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Geopolitical Calendar: Week of Feb. 24, 2014


Analysis


Editor's Note: The following is an internal Stratfor document listing significant meetings and events planned for the next week. Stratfor analysts use this to stay informed of the activities and travel of world leaders and to guide their areas of focus for the week.

EUROPE
Feb. 24-27: European Parliament will hold its plenary session in Strasbourg, France.
Feb. 24: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and her entire Cabinet will visit Israel.
Feb. 24: In Greece, the troika -- composed of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the EU Commission -- is expected to resume bailout talks with Athens.
Feb. 25: The French Parliament is expected to vote on extending France's military deployment in the Central African Republic.
Feb. 26: The German constitutional court will announce its ruling on whether German political parties need to pass a 3 percent threshold in order to gain seats in the European Parliament.
Feb. 27: EU foreign ministers will hold an informal meeting in Athens.
Feb. 27: As part of negotiations to reunify the island of Cyprus, Turkish and Greek Cypriot negotiators will travel together to Athens and Ankara.
Feb. 28: Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski plans to visit Iran.

FORMER SOVIET UNION
Feb. 24: New Delhi will host the meeting of the India-Azerbaijan Intergovernmental Commission to discuss avenues of cooperation.
Feb. 25: An Armenian government delegation will leave for Moscow to discuss Armenia's industrial integration with the Russian-led Customs Union.
Feb. 27: Hungarian Deputy State Secretary for Security Policy and Political Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Szabolcs Takacs will visit Azerbaijan to discuss bilateral relations.

ASIA PACIFIC
Feb. 27-28: Philippine President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines will visit Malaysia at the invitation of Prime Minister Najib Razak.
March 1: China is set to enact a new State Secrets Law following Premier Li Keqiang's approval.
March 1: The government in Myanmar will begin taking a national census in remote areas of Kachin State.
March 1: In the first week of March, Japan will host South Korea for bilateral talks on the prospect of South Korea signing on to join the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership.
March 1-4: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will visit Myanmar for the third summit of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), which includes Myanmar, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Bhutan.

SOUTH ASIA
Feb. 24: India and China will hold the sixth annual India-China maritime defense dialogue in New Delhi.
Feb. 24-25: Indian Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram will continue his visit to Australia to attend the G-20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors. This will be followed by investor conferences.
Feb. 24-25: Nepal will host a Chinese delegation led by the deputy minister of the Civil Aviation Administration for the joint signing of a revised bilateral air service agreement.
Feb. 24-25: Shanghai Cooperation Organization Secretary-General Dmitry Fedorovich Mezentsev will continue his visit to India.
Feb. 24-March 2: Canada's Governor General will continue his visit to India to hold discussions with President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Feb. 26: Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Rogozin will visit India to attend the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission meeting.
Feb. 26-28: India will host Saudi Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz to discuss bilateral ties. The two sides are expected to sign defense, economic and energy deals.
Feb. 27-28: Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif will visit India.

MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
Feb. 21-25: The head of the U.S. delegation in the Iran nuclear talks, Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, will visit Israel, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to discuss Iran and other issues.
Feb. 25-27: Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi will pay a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates, where he will meet UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan and a number of officials.
Feb. 25: Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan will visit Tokyo. Sheikh Mohamed is scheduled to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Feb. 27: Court proceedings will resume for Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, who has been held by militants in Zentan since the end of Libya's conflict in 2011.

AMERICAS
Feb. 24: Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff will attend the EU-Brazil Business Summit in Brussels.
Feb. 26: The Brazilian Central Bank's Monetary Policy Committee will meet to discuss potential interest rate hikes.
Feb. 27: Bolivian President Evo Morales will visit Peru.
Feb. 28: The Colombian attorney general will bring charges against Drummond coal company officials.
March 2: Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua plans to visit Iran to discuss bilateral, regional and international issues.

AFRICA:
Feb. 25: Ghanaian President John Mahama will address the parliament.
Feb. 26: South African Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan will present the 2014 National Budget to parliament.
Feb. 27: A South African imaging satellite, which was commissioned by defense intelligence from Russian company NPO Mashinostroyeni in 2006, is scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan.
Feb. 28: African Union and EU delegations will hold a joint conference in Addis Ababa to discuss bilateral trade relations.

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