The Week Ahead: December 22-28

Bethlehem - Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Fouad Twal blesses a statue of the baby Jesus inside in the Grotto where Christians believe the Virgin Mary gave birth to Jesus following a Christmas Midnight Mass in the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank tow

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, December 22:
EU/Iraq: EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini visits Baghdad and Erbil (to December 23).
Iran/Lebanon: Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani visits Damascus.
Kazakhstan/Ukraine: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev visits Kyiv.
Romania: The 25th anniversary of the revolution that brought down Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
Russia/Serbia: Serbian Parliament Speaker Maja Gojkovic visits Moscow.
Russia/Turkey: Turkish Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu visits Moscow to discuss the situation in the Middle East.
TUESDAY, December 23:
Azerbaijan: Municipal elections.​
Russia: The presidents of Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan attend a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation’s (CSTO) Collective Security Council in Moscow.

WEDNESDAY, December 24:
Georgia: Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili holds a press conference.
THURSDAY, December 25:
Iraq/Turkey: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi visits Ankara for talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu (to December 26).
World: Catholics worldwide celebrate Christmas.