. Some reports suggest that the man may have beentraveling in Nigeria, although this has not been confirmed.

On Tuesday, Montenegro signed a deal with the Council ofEurope Development Bank that will provide approximately10 million euro of financial support to Montenegro to buildhouses for wartime refugees. The funds will build permanenthomes for more than 120 families in Podgorica and 68families in the municipality of Pljevlja. According to datafrom 2012, around 16,000 wartime refugees from Croatia,Bosnia and Kosovo live in Montenegro, where they havebeen in temporary housing for close to fifteen years.


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2014 Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies, School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

*Ceres is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites.

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic finished hisfinal defense at a UN tribunal in The Hague. Mr. Karadzic isaccused of war crimes and facilitating acts of genocideduring the Bosnian war, including the 1995 Srebrenicamassacre. He said that his conscience was clear in what hedescribed as a horrible war and that he expects to beacquitted of all charges against him.

BBC NY Times

CERES News Digest Vol.5 Week 6; Oct.6-10

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