It’s becoming a little lonely for the 300-odd German troops in Termez. Today, the Uzbek foreign ministry has withdrawn overflight rights for some NATO troops. Beginning in January, military planes from Spain, Belgium, Netherlands and Sweden (heck, weren’t they neutral?) won’t be able to enter Uzbek airspace anymore.
I scanned the German media as to […]

The EU’s embargo on certain military-related goods and an official visa ban imposed on twelve members of the Uzbek government and military has already shown its limits.
First, Uzbek interior minister, Col. Gen. Zakirdzhon Almatov is currently in Germany, undergoing cancer treatment (I can’t find a single German source on that). The EU’s response:
European Union […]

On the 14th of November, in Moscow, Vladimir Putin and Islam Karimov signed a treaty that allied the two countries in case of either internal or external armed aggression against either of the two countries.
This treaty is a big breakthrough for Karimov in his quest for a new strategic partner, now that the relationships […]

Asie Centrale carries a huge article by Arkadiy Trezvomys who sets out to “demystify” the nature of Sunshine Uzbekistan Coalition. His approach seems to be a bit more consicentious and thorough than those used in many of the previous accounts I have read. Well, I have to say I have read very few articles […]

Diplomatically speaking

The US Congress supports the FBI in its plans to open a Legal Attache Office in Tashkent. The AP article here contains some background information on the expansion of their operations abroad. Currently there are already five offices in the territory of the former Soviet Union, in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Estonia and Ukraine. […]

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov met today with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana to discuss “Russia-EU relations and issues including Belarus, Uzbekistan, Moldova, Iran and the Mideast peace process…”
We are promoting dialogue on these issues […]

Monica Whitlock can be heard talking about the BBC in Uzbekistan on this week’s edition of “From Our Own Correspondent” (text / audio).

Currently, the 11th World Lake Conference (31 October-4th November 2005) is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya. Obviously, due to the conference’s location, the focus appears to be on the great lakes of Africa. However, Klaus Topfer, executive director of the UN’s Environment Programme, has stated,
“We face increasing tensions and instability as rising populations […]