Kyrgyzstan
COMMENT: Amid shrinking civic space, will the EBRD still uphold its democratic mandate?
As the global Democracy Index recorded a historic low in 2024, institutions tasked with upholding democratic values are under increasing pressure to adapt.
PANNIER: Will we ever see Kyrgyzstan's airlines back in EU skies?
Bishkek has spent nigh on 20 years trying to get off the bloc’s air safety blacklist. Officials say they are closer than ever to the breakthrough.
EBRD cuts 2025 growth forecasts citing tariffs and global uncertainty
Development bank lowers forecasts for Emerging Europe, Central Asia and North Africa as slowdowns in Germany and China take their toll.
MOSCOW BLOG: A muted V-day parade on Red Square
I have just been watching the Victory Day parade on Red Square. A few observations.
PANNIER: Barbed wire gives lie to talk of Kyrgyz-Tajik border deal symbolising “eternal friendship”
It’s a pitiful sight in the beautiful Ferghana Valley, where, in thousands of years of habitation, a formal frontier never existed.
CZ visits KGZ to talk BTC and BNB
Bishkek takes step to introduce blockchain technology on national level.
Post-war order teetering – rights watchdog
Eurasia “at forefront” of assault on individual freedoms.
After Samarkand summit, Europe’s quest for Central Asian resources meets reality
Playing long game for rare earths.
Gold mine no cash cow for Kyrgyz government
Revenue sags as gold price soars.
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Kyrgyz PM gets polite brush off by US business executives
But he secures IMF and World Bank development agreements.
Turkey’s foreign policy falling apart on all fronts, writes shadow minister
Ankara took a slap to the chops as Turkic Central Asian states inked an investment-linked deal on relations with Brussels that pointedly included no recognition of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
COMMENT: Embracing “Greater Central Asia” has become a strategic imperative for US
Wider region increasingly seen as arena in which major powers’ interests, such as in sourcing critical minerals, collide and converge.
URUS-ClearPic: The Big Four of US, China, Russia and Europe vie for investment in Central Asia
Historically, it is the ultimate crossroads between Europe, the Middle East, South Asia and East Asia – and the central component for most of the Silk Road. Now the Central Asian countries find themselves caught between the Big Four.
China spikes Gazprom gas export plan in Central Asia
Russian energy company keeps gushing red ink.
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Masked Moscow police accused of beating, humiliating dozens of Kyrgyz nationals in bathhouse raid
“We just don’t like you,” one officer reportedly said when asked about the violence used. “Outright fascism,” protest activists.
China trying to expand role as arms supplier to Central Asia
Uzbekistan reportedly considering purchase of Chinese fighters.
Measuring impact of US tariffs on Central Asia and South Caucasus
Little near-term pain, but lots of uncertainty about future.
EU joins ‘Klondike’ rush for Central Asia critical minerals as bloc and region upgrade relations
Kazakhstan boasts 19 out of 34 types of critical raw materials seen as essential to EU economy, while the five 'stans' have 40% of the world’s reserves of manganese.
Rare earths top agenda at first ever Central Asia-EU summit
In aspiring for a strategic partnership with the region, Brussels has one eye firmly fixed on deposits of critical minerals.
Taliban seek $100mn from World Bank to restart work on CASA-1000 electricity transmission project
Ambition to interconnect Central Asian and South Asian power grids held up by incomplete work in Afghanistan.