Eurasia

WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to visit Afghanistan to encourage continued democratic progress amid rising violence that authorities blame on resurgent Taliban militants. The State Department announced Tuesday that Rice will travel to Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan next week for discussions on economic development, security matters …

The upheaval in Kyrgyzstan could wind up a democratic success story if political change occurs without violence, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday. It is too soon to know where the chaotic scene on the streets of the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek is leading, Rice said. “It doesn’t happen on …

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aide, Igor Shuvalov, announced at the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe underway in Kemerovo that all members of the Russian Federation are prepared to implement the local governance reform. “All the members brought their laws in compliance with the reform …

Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and his Romanian counterpart Traian Basescu discussed cooperation in the framework of international institutions, including GUAM, which unites Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova, and the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation. During Voronin’s visit to Romania, he and Basescu addressed joint energy projects and decided to …

The Kyrgyz parliament approved a restructuring of the government on Monday. Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who had submitted the new Cabinet for approval, “accepted proposals by deputies not to disband the Ministry of Transport and Communications and approved the creation of a State Committee for Migration and Employment,” deputy chairman …

Kyrgyz Prime Minister Felix Kulov says that there are no obstacles to the Russian-language press in Kyrgyzstan. “There are no obstacles to the Russian presence in our information space, the activity of Russian-language mass media or the information needs of Russian-speakers in Kyrgyzstan,” Kulov said in an address to an …

The Kazakh Prosecutor General’s Office has accused the administration of the Respublika pro-opposition newspaper of repeatedly violating registration regulations. The registration requirements were violated “by the aforementioned editorial office this year when it published a number of newspapers: Set.Kz, Respublika, Delovoye Obozreniye, Pyatoye Izmereniye and Assandi- times,” the Prosecutor General’s …

KAZAKH OPPOSITION SUSPECTS ARSON ATTACK ON OFFICE A fire broke out in a room of presidential candidate and leader of the bloc For Fair Kazakhstan Zharmakhan Tuyakbai’s Kustanai regional campaign headquarters, the Kazakh opposition said. “The fire broke out on the second floor early on Sunday morning and was quickly …

The Kazakh opposition party Ak Zhol has applied to register Alikhan Baimenov as its presidential candidate. The party submitted an extract from the protocol of its special congress, which nominated Ak Zhol leader Baimenov as the party’s presidential candidate, to the Kazakh Central Elections Commission along with a written statement …

Georgia’s leadership plans to set up a Coordinating Negotiation Group for the country’s conflict with its breakaway South Ossetia region, a body that will conduct hourly monitoring of the situation in the area, President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Friday. The group will include State Separatist Conflicts Minister Giorgi Khaindrava, Interior …