The Week Ahead: March 25-31

March 31: Most European countries begin observing daylight-saving time in the early morning of Sunday.

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, March 25:


Afghanistan/U.S.: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits Kabul.

Afghanistan/U.S.: Afghanistan takes full control of Bagram military prison from the United States.

Belarus/Lithuania: Vilnius hosts Belarusian Week events commemorating Independence Day of Belarus.

Belarus/Turkey: The first meeting of the joint Belarus-Turkey working group on industrial and technological cooperation begins in Minsk.

Czech Republic: An agreement launching an international prize bearing Vaclav Havel's name for contributions to human rights to be signed in Prague.

Georgia: Council of Europe Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland meets with Georgian Internal Affairs Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Strasbourg.

Kyrgyzstan: Collective Security Treaty Organization Secretary-General Nikolai Bordiuzha visits Bishkek.

UK/Russia: PACE rapporteur Andreas Gross makes a fact-finding visit to London in preparation for his report on “Refusing impunity for the killers of Sergei Magnitsky” (to March 27).

UN: International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

U.S./Afghanistan: Brookings Institution hosts U.S. General John Allen, former commander of the International Security Assistance Force, for a discussion of the U.S. and NATO mission in Afghanistan.

U.S./Central Asia: The Elliott School of International Affairs hosts a Central Asia Security Workshop.

U.S./Russia: Wilson Center in Washington hosts a discussion titled "Russian Citizenship: From Empire to Soviet Union."


TUESDAY, March 26:

Czech Republic: Prague hosts the European Banking and Financial Forum, a conference focusing on the most pressing economic, financial, and banking issues of the contemporary world (to March 27).

Georgia/Russia: Geneva hosts the next round of talks between Russia and Georgia (to March 27).

Kazakhstan: The NATO secretary-general's special representative, James Appathurai, visits Astana.

Russia: Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a BRICS summit in South Africa’s Durban.

Ukraine: Jean-Claude Mignon, president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), pays an official visit to Kyiv (to March 28).

Ukraine: Council of Europe's Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland meets a high-level Ukrainian delegation in Strasbourg.

World: South Africa hosts the fifth BRICS summit in Durban (to March 27).

World: The Arab League summit opens in Doha (to March 27).


WEDNESDAY, March 27:

Georgia/Turkey: Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visits Tbilisi.

Russia: The fourth International Mstislav Rostropovich Festival opens in Moscow (to April 2).

Turkey: Amnesty International publishes a report on freedom of expression in Turkey.

Ukraine: An International Monetary Fund mission visits Kyiv to resume talks on a new $15 billion loan program.

U.S./Russia: Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies hosts a discussion titled "The Russian Economy: Myths and Realities."

U.S./Central Asia: Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies hosts a discussion titled "The Social Basis of Politics in Central Asia."


THURSDAY, March 28:

Georgia: Foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey hold a trilateral meeting in Batumi.

U.S./Russia: Wilson Center in Washington hosts a discussion titled "Russia and the World: A Dynamic Landscape."

U.S./Iraq: The Elliott School of International Affairs hosts a discussion titled "Maliki's Next Moves."


FRIDAY, March 29:

Kyrgyzstan: Kyrgyz opposition plans to hold a rally in Jalal-Abad.

Ukraine/Russia: Ukrainian Foreign Minister and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Leonid Kozhara meets with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow.


SATURDAY, March 30:

Turkey: The International Istanbul Film Festival opens (April 14).


SUNDAY, March 31:

Armenia: UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova visits Yerevan (to April 3).

Europe: Most European countries begin observing daylight-saving time in the early morning of Sunday.