The Week Ahead: February 18-24

February 24: The 85th Academy Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles.

The Week Ahead is a detailed listing of key events of the coming week affecting RFE/RL's broadcast region.

Now on Twitter! Daily updates at @The_Week_Ahead.




MONDAY, February 18:

Armenia: Armenians go to the polls to elect a new president.

Azerbaijan: A group of military experts from NATO and the U.S. visits Baku (to February 19).

Azerbaijan/Turkey: Azerbaijani Defense Minister Safar Abiyev visits Ankara.

EU: European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee meeting begins in Brussels (to February 19).

Kyrgyzstan: UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination considers the latest periodic report from Kyrgyzstan (to February 19).

Moldova: Next round of 5+2 talks on the Transdniester conflict settlement starts in Lviv (to February 19).

Russia: A Moscow court holds a preliminary hearing in the trial of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who died in prison in 2009. (NOTE: The trial has been postponed until March 4).

Russia/NATO: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen in Brussels.

UK: London hosts the International Petroleum Week forum (to February 20).


TUESDAY, February 19:

Armenia/OSCE: The international election observation mission monitoring the presidential election in Armenia holds a press conference in Yerevan.

EU/Russia: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton hosts the EU-Russia political dialogue with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Brussels.

EU/Serbia/Kosovo: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton hosts the fifth meeting between Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci in Brussels.

Russia/Jordan: Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II in Moscow.

Ukraine/Poland: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych visits Wisla in Poland, meets with his counterparts from Poland and Slovakia.

U.S./Iran: The Brookings Institution hosts a discussion titled "Iran’s Nuclear Program: Is a Peaceful Solution Possible?"


WEDNESDAY, February 20:

China/Russia: Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi visits Moscow (to February 22).

Russia/Egypt: Egyptian Foreign Minister Muhammad Amr is scheduled to visit Moscow to attend the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum.

Russia/Brazil/Cuba: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visits Brazil and Cuba (to February 22).

Tajikistan: U.S. Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake visits Dushanbe (to February 22).

U.S./Russia: Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies hosts a discussion titled “Back to the USSR? Vladimir Putin as Kremlin Operative” with Fiona Hill.

UN: World Day of Social Justice.


THURSDAY, February 21:

NATO: Brussels hosts the NATO defense ministers’ meetings (to February 22).

OSCE: The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's 2013 Winter Meeting opens in Vienna (to February 22).

UN: International Mother Language Day.


FRIDAY, February 22:

Ukraine: Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych is scheduled to appear live in a new TV program called "The Dialog With The Country" on Ukrainian state television.


SATURDAY, February 23:

Russia: The Russian Communist Party (KPRF) holds a congress devoted to its 20th anniversary (to February 25).


SUNDAY, February 24:

U.S.: The 85th annual Academy Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles.