January 10: Ukraine/Russia

Ukraine’s parliament issues a vote of no confidence in the government in response to a recent deal with Russia ending a gas dispute between the two countries. Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine on January 1 after Ukraine refused to accept a fourfold price increase. Ukraine accuses Russia that the move was a punishment for the “Orange Revolution” and the election of pro-Western President Viktor Yushchenko. In the January 4 deal, Ukraine accepted a doubled gas price, and Russia agreed to pay a higher fee to transport the gas through Ukraine.

January 23: Russia/Georgia/Armenia

Russia restores partial natural gas supplies to Georgia a day after two explosions near Georgia’s border destroyed the main gas pipeline to Georgia and Armenia. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Moscow of purposely sabotaging the pipeline, while Russia blamed the attack on pro-Chechen criminals. The incident has exacerbated already tensed relations between the neighboring countries.

January 25: Uzbekistan/Eurasian Economic Community

Uzbekistan becomes the sixth member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Community (EES) at a summit in St. Petersburg. The participants discuss the possible merger of the EEC and the Central Asian Cooperation Organization in order to advance regional integration. Uzbekistan has been strengthening ties with Russia and distancing itself from the U.S. since it received strong criticism from the West after a violent crackdown on demonstrators in Andijon in May 2005.

February 3: Russia

Stanislav Dmitriyevsky, chairman of a branch of the Russian Chechen Friendship Society, is given a two-year suspended sentence for inciting national hatred. As a newspaper editor, he published two appeals by the leaders of the Chechen insurgency, Aslan Maskhadov (now deceased) and Akhmad Zakayev, who strongly criticized the Russian government and called for a peaceful resolution to the Chechen conflict. Human rights organizations view the ruling as a further attack on freedom of speech and freedom of press in Russia.

February 11: Armenia/Azerbaijan

Two-day talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the disputed territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, held in Rambouillet, France, and mediated by France, the United States, and Russia, yield no agreement. Since the end of the war in 1994, most of Nagorno-Karabakh remains under Armenian military control.

February 23: Georgia/Russia

Russia announces that it will stop issuing entry visas to Georgian citizens and postpones Georgia’s Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli’s visit to Moscow after Georgia’s parliament unanimously called for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the separatist republic of South Ossetia and replacing them with international forces. Georgia accuses Russia of siding with the separatist rebels and supplying them with weapons.

February 27: Kazakhstan

Kazakh authorities officially announce that Erzhan Utembaev, chief of the Senate administration, ordered the kidnapping and killing of opposition leader Altynbek Sarsenbaev two weeks ago after five secret service members confess to the murder. Sarsenbaev, one of the leaders of the True Bright Path opposition party, is the second opposition figure killed in recent months. Another opposition member, Zamanbek Nurkadilov, who challenged President Nursultan Nazarbaev in his public speeches, was murdered in his home in November 2005. The opposition insists that both killings were politically motivated.

March 4: Russia

The Chechen regional assembly approves Ramzan Kadyrov as Chechnya’s new prime minister. The pro-Moscow militia leader is the son of former President Akhmad Kadyrov, who was assassinated in 2004. Russian and Western rights groups charge Kadyrov’s forces with human rights abuses, including kidnappings and torture.

March 6: Tajikistan

Authorities begin the demolition of the last remaining synagogue in Tajikistan to make way for a presidential compound. The country has a Jewish population of 1,000, who belong to an ancient central Asian community of Persian-speaking Bukharan Jews that is 2,000 years old. Thousands of Jews left Tajikistan after the fall of the Soviet Union and the country’s civil war.

March 6: Uzbekistan

A court in Uzbekistan sentences opposition leader Sanjar Umarov to ten years in prison and fines him $8 million for alleged financial crimes. Umarov heads the Sunshine Uzbekistan Opposition Alliance, which gained attention in 2005 after the government’s violent suppression of protests in the city of Andijan. Umarov is the second Sunshine Uzbekistan leader to be sentenced in recent weeks. The Uzbek government is known for its intolerance of opposition and dissent.

March 20: Belarus

President Alexander Lukashenko wins reelection in Belarus with 82 percent of the vote, sparking protests by opposition groups. European election monitors describe the election as deeply flawed and falling short of international standards. In contrast, Russian-led election observers call the elections open and transparent. Russia customarily supports the Belarusian authorities, whereas the U.S. has called Lukashenko Europe’s last dictator.

March 27: Ukraine

Ukrainian voters choose former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych’s party over that of President Viktor Yushchenko, parliamentary election results show. Yushchenko swept to power in 2004’s Orange Revolution, which overturned Yanukovych’s presidential election victory. The party of Yushchenko’s former ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, places second, with Yushchenko’s Our Ukraine coming in third. Public support for Yushchenko has fallen after a year of political infighting and poor economic performance.

March 28: Belarus

Belarusian authorities jail more than 150 opposition protesters after street demonstrations against President Alexander Lukashenko’s victory in elections described by the international monitors as deeply fraudulent. Among the imprisoned are a runner-up in the election, Alexander Kozulin and a former Polish ambassador to Belarus, Mariusz Maszkiewicz. The United States and the European Union agree to impose a travel ban on Lukashenko.

April 10: Belarus

European Union officials ban visas for Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and thirty ministers following Belarus’ March presidential election, described by international observers as neither free nor fair. The fraudulent election sparked demonstrations in the country’s capital, Minsk. Hundreds of opposition supporters were arrested by the regime.

April 18: Ukraine

An environmental charity group, Greenpeace, issues a report on health effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine in 1986, which says that the number of cancer deaths will be 93,000, much higher than previously predicted by the United Nations. It also says that other illnesses related to the radioactive fallout could reach 200,000.

May 2: Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiev refuses to accept the resignation of thirteen of his fifteen ministers after a parliamentary resolution criticizing the cabinet. Bakiev, who came to power following a popular uprising in March 2005, faces many challenges, including the growing power of criminal organizations, corruption, and a slow economy.

May 13: Uzbekistan

Rallies around the world mark the one-year anniversary of the Uzbek government’s brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in the city of Andijan in 2005 that killed 187 people. Protesters hold rallies in several cities, including New York, Moscow, Brussels, Istanbul, and Kyiv, demanding an independent inquiry into the Andijan massacre.

May 24: Russia

Four Russian troops have been killed and three more wounded in an attack on a Russian military base near Vedeno in southern Chechnya. Separatist rebels are believed to be responsible for the incident. While some reports claim that the eleven-year conflict in Chechnya has cooled, the region is far from achieving long-term stability.

June 1: Uzbekistan

Judges in a court in Tashkent have closed a local branch of the American Council for Collaboration in Education and Language Study. This expulsion is the latest on a growing list of foreign nongovernmental organizations that have been banned in Uzbekistan. The court argues that the organization is accused of sending more than 100 schoolchildren to the United States as part of an exchange program without official documents.

June 3: Russia

Venezuela receives a delivery of 33,000 Russian assault rifles, the first shipment out of 100,000 that President Hugo Chávez ordered from Moscow. The United States recently imposed an arms sales ban on the country, and accuses Chávez of destabilizing Latin America. Venezuela, whose military equipment is reportedly outdated, insists that it has the right to buy arms for defensive purposes.

June 9: Russia

Russia agreed to forgive $700 million in debt relief owed to them by the world’s poorest countries. The move is due partly to the pressure from nongovernmental organizations such as Oxfam as well as the positive impact from previous debt relief measures.

June 14: Georgia/Moldova

Separatists in Georgia and Moldova agreed to support each other’s independence aspirations. In response to the referendum in Montenegro last month, they argue that self-determination is a universal value and should not be used selectively. They also call for continued military support from Russia to continue stability in the region.

June 15: Lithuania

Zigmantas Balcytis was named the new prime minister of Lithuania, filling the gap left by the previous prime minister’s resignation amid allegations of corruption. Balcytis, a member of the left-wing Social Democratic Party, faces the need to create a governing coalition and to restore confidence in the government. Allegations of corruption have plagued the Lithuania government and attempts to form a grand coalition failed.

July 18: Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan launched its first satellite, marking its entrance into the space and satellite industry. The missile was launched from the Baikonur space centre while Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev and Russian President Vladimir Putin watched from a nearby post. The satellite will relay various communication signals for Kazakhstan, parts of Russia, and three other Central Asian nations.

July 4: Kazakhstan

The two main political parties in Kazakhstan agree to form a coalition, consolidating power in Central Asia’s richest country. President Nursultan Nazarbayev controls one of the parties, and his daughter, Dariga Nazarbayeva, controls the other. Kazakhstan has one of the world’s largest untapped reserves of oil and gas, attracting billions of dollars of foreign investment. However, the media operates under strict controls and elections under President Nazarbayev have yet to meet international standards.

July 13: Russia

Chechen rebel chief Shamil Basayev dies in an explosion in the republic of Ingushetia. His death is a victory for Russian forces fighting Chechen rebels over their desire for a separate state. Basayev is believed to be the mastermind behind many rebel activities, including the 2002 attack on a Moscow theatre and the 2004 raid on a Beslan school.

July 25: Georgia/Russia

Tensions between Georgia and Russia flare as Georgia sends a military force to the breakaway Abkhazia region. Russia condemns the deployment, arguing that it is a violation of the 1994 Moscow ceasefire agreement halting fighting between separatists and Georgian forces. Georgia is demanding the removal of Russian forces from the region. Russia says its troops are in Abkhazia to maintain the peace.

August 3: Ukraine

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko agrees with his rival Viktor Yanukovych becoming the country’s next prime minister. Some of the Orange Revolution supporters, which brought President Yushchenko to power, accuse him of betraying the Revolution. Ukraine has experienced power struggle since the March parliamentary elections, in which no party won a majority. However, Yanukovych’s Party of the Regions won the most votes.

October 4: Latvia

The three-party coalition governing Latvia is re-elected. The coalition, consisting of the People Party, the Union of Greens and Farmers, and the First Party, is the first to win re-election since Latvia’s independence in 1991. The election is Latvia’s first since joining NATO and the EU.

November 9: Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev signs a new constitution limiting his power and giving more authority to legislators. The constitution is approved by a majority in parliament. The gesture follows a weeklong opposition protest in the capital, Bishkek, against the slow pace of reform. The government accuses opposition leaders of an “open attempt at seizing power.”

November 13: Russia

Poland vetoes a proposed EU-Russia partnership agreement covering energy, trade, and human rights. Poland insists that Russia lift a ban on Polish food imports and ratify the Energy Charter Treaty. While not all EU members demand that Russia ratify the treaty, some fear that disagreement over Russia may damage the EU’s credibility.

November 13: Georgia

Over 90 percent of South Ossetians vote for independence from Georgia, in a first step towards union with Russia. South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity urges the international community to accept the referendum, which has further strained Georgia-Russia relations. The autonomous region’s efforts to secede from Georgia began in the early 1990s.

November 21: Georgia/Russia

Georgia threatens to block Russia’s membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) after Russian energy giant Gazprom threatens to double gas prices in Georgia. Russia also bans wine and mineral water imports from Georgia due to quality concerns. Russia must gain approval of all member nations in order to join the WTO.

November 29: Russia/Moldova

Russia lifts a ban on wine and meat imports from Moldova after experts in the two countries verify the quality of agricultural products. Moldovan enterprises and wineries will benefit greatly from the ban’s removal, while Russia hopes to win Moldova’s support for joining the World Trade Organization.

December 4: Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan’s bid to chair the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2009 sparks debate among member states. Kazakhstan’s vast oil and gas reserves may represent an alternative to Russian energy, but some are concerned over the country’s record on human rights and democracy. The OSCE was founded during the Cold War to combat mistrust between Russia and the West. It has fifty-six member states.

December 19: Kyrgyzstan

The Kyrgyz cabinet resigns amid a conflict between President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and parliament. Prime Minister Felix Kulov states that the move will speed up parliamentary elections and bolster democracy. Bakiyev came to power in the 2005 Tulip Revolution. He has faced criticism that he has gone back on his promises to implement reforms.

December 21: Turkmenistan

Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov dies of a heart attack at the age of sixty-six after ruling for twenty-one years. The country’s future is uncertain, as Niyazov has not designated a successor. Turkmenistan has the world’s fifth-largest gas reserves and significant oil resources.

December 25: Russia/Georgia

Russian troops withdraw from their military headquarters in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi. The troops were sent to Tbilisi in the 1990s to help manage civil unrest. The move advances the agenda of Georgia’s pro-Western government, which aims to reduce Russia’s influence, and join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).