assorted post-soviet conflicts
Leaving aside Georgia, Ukraine and the Black Sea, which will get their own round-up soon, here’s a bunch of news from the former Soviet periphery.
Start with this one. It hasn’t gotten any play, but it could be a pretty big deal.
Russia envoy warns NATO on air space to Afghanistan
Look at a map. See if you can cobble together a supply line that doesn’t use Russian airspace. You can do it, but it’s not easy. I mean yeah, you can go through Pakistan, but that’s hardly what you’d call stable. Not to mention being completely out of the way.
I guess the Russians had nothing to do with this one, at least:
Clashes mar Bosnia’s first gay festival
NATO to assist UN, EU in Kosovo’s tense north
Bosnia: Serb leader says breakup of country ‘not a tragedy’
Bosnia: Muslim leader’s UN speech sparks controversy
Last Serb move may tear Bosnia, says Envoy
Bosnian Serb leader Milorad Dodik has repeatedly threatened the secession of the Serb Republic from Bosnia if the Muslim leaders continued to question the republic’s legitimacy.
Dodik had said that the disintegration of Bosnia-Herzegovina, torn by internal disputes between its Muslims, Serbs and Croat population, would not be a tragedy.
“I have no emotional attachment to Bosnia-Herzegovina, nor do I love it,” he said. “I’m emotionally very attached to the RS and believe it can function,” said bosnian Serb Leader Dodik told told Radio Free Europe.
Russia’s Northern Fleet joins Russia-Belarus war games
Nagorno-Karabakh is another frozen conflict that’s starting to thaw. I’m sure US assistance will help promote a peaceful resolution.
US to help solve Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
And these are approaching their shelf life, but are still a useful reminder of what’s up in the North Caucasus:
16 die in clashes in Russia’s volatile Caucasus
Ingushetia abuses ‘may spark war’
