18:14
11.3.2014
Romania Says AWACS Plane To Start Exercise
Romania's Defense Ministry says a NATO E-3A AWACS plane will fly over Romanian airspace as part of a planned exercise on March 11.
The ministry said on its website that AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) planes fly at an altitude of 9,000 meters.
Their radar can survey an area of up to 31,000 square kilometers and can detect low-flying targets.
The NATO alliance said March 10 it would start reconnaissance flights over Poland and Romania to monitor the situation in neighboring Ukraine, where Russian forces have taken control of Crimea.
NATO said AWACS planes will fly from their home air bases in Germany and Britain.
Twelve F-16 U.S. warplanes are due to arrive in Poland by March 13 for planned joint exercises.
Meanwhile, bad weather delayed U.S. naval maneuvers with Romania and Bulgaria in the Black Sea.
(mapn.ro, Reuters)
Romania's Defense Ministry says a NATO E-3A AWACS plane will fly over Romanian airspace as part of a planned exercise on March 11.
The ministry said on its website that AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) planes fly at an altitude of 9,000 meters.
Their radar can survey an area of up to 31,000 square kilometers and can detect low-flying targets.
The NATO alliance said March 10 it would start reconnaissance flights over Poland and Romania to monitor the situation in neighboring Ukraine, where Russian forces have taken control of Crimea.
NATO said AWACS planes will fly from their home air bases in Germany and Britain.
Twelve F-16 U.S. warplanes are due to arrive in Poland by March 13 for planned joint exercises.
Meanwhile, bad weather delayed U.S. naval maneuvers with Romania and Bulgaria in the Black Sea.
(mapn.ro, Reuters)
17:04
11.3.2014
RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports that an Astana court today handed down a seven-day jail sentence for activist Makhambet Abzhan, who staged an unsanctioned pro-Ukraine protest outside the Russian Embassy in the Kazakh capital on March 3.
Some observers had previously cited Kazakh restraint in dealing with anti-Russian protests as a sign that the Kazakh administration tacitly disapproved of Russia's incursion in Crimea. Turns out they were just stalling. A court hearing on Abzhan's case was postponed several times before a ruling was finally handed down today.
16:33
11.3.2014
The Crimean independence referendum has launched its own website (note .ru domain) and Twitter feed:
Это важно! На референдум можно прийти с любым удостоверением личности, где есть фото и печать http://t.co/tpOy9qXdRX с помощью @forpost_news
— Референдум в Крыму (@referendym2014) March 10, 2014
16:22
11.3.2014
The Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry believes the decision of the Crimean parliament is absolutely legal. The Russian Federation will fully respect the results of the referendum.
МИД России считает решение парламента Крыма абсолютно правомерным. Российская Федерация будет в полной мере уважать результаты референдума.
— МИД РФ (@MID_RF) March 11, 2014
16:15
11.3.2014
More essential reporting from the Kyiv Post:
Fearing attacks, some 150-200 Crimean Tatar families have left Crimea for western #Ukraine http://t.co/uW3X6qnWgB pic.twitter.com/pYmfSWZlIB
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) March 11, 2014
16:11
11.3.2014
While we're at it, why not read up on the Russian minority throughout Central Asia? Who knows, might become relevant!
"The Russian Minority in Central Asia: Migration, Politics, and Language" <-- very good primer on the topic http://t.co/wCyUpcJvYL
— Sarah Kendzior (@sarahkendzior) March 11, 2014
16:06
11.3.2014
More details from the White House on Obama's discussion with Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev about the Ukraine crisis.
The White House said Obama encouraged Nazarbaev to play an active role in finding a peaceful outcome, amid the occupation of Crimea by Russian forces.
It said the two leaders agreed on the importance of upholding principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Earlier Monday, Nazarbaev spoke about Ukraine by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the Kazakh presidential website, Nazarbaev reiterated to Merkel the importance of finding a diplomatic solution while ensuring Ukraine's territorial integrity.
In his call with Putin, Nazarbaev's website said he expressed support for Russia's position in defending the rights of national minorities in Ukraine.
An expected visit by Nazarbaev to Moscow Tuesday never materialized.
It said the two leaders agreed on the importance of upholding principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Earlier Monday, Nazarbaev spoke about Ukraine by phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the Kazakh presidential website, Nazarbaev reiterated to Merkel the importance of finding a diplomatic solution while ensuring Ukraine's territorial integrity.
In his call with Putin, Nazarbaev's website said he expressed support for Russia's position in defending the rights of national minorities in Ukraine.
An expected visit by Nazarbaev to Moscow Tuesday never materialized.
16:02
11.3.2014
The agencies are reporting that in Crimea all flights except those connecting to Moscow have been canceled:
Reports said that a Ukraine airline flight from Kyiv to Crimea's regional capital of Simferopol had to turn back after being refused permission to land.
An incoming flight from Istanbul was canceled, but at least two flights came in from Moscow. Reports said armed men took over air-traffic control at the airport overnight Tuesday.
Flights from Kyiv to Simferopol were previously suspended on February 28 -- one day after armed men seized control of Crimea's parliament and a pro-Moscow government was installed -- but resumed in less than 48 hours.
Tuesday's suspension comes just days before a March 16 referendum called by the region's new authorities on whether Crimea is to break away from Ukraine and join Russia.
An incoming flight from Istanbul was canceled, but at least two flights came in from Moscow. Reports said armed men took over air-traffic control at the airport overnight Tuesday.
Flights from Kyiv to Simferopol were previously suspended on February 28 -- one day after armed men seized control of Crimea's parliament and a pro-Moscow government was installed -- but resumed in less than 48 hours.
Tuesday's suspension comes just days before a March 16 referendum called by the region's new authorities on whether Crimea is to break away from Ukraine and join Russia.
16:00
11.3.2014
Another, better look at where Kazakhstan stands in Putin's "reintegration project" by Carnegie's Martha Brill Olcott. Although Nursultan Nazarbaev has publicly endorsed "deep integration" with Russia, she notes that the future is far from clear:
"What will happen when the nearly 74-year-old leader passes from the scene? Will the Kremlin be content with a successor who is also pro-integration with Russia? Or will various behind-the-scenes dealers try to stimulate the dissatisfactions of Kazakhstan's ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking minorities to get them to exercise their 'right' of national self-determination and rejoin the 'Russian motherland'? This would be totally unacceptable to the rest of Kazakhstan's increasingly patriotic population, who like the people in much of Ukraine would not want to submit quietly."
"What will happen when the nearly 74-year-old leader passes from the scene? Will the Kremlin be content with a successor who is also pro-integration with Russia? Or will various behind-the-scenes dealers try to stimulate the dissatisfactions of Kazakhstan's ethnic Russians and Russian-speaking minorities to get them to exercise their 'right' of national self-determination and rejoin the 'Russian motherland'? This would be totally unacceptable to the rest of Kazakhstan's increasingly patriotic population, who like the people in much of Ukraine would not want to submit quietly."
15:56
11.3.2014
In Brussels, the European Commission has adopted a proposal to extend 500 million euros worth of unilateral trade benefits to Ukraine.
EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the move was "a concrete, tangible" measure of support for Ukraine after the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych.
Once adopted by the EU, it will remove import duties on a wide range of agricultural and other goods. European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said the tax breaks would run until at least November 1 this year, by which time the European Union expects to have signed a full free-trade agreement with Ukraine.
The EU has already decided to "immediately" sign the political chapters of an Association Agreement with Ukraine, while also offering Kyiv an economic aid package worth $15 billion over the next few years, amid the standoff with Russia over Crimea.
Once adopted by the EU, it will remove import duties on a wide range of agricultural and other goods. European Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said the tax breaks would run until at least November 1 this year, by which time the European Union expects to have signed a full free-trade agreement with Ukraine.
The EU has already decided to "immediately" sign the political chapters of an Association Agreement with Ukraine, while also offering Kyiv an economic aid package worth $15 billion over the next few years, amid the standoff with Russia over Crimea.