#Estonia’s Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, during a September 24 appearance at #Columbia University’s #Harriman Institute, said no one should be holding their breath waiting for #Russia to make sincere moves to stop the bloodshed in #Ukraine.

#US Congressman Joe #Wilson is becoming a household name in the Republic of #Georgia, reviled by officials from the ruling Georgian Dream party and the media outlets they control, while being held up as a source of hope by top opposition figures.

As was long expected, the #Kyrgyz parliament voted unanimously September 25 to dissolve itself, setting up snap elections for later this fall almost exactly a year ahead of schedule. 🔗 eurasianet.org/kyrgyzstan-t...

Small indicators are starting to appear that ongoing confidence-building measures between #Armenia and #Azerbaijan are having a positive effect on efforts to conclude a lasting peace settlement.

#Uzbekistan evidently is on a fast-track to gain membership in the World Trade Organization. Tashkent’s application could win acceptance by the spring of 2026, #WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iveala said in an interview with Uzbek television.

The journey from the weather station to the Kara-Batkak Glacier takes about four hours across rocky terrain and roaring rivers. The glacier sees few tourists, and the existing trails tend to be tracks created by livestock grazing on the slopes in summer. 🔗 eurasianet.org/melting-kara...

You can add #Uzbek President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev and Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart #Tokayev to Donald #Trump’s “highly respected” leader list.

#Kyrgyzstan switched to a 12-year education system this year, adding a new grade for six-year-olds and welcoming more than double the usual number of new students to the new first grade and to second grade. 🔗 eurasianet.org/like-herring...

#Tajikistan is almost entirely dependent on international donors to fund 82 government infrastructure projects across a wide range of sectors.

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#Serbia is a candidate for #EuropeanUnion membership and #Hungary has been a full member since 2004, but that hasn’t prevented them from joining with Russia to undermine #EU cohesion and meddle with efforts to break Europe’s dependency on #Russian energy.

#Kazakhstan and #Uzbekistan are gaining the reputation as innovation darlings, propelling a dramatic rise in the Central and South Asia region’s standing as a hub for knowledge creation and technological outputs, according to a new survey.

Based on the ongoing spate of detentions, it appears #Georgian Dream has a pretty well-developed police state already in place. Almost all prominent opposition politicians have been confined or cowed, and, of late, even former prominent members of Georgian Dream have been targeted for arrest.

The convictions mark another severe blow to press freedom amid an ongoing campaign by President Sadyr Japarov’s administration to tighten control over the flow of information in the country. #Kyrgyzstan 🔗 eurasianet.org/two-more-jou...

Russian natural #gas supplier #Gazprom is turning off the tap to #Armenia, claiming a need to repair infrastructure. Some observers believe the Kremlin is instigating the repeated cut-offs as a means of pressuring #Yerevan to moderate its geopolitical turn away from #Russia towards the West.

In its quest to gain access to the sea to facilitate exports, #Uzbekistan is eyeing the Iranian port at #Chabahar, situated in the Gulf of #Oman. But even in the exploratory phase, #Tashkent is encountering significant obstacles.

#Kazakhstan is taking fresh steps to organize its territorial defense forces. On September 14, the government issued a decree modifying the Ministry of Emergency Situations’ mandate to include responsibility for coordinating territorial defense.

“I can easily relate to how all those who have been refused entry feel. I gained first-hand experience about arbitrary denials on the last day of 2024, when I was refused entry to Georgia,” writes Diego Benning Wang, historian of Eurasia and Eastern Europe. 🔗 eurasianet.org/exhausted-an...

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#TRIPP is projected to traverse 42 kilometers of #Armenian territory to connect #Azerbaijan proper to its #Nakhchivan exclave, marking the final piece of what is projected to become the central trade route in the emerging Middle Corridor trade network. 🔗 eurasianet.org/armenian-tra...

#Uzbekistan is gearing up to conduct the country’s first census since the Soviet era, aiming to gain precise demographic information to help guide the country’s economic transformation.

On February 8, a construction worker in his early forties fell to his death from the eighth story of a building on #Bishkek’s southeast side just a week after another worker in his early fifties fell from a construction site and died in the same district. 🔗 eurasianet.org/bishkeks-con...

The #MEGOBARI Act is being held up in the Senate by stout opposition from a lone senator, Markwayne #Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican, whose position towards the #Georgian Dream government has undergone a mysterious flip-flop in recent years, moving from steadfast opposition to cautious tolerance.

#Kazakhstan, #Kyrgyzstan and #Uzbekistan have worked out detailed swap arrangements covering water and electricity, aiming to improve agricultural productivity in areas experiencing dry conditions.

Could Donald #Trump become the first #US president to visit #CentralAsia? Uzbek President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev has been pushing for it, and, on September 7, Trump seemed to praise Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart #Tokayev and briefly float the idea of a visit. 🔗 eurasianet.org/uzbekistan-v...

Bracing for the brave new world requires all #Kazakh citizens to embrace digitalization and artificial intelligence, President Kassym-Jomart #Tokayev said in a major policy address focusing on the country’s economic future.

Central Asian migrants are increasingly being punished by a Russian paradox in which the government continues tightening restrictions on foreign workers despite a dire labor shortage. 🔗 eurasianet.org/commentary-n...

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#EU officials gave the GD government in #Tbilisi until August 31 to address concerns about the country’s political direction, or lose visa-free travel privileges to the Schengen Zone. Among the EU’s demands were the repeal of a controversial ‘foreign agents’ law and anti-LGBTQ legislation.

A cross-border shootout between #Tajik forces and #Taliban fighters in late August left at least one dead on the #Afghan side and led to a contentious meeting between local authorities. 🔗 eurasianet.org/two-border-s...

Reports are circulating in #Armenia that a #US delegation will soon travel to Yerevan to work out the details of a transit corridor that is a key element of the provisional Armenian- #Azerbaijani peace deal brokered by US President Donald #Trump.

The nearly 470-page report produced by a #Georgian Dream parliamentary investigative commission not only seeks to redefine a pivotal chapter of modern Georgian history, but also lays the groundwork to ban the nation’s main opposition forces. 🔗 eurasianet.org/georgian-dre...

Before completing a four-day trip to China on September 3, #Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev met with Shen Yanfeng, the chair of #China’s CNNC, an indication that #Tashkent may be trying to hedge its bets in case a preliminary deal with #Russia to build #nuclear power plants.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has presided over a multi-day pageant in #Beijing and #Tianjin staged in part to showcase the strength and unity of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a grouping that #China and #Russia hope can emerge as a new geopolitical center of gravity in a shifting global order.

Ongoing and systematic persecution of #Afghanistan’s #Hazara community meets the standard of #genocide, according to a report published September 1 by the New Lines Institute (NLI).

The #US State Department takes #Georgia to task in its latest assessment of human rights conditions around the world. At the same time, the US survey praises the #Armenian government for making “significant positive changes.” 🔗 eurasianet.org/armenia-up-g...

A #Trump administration emissary is making an extended visit to #Uzbekistan with the apparent aim of advancing the #US critical minerals agenda.

Observers link the timing of the freezes to the #EU’s upcoming decision. #Georgian Dream expects suspension to be inevitable and, fearing a new wave of mass protests, is trying to preemptively weaken organizations that could provide support to demonstrators. 🔗 eurasianet.org/georgian-dre...

In a wide-ranging television interview, #Azerbaijani leader Ilham #Aliyev asserted a key provision of the #Trump peace plan for the #Caucasus can be implemented quickly. The same cannot be said for the restoration of stable relations between #Azerbaijan and #Russia, he indicated.

In 2025 at least two young mothers in rural #Tajikistan have taken their own lives by drowning themselves. In a third case, 27-year-old Madina Halimova from the country’s far south allegedly drowned her four children in the river, then attempted to drown herself. 🔗 eurasianet.org/murder-suici...

The #Kremlin is outsourcing a rising number of foreign operations to Russia-based organized criminal groups, according to a recent analysis published by the Washington, DC-based New Lines Institute.

#Iran’s strategic partnership with #Russia is showing signs of strain, potentially providing a boost to #US efforts to alter the geopolitical balance of power in the #Caucasus. 🔗 eurasianet.org/influential-...

The #WorldBank appears to be pulling back from involvement in the construction of the #Rogun Dam in #Tajikistan. According to regional media reports, the bank has paused project funding until Tajik authorities develop a plan to responsibly repay construction-related debts.

The #Turkish government is moving quickly to capitalize on new economic opportunities created by US President Donald #Trump‘s peace plan for #Armenia and #Azerbaijan. 🔗 eurasianet.org/turkey-break...

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Officials in #Tbilisi are cheering #US President Donald #Trump’s peace plan for #Armenia and #Azerbaijan, even though the creation of a new transit corridor envisioned under the deal threatens to relegate #Georgia to geopolitical and economic irrelevance in the eyes of the West.

Summer can be a quiet time in Central Asian capitals, but this August officials in #Kazakhstan, #Turkmenistan and #Uzbekistan have launched initiatives designed to get a handle on #water-related challenges threatening the region.

#Kazakhstan is now richer than #Russia. That is according to the latest data from the International Monetary Fund showing Kazakh GDP per capita is projected to hit an all-time high of $14,770 this year, compared with Russia’s $14,260.

In #Tbilisi, whether you are inching through traffic or weaving down side streets, you cannot escape the same slogan: “Build Your Dreams.” That is a branded motto etched onto vehicles made by #BYD, #China’s largest automaker. 🔗 eurasianet.org/as-georgias-...

Barack Obama has one. So do Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson and Jimmy Carter. And it seems abundantly clear that Donald #Trump is bucking for one too – a Nobel Peace Prize awarded to a sitting #US president.