Tag Archives: international relations

Obama says no to Georgia’s NATO hopes

MARCH 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s still unclear if Russia’s de facto annexation of Crimea has given Georgia’s drive to become part of NATO any real impetus.

Certainly, the Georgian government was hoping that this was the case. But the signals have been mixed.

At a meeting in Brussels, US President Barack Obama said that neither Georgia or Ukraine would join NATO soon.

“Neither Ukraine nor Georgia are currently on a path to NATO membership,” he said. “There has not been any immediate plans for expansion of NATO’s membership.”

This will have hurt Georgia’s government. It has been a keen supporter of NATO missions, including to Afghanistan. On as TV interview the following day, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili summed up the disappointment.

“Of course it was not a statement that caused much of our delight,” he said.

A week later, though, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was preparing to make a speech in which he will pledge more support for Georgia.

These are difficult, and confusing, times for aspirant-NATO members.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

FIFA chief visits Tajikistan

MARCH 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Sepp Blatter has spent much of his career as FIFA president fending off allegations of institutional corruption. Even so, Tajikistan must have come as a shock.

Mr Blatter visited Tajikistan as part of a tour of Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan which culminated in a meeting of UEFA, Europe’s governing football body, in Astana (March 25-28).

He was greeted off the plane at Dushanbe airport by Rustam Emomali, son of President Emomai Rakhmon and head of the Tajik Football Federation. Mr Emomalii also owns and occasionally plays for FC Istiqlol, who thrashed FC Ravshan 5-0 in the Tajik Super Cup final with Blatter in attendance.

Not everyone is happy with FC Istiqlol’s dominance, though. In 2011 a match between the same two sides triggered a riot when FC Ravshan’s supporters concluded that FC Istiqlol had bought the referee.

Police arrested 20 people and at least 10 people were hospitalised during fighting between the Ravshan Ultras and the security forces.

Memories of a five year civil war (1992-97) limit opposition towards Mr Rakhmon’s presidency, although anger with the president does appear to be growing. One irk is that he directs much foreign investment towards his hometown of Danghara while other parts of the country struggle for electricity.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Russian rocket crashes in Kazakhstan

MARCH 28 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A Russian weather rocket crashed near a village in western Kazakhstan, media reported. There were no casualties. The Kazakh authorities banned further Russian rocket launches over its territory.

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(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Armenia votes against Ukraine

MARCH 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Armenia firmly staked out its position on international affairs when it voted against a motion in the UN General Assembly to reaffirm the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

It was join by a dubious list of 10 other countries that also voted against the motion which asked for Crimea to be restored to Ukraine after the de facto annexation last month by Russia.

The list is telling. Armenia now, it appears, keeps company with a range of countries variously described as eccentric, awkward and anti-capitalist. It includes North Korea, Zimbabwe, Cuba and Syria.

For Armenia, this feels like a watershed. It has increasingly leaned towards Russia over the past few years. Moscow gives Armenia much financial and military support. And it needs both. Armenia is wedged between two enemies — Turkey and Azerbaijan and needs as many allies as it can gather.

Last year Armenia turned its back on further EU integration in favour of the Russia-led Customs Union.

But Central Asian countries have also chosen a pro-Russia agenda. Yet they were able to abstain from voting during the Ukraine UN Assembly debate.

If there was ever any doubt on where Armenia’s loyalty lies, there isn’t any more. Armenia’s UN Assembly vote underlines its trajectory.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Tuvalu snubs Russia for Georgia

MARCH 31 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Ahead of the UN Assembly vote on Ukraine, the Pacific nation of Tuvalu dealt Russia a blow by cutting ties and setting up relations with Georgia. Tuvalu had been one of the few countries to recognise the Russia-sponsored Georgian breakaway states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent in 2008.

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Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Wire transfer ban may hit remittances to Uzbekistan

APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Uzbekistan’s Central Bank ordered commercial banks to stop taking wire transfers from Russia’s Zolotaya Korona, threatening the country’s remittances lifeline.

Remittances are crucial to Uzbekistan. According to the World Bank, remittances from Russia account for roughly 16% of Uzbekistan’s GDP.

This figure, although, large still underplays the importance of remittances to the Uzbek economy.

They are an essential lifeblood to the much of the population, feeding entire families and beating away poverty.

It makes the unexplained announcement by the Uzbek Central Bank all the more puzzling. Zolotaya Korona, which means Golden Crown, is the most popular system for Uzbeks working in Russia to wire cash home.

Forcing users onto another system, creates an additional barrier.

A couple of days after issuing the ban, the Uzbek Central Bank said it banned Zolotaya Korona because it thought that it was in poor financial health.

Officials at Zolotaya Korona, which is based in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, have declined to comment on the Uzbek Central Bank’s decision.

In January, around a dozen Azerbaijani banks cut their links to Zolotaya Korona. They said that deals with the Russian company just weren’t profitable enough.

In 2012, Armenia’s Central Bank banned Zolotaya Korona from operating there because it was stopping some people using its services.

Whatever the reason for the Uzbek Central Bank’s sudden ban on Zolotaya Korona, the poor in Uzbekistan will suffer.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Azerbaijan buys office block in South Korea

APRIL 1 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan’s state oil fund bought an office block in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, for $447m, underlining its intent to continue a global shopping spree it started a couple of years ago.

The 25-story Pine Avenue Tower A is Azerbaijan’s first property purchase in the Asia Pacific region.

It follows high profile buys in London, Paris and Moscow in 2012.

Increasingly wealthy, Azerbaijan’s oil fund is worth about $34b. Azerbaijan has openly invested in property, currencies and equities in a drive to build growth and assets for future generations.

“This is a large transaction and shows our belief in the continued strength of major Asian real estate markets which have shown stable returns historically,” Shahmar Movsumov, director of the oil fund, said in a statement.

Critics of the Azerbaijani authorities, though, have said that the oil fund is being wasted on prestige projects. The oil fund expects to spend about $1b on real estate in Asia and Australia this year.

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Armenians flee from Syrian town

MARCH 27 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Arman Sahakian, an Armenian MP, said that roughly 600 Armenian families fled from Kessab, a town in Syria, last month after Islamic extremists captured it, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported. Armenia’s government has said it’s concerned about the fate of Armenians living there.

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

Azerbaijan looks to NATO

MARCH 25 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Azerbaijan has signalled that it is interested in closer ties to NATO, just weeks after the de facto Russian annexation of Crimea.

Media reported that the Azerbaijani government wants to increase the number of officers it has serving at NATO offices around the world.

It has also submitted an updated version of its so-called Individual Partnership Action Plan with NATO to cover 2014 and 2015. This is really just part of a process to allow Azerbaijan to work with NATO on various projects but in the current geopolitical climate it is important.

Crimea has thrown up various headaches for countries in the former Soviet Union. They want to work with Russia but they don’t want to be dominated by their former colonial master.

Azerbaijan’s relationship with Russia has been strained over the past couple of years. They have rowed over gas supplies. Azerbaijan has boosted its output to Europe, angering Moscow. In January, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev visited NATO HQ in Brussels, underling his commitment to the Western military alliance.

For NATO, Azerbaijan has been an important partner recently.

It not only has 90 soldiers in Afghanistan supporting NATO forces, but it has also played a role in the supply route from Europe to Afghanistan. Roughly 40% of so-called non-lethal cargo for NATO forces in Afghanistan passes through Azerbaijan.

Since the mid-2000s, Azerbaijan has gently re-aligned its foreign policy towards NATO. Although not as enthusiastic a NATO aspirant as neighbouring Georgia, Azerbaijan has said it is keen to extend its peace-keeping responsibilities.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan mull land swaps

MARCH 24 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — A joint Tajik-Kyrgyz commission is discussing land swaps to reduce tension along their border, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported (March 24). Tension along the border has escalated this year. A shootout between Tajik and Kyrgyz border guards earlier this year killed several people.

(News report from Issue No. 177, published on March 26 2014)