EUCAM Commentaries


1 - 15 of 15

The Kyrgyzstani Presidential Elections: Atambayev's Challenges
14 November 2011
Elmira Satybaldieva

Promises and hurdles in EU-Kazakhstan energy cooperation
14 November 2011
Nargis Kassenova

Go Gorno-Badakhshan
31 October 2011
Jos Boonstra

Central Asia on New Delhi's Geostrategic Radar
31 October 2011
Gauri Khandekar

Supporting Civil Society in Central Asia: What Approach for the EU?
02 September 2011
Vera Axyonova

The EU seems to move towards a regional focus in supporting civil society in Central Asia. This while the most urgent challenges of NGOs in the region are found in their national environment. Recent history and current developments explain why support for civil society initiatives on a national basis are needed more than ever in Central Asia.

 

EU development ministers discuss approach to Central Asia
25 July 2011

Jos Boonstra, Jacqueline Hale

On 14 July European development ministers met in Sopot, Poland. Among a host of development related matters Central Asia was on the agenda and European Union Special Representative Pierre Morel and Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs were invited to give political and development assistance oriented background to the European ministers. The Polish Presidency wants to devote special attention to EU development assistance to this often over-looked region, which the EU has traditionally viewed predominantly through a foreign policy lens.

The SCO at ten: Time for Europe to engage?
01 July 2011

Yichen Dai, Vanessa Boas

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) held its 10th anniversary summit in Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, on 15 June to celebrate its achievements over the last decade and guide its future development. Contrary to the negative predictions that it would prove to be a paper tiger, over the past ten years the SCO has developed into a full-fledged organisation with a structure capable of managing its wide-ranging cooperation on security, economy, transportation, disaster relief, law enforcement, culture, etc.

Indirect fall-out from the June 2010 events in Kyrgyzstan: the case of Kara-Suu
30 June 2011

Paul Fryer, Elmira Satybaldieva, Jeremy Smith, Joni Virkkunen

The Kyrgyz town of Kara-Suu lies on the border with Uzbekistan, some 25 kilometres from Osh, the city most affected by the conflict between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks on 10-17 June 2010. With a population of around 21,000, of which 67% are ethnic Uzbek, Kara-Suu also serves as the administrative centre of the Kara-Suu district, which includes the village of Nariman, with a predominantly Uzbek population and notorious as the scene of several high-profile and brutal murders, as well as suburbs of Osh.

Central Asian Islamism in the spotlight
01 June 2011
Marlène Laruelle

In recent years, terrorist actions have increased in Central Asia, especially in the two weakest states, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and on the Uzbek side of the Ferghana Valley. The killing of Osama bin Laden by US special forces has raised fears of a possible backlash from his supporters and a new wave of terror across a large area surrounding Afghanistan.

International report on Kyrgyz June violence released
02 May 2011
Jeremy Smith

After months of delays, leaks and rumours, the Kyrgyzstan Inquiry Commission (KIC) has finally published on 3 May its report looking into the events of 10-15 June 2010 in the Kyrgyz oblasts of Osh and Jalalabad, which led to the death of 470 people, 74 percent of them ethnic Uzbeks. The Kyrgyz authorities have reacted to this report arguing that the report's authors relied too much on accounts by Uzbeks and that the research was incomplete.
 

Kazakhstan's voting enthusiasm
04 April 2011
Vanessa Boas

The Kazakhstani political landscape will not be shaken by similar tremors to those that have rocked North Africa and the Middle East in recent months. President Nazarbayev who has been at the helm of Kazakhstan's political architecture since the fall of the Soviet Union is destined to stay. This is in spite of hopes that economic development coupled with the 2010 OSCE Chairmanship would spur the democratisation of the oil-rich state and lead to the rise of a natural successor for the 70 year old leader.
 

Destruction of Central Asian Electricity Grid: Causes and Implications
20 December 2010
Gulnura Toralieva

The destruction of the Central Asia-wide electricity grid has demonstrated the fragility of energy arrangements in the region and the lack of political co-operation among regional states in general. At the same time, the destruction of the regional distribution network may have drastic consequences for all the countries in the region.
 

Human Rights in Kazakhstan and Tajikistan: How realistic is to expect further results after an EU open debate with civil society?
31 August 2009
Jiri Kopal

The EU-Kazakhstan and EU-Tajikistan civil society seminars on the themes of the judiciary and detention organised at the end of June in Almaty and in mid-July in Dushanbe, demonstrate how difficult it is to improve the situation in these key areas of the rule of law and human rights protection.
 

Water and Energy Disputes of Central Asia: In search of regional solutions?
14 August 2009
Natalia Mirimanova

EUCAM, in cooperation with Asian Development Bank, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Wolfensohn Centre for Development (Brookings Institution), organised a conference on Regional Cooperation and Development in Central Asia. The event was hosted by CEPS on March 2-3, 2009. The gathering was marked by a broad range of perspectives on the constellation of interests, capacities and motivations regarding a more integrated Central Asia.

The Kyrgyz Republic Presidential Elections: No surprises but few opportunities for democratisation
14 August 2009
Nicolás de Pedro

As expected, Kurmanbek Bakiev won the presidential elections held on July 23rd in Kyrgyzstan by a huge margin. This presidential election is a new step in the process of concentration of power by Kurmanbek Bakiev and the growing consolidation of a 'simulated democracy' system, far from the expectations generated during the early 1990s. The opposition, headed by Atambaev (8% votes), has denounced the validity of the entire process and has organised some public protests, although only a few people have appeared on the streets.