By Karoly Benes (6/3/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)

On May 7, 2009, European leaders gathered in Prague to sign a Joint Declaration on the Eastern Partnership (EaP), planning to foster closer political and economic ties with six former Soviet states; Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The Eastern Partnership, a joint Polish-Swedish initiative, aims to bring democratic reforms, trade liberalization and a visa facilitation process for the involved partner countries, through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms. The initiative has met strong Russian condemnation, as President Dmitry Medvedev’s opinion showed: “We tried to convince ourselves [that the EaP is harmless], but in the end we couldn’t.

By Suhrob Majidov (6/3/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Tajikistan’s President Emomali Rahmon has ordered the removal of his pictures from offices, public places and roads. However, the order concerns only those pictures where Emomali Rahmon is portrayed with representatives of local authorities. As the President’s Press service announced, “The President ordered to remove pictures and carpets which portray the President of the Republic of Tajikistan together with heads of local administrations from offices, public places and roads, with the aim to prevent servility and misunderstanding from the population”.

By Erica Marat (5/27/2009 issue of the CACI Analyst)

Preparations for the upcoming Presidential elections in Kyrgyzstan resemble any other in Central Asia. The incumbent President Kurmanbek Bakiyev has shown no sign of willingness to give up office, while the opposition is not able to create a viable challenge to the regime.

To date, 17 candidates have registered to run for president, with most of them seeing the presidential bid as an advancement of their own positions in local, as opposed to national, constituencies.