11/10/14 11/14/14

The Azerbaijani military downed an Armenian helicopter

that flew over Nagorno-Karabakh on Wednesday. The
helicopter was shot down near the line of contact between
the Armenian and Azerbaijani forces. In retaliation,
Armenia vowed "painful" consequences for Azerbaijan.
The incident was the first of its kind after the 1994
ceasefire agreement between the two countries. The OSCE
urged both sides of the conflict to honor their 20-year-old
truce.
EurasiaNet
Reuters

On Sunday, Russia and China signed a preliminary gas

supply agreement at the Asia-Pacific Economic Summit that
will strengthen the $400 billion gas deal which was signed
earlier this year. Gazprom is negotiating the annual sale of
30 bcm of gas from Siberia to China over the course of 30
years, and Rosneft agreed to sell a 10% stake to Chinese
corporation China National Petroleum Corp. The deal has
been viewed as part of Russias turn to towards the east in
light of western sanctions.

This week, Tamar Beruchashvili was appointed to the newly

vacant position of Foreign Minister, just six days after she
had quit her position as deputy foreign minister.
Beruchashvili had resigned in solidarity with her supervisor,
former Foreign Minister Maja Panjikidze, who stepped
down after Irakli Alasania was dismissed as Defense
Minister. Beruchasvhvili, along with two other former
deputies of Panjikidze, rethought their resignations after
speaking with Prime Minister Garibashvili.
Reuters
DF Watch

Over the last week, NATO and OSCE have continued to

observe Russian military vehicles crossing the border into
Ukraine. Some OSCE monitors have also seen Russian
vehicles marked Cargo 200, the Russian militarys code for
soldiers killed in action, making return trips from the Donbas
region. Although NATO General Philip M. Breedlove stated
that the full scale of the invasion is unclear, many officials
have now concluded that the ceasefire agreement signed in
September has been discarded.

President Serzh Sargsyan arrived in Nagorno-Karabakh on

Thursday for a working visit. During his time there, he will
attend military training exercises and tour military units along
with self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh President Bako
Sahakyan. The visit is part of the Unity 2014 military
framework of joint military drills between Armenia and
Nagorno-Karabakh. The conflict region of Nagorno-Karabakh
remains unstable; earlier this week, a Nagorno-Karabakh
military helicopter was shot down by Azerbaijani forces.
Armenpress

Eurasia Net

In Istanbul on Wednesday, three U.S. Navy sailors were

assaulted by around 20 members of the Turkish Youth
Union, a left-wing nationalist youth organization. The
assailants shouted Yankee Go Home and other antiAmerican slogans. The sailors were not injured and safely
returned to the USS Ross, where the ship had been docked
in Turkey following a NATO drill in the Black Sea.
CNN

Fox News

Bloomberg

New York Times

Reuters

BBC

Lithuania has charged an employee of the state air

Navigation Company for spying for Belarus. The prosecutor
working on the case said that its likely that the intelligence
gathered was shared with Russian authorities. The suspect
collected information for the Belarusian special services
about the military and strategically important companies in
the country. The Belarusian Embassy has not issued a
comment regarding the case so far.
Reuters

ABC News

This week, Moldova extended its contract with Russian gas

provider Gazprom for another year. Under the extended
agreement, Moldova will only pay $331.8 per bcm, whereas
previously it had been paying $380 per bcm. It is unknown
how a ratified Association Agreement will affect future
arrangements with Gazprom. Moldova is also seeking
energy resources in Europe to reduce its dependence on
Gazprom.
Standart News

RFE/RL

President Almazbek Atambayev visited Turkmenistan on

November 10 on his first official visit to the country. The trip
also marked the first official visit of a Kyrgyzstani leader to
Turkmenistan since independence. President Atambayev and
Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov signed a
series of agreements of friendship, mutual understanding, and
economic cooperation. However, President Atambayev did
not achieve his chief goal of signing an economic deal for
gas and electricity.
24.kg

Trend.az

The worldwide decline in oil prices threatens stability in

Kazakhstan. Although officials claim that the government
has enough resources to grapple with possible fiscal
problems, revenues from the oil industry account for 25
percent of Kazakhstans GDP and 60 percent of its balance
of payments. The price of oil decreased from $106 to $80
since June 2014. Analysts project that the decline might
have implications for Kazakhstans economy in the long
run.
EurasiaNet
Trend.az

On Wednesday, authorities in Tajikistan announced that

they had arrested twelve men suspected of recruiting young
people from the Sughd province to fight in Syria. Police say
that those arrested are members of a banned Islamic
organization, Jamaat Ansarullah. Police found guns and
ammunition at the house of Nazhimiddin Shamsiyev, whom
they identify as the leader of the group. The twelve men
have been charged with organizing a criminal group and
possessing illegal weapons.
AKI Press
RFE/RL

Uzbek border guards shot and killed a Kyrgyz national in

Jalal-Abad province, just days after Uzbek border guards
opened fire at Kyrgyz citizens in a separate incident. In both
cases Uzbek officials accused the Kyrgyz citizens of
bringing unspecified illegal goods into Uzbekistan. The
violence took place in a border region with poorly defined
border that is still contested by the two countries.
RFE/RL

Kloop

On Friday, President Ghani made his first trip to Pakistan in

an attempt to rebuild the relationship between the two
countries. Under the Karzai regime, the relationship between
Pakistan and Afghanistan was tense as both blamed the other
for harboring militants, but Ghani seeks to rebuilt relationship
with Pakistani President Nawaz Sharif. In a sign of goodwill,
the two presidents will attend a cricket match in Islamabad
during Ghanis two-day visit.
Daily Mail

News Observer

On Tuesday, Russia and Iran reached an agreement on the

construction of nuclear power reactors in Iran. Under the
agreement, Russia will construct two nuclear reactors at the
Bushehr nuclear plant and will have the possibility of
building an additional two reactors at Bushehr and four more
at another location to be determined. The construction will
be monitored by the IAEA, and Russia will supply the
uranium fuel and take the fuel back for reprocessing.
New York Times

Guardian

On Thursday, the state gas companies of Turkmenistan,

Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India announced that they have
established a company that will build, own and operate the
planned Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI)
natural gas pipeline. The establishment of the company is an
important step toward the realization of the pipeline project,
which is expected to span 1,800 kilometers and will enable
Turkmenistan to export up to 33 million cubic meters of
natural gas annually to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India.
Hindu Business Line

Azer News

The mining corporation Rio Tinto views the recent change

of leadership in Mongolia as a potentially positive
development in its stalemate with the Mongolian
government over tax issues related to the Oyu Tolgoi mine.
After the ouster of former Prime Minister Norov last week,
Rio and Mongolia continued negotiations on the $5.4
billion mine, Mongolias largest foreign investment. Once
in full operation, Oyu Tolgoi will contribute about a third
of Mongolias economy.
Sydney Morning Herald

Bloomberg

The head of the International Cooperation Department of the

Russian Defense Ministry Sergei Koshelev said that the
recent NATO Trident Juncture exercises taking place in
Estonia from November 9-17 are targeted against Russia. As
he stated, It is obvious that the course NATO member states
have chosen will not make the situation in Europe safer.
Moscow has repeatedly claimed that the NATO buildup at
its borders is a threat to its security.
ITAR-TASS

Reuters

Lithuania has completed an investigation of deadly

crackdown on pro-independence demonstration in 1991 in
Vilnius by the Soviet troops. The Prosecutor Generals office
was specifically looking at the TV Center clashes in which
14 people died and around 600 were wounded. Around 69
citizens of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, who were Soviet
soldiers and officers at the time of crackdown, are suspected
of committing crimes against humanity and war crimes.
RFE/RL

RAPSI

Late last week, Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics

announced via Twitter that he is gay. The announcement
has elicited a variety of responses. Local LGBT rights
activists and EU officials have lauded the announcement
and expressed their support of Rinkevics. However, Russian
officials have been quick to mock or criticize Rinkevics
statement. Latvia is the most socially conservative of the
three Baltic republics.
New York Times

Economist

A strong earthquake in the eastern Czech Republic killed

three miners working in a coal mine owned by OKD AS.
OKD is one of the largest private employers in the Czech
Republic. A spokesperson for OKD said on Friday that the
miners died 2,853 feet below the surface at the CSA mine in
Karvina. Nine miners working at the location managed to
escape the site with injuries that were not life-threatening.

ABC News

Businessweek

Italian utility company Enel announced that it may not need to

sell its assets in Eastern Europe, including its Slovakian power
generation subsidiary, Slovenske Elektrarne. Enel had put
Slovenske Elektrarne up for sale this summer in an attempt to
raise money to reduce its debt load. While Enel has already
received some non-binding bids on its stake in Slovenske
Elektrarne, it may abandon the sale if it raises enough money
through other deals, such as the pending sale of its stake in
Endesa, a Spanish utility company.
Romania-Insider

Wall Street Journal

Hungary plans to buy Budapest Bank, the local unit of GE

Capital. The plan was developed after the government
earlier this year acquired loss-making MKB Bank, the
Hungarian unit of German bank BayernLM. The decision is
part of the governments reported goal to increase state
influence over the economy. The Minister of Development
Miklos Sesztak was reported as saying that the government
would like to control as much as 70 % of the banking sector.
Reuters

Portfolio.hu

Thousands of people have participated in protests across

Polands Independence Day celebrations in Warsaw on
Romania since the first round of presidential elections on
Tuesday turned violent when marchers clashed with police.
November 2. The protesters allege that the government has been
Thousands of people participated in the march, which began
making it difficult for Romanian citizens living abroad to vote
peacefully but reportedly turned violent when some members
in the elections. In response, the government has promised to
of far-right nationalist groups broke away from the main rally
open more polling booths to ensure that the second round of
and began to throw stones and firecrackers at the police. Police
elections on November 16 will run more smoothly. Minister of
responded with water cannons and pepper spray. This marks
Foreign Affairs Corlean resigned in opposition to these
the fourth year in row that violence has erupted during
measures, arguing that the addition of new polling stations was
of-cease-fire-deal?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=world
Polands Independence Day march.
illegal and could be grounds to contest the results of the runoff.
Deutsche Welle
BBC
ABC
EurActiv

Late last week, Boiko Borisov, leader of the GERB party of

Bulgaria, succeeded in forming a coalition government.
GERB will partner with the center-right Reformist Bloc, with
support from the left-leaning Alternative for Bulgarian
Revival (ABV) and the nationalist Patriotic Front. Borisovs
new cabinet will include 11 ministers from his own party, six
ministers from the Reformist Bloc, and one minister from
ABV.
EurActiv

Novinite

In the first visit by an Albanian prime minister in 68 years, Edi

Rama met with his counterpart Aleksander Vucic in Serbia to
mend tensions over an international soccer incident last month.
During a joint press conference, however, anger flared as Mr.
Rama claimed that Kosovos independence is a reality and
must be respected. Vucic responded, I did not expect this
provocation. What does Albania have to do with Kosov?
Kosovo is not part of Albania and it never will be.
BBC

Wall Street Journal

The Serbian far-right leader Vojislav Seselj, accused of war

crimes during the Balkan wars, arrived in Serbia after U.N.
judges approved his provisional release due to ill health.
Upon arrival at the airport, Seselj greeted over 1,000
supporters by saying, I won the battle against the Hague
tribunal. Seselj is charged with various war crimes including
recruitment of notorious paramilitary forces and plotting to
drive out non-Serbs through violence and intimidation.
Al Jazeera

Daily Mail

On Tuesday, police apprehended a 40-year-old man wanted

for killing a married couple and their daughter in the city of
Kavadarci. The man, a police officer, himself, was
apprehended three days after the triple murder took place
and was reported to be carrying the suspected murder
weapon. While no names have been released in connection
with the victims, it is believed that they are the family of the
suspects ex-wife.
MINA

Independent

Croatia pledged to narrow the 2015 budget deficit to 3.8

percent by consolidating procurement and reducing healthcare expenses. The plan will cut the deficit by around 390
million euros. The new plan will benefit the State Office for
State Property Management, which will receive 3.9 million
euros more in 2015 than in 2014. Croatias economic woes
have prompted the European Commission to monitor its
fiscal consolidation process since January.
Bloomberg

Balkan Insight

The government of Montenegro approved a budget for

2015 on Monday. The cabinet decided to increase the
budget by 455 million euros. The deficit is expected to be
6.78%. The government will therefore need to borrow 650
million euros to cover loan obligations and the budgetary
deficit. Earlier this month, the IMF downgraded
Montenegros growth forecast from 3.6 per-cent to 3.0
percent for 2015.
Balkan Insight

Balkans.com

EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini appointed an

independent expert to lead the investigation into allegations
of corruption at the EULEX, the EUs law and order
mission in Kosovo. She appointed Jean Paul Jacqu, a
French law professor who served as the chief legal official
in the European Council until 2008, and gave him four
months mandate to prepare report and recommendations.
Mr. Jacqu will look into the EULEXs handling of the
corruption allegations and their response to the case.
Wall Street Journal

TheNEWS

On Tuesday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

welcomed new Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar in his
first visit to the NATO headquarters. Soltenberg thanked
Miro for Slovenian troop contributions in NATO operations
in Afghanistan and Kosovo. During the meeting both also
expressed concern about recent developments taking place
in Ukraine.
NATO

STA

On Thursday, more than 100 officers of Bosnias State

Investigation and Protection Agency (SIPA) arrested
11 people accused of financing, supporting and recruiting
for Islamist militant organizations in Syria and Iraq such as
ISIS. The operation took part in five central Bosnian towns,
including the capital Sarajevo. The arrests follow a similar
operation in September, where SIPA arrested 16 people on
similar charges.
Reuters

DW