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Geopolitical Calendar: Week of April 28, 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
  • April 28: EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will meet with new Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and other Serbian government officials in Belgrade to discuss Serbia's ties with the European Union and the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo.
  • April 28: Slovakia and Ukraine plan to sign a memorandum on the possible reverse flow of natural gas.
  • April 28-29: Tunisian Prime Minister Mehdi Jomaa will visit Paris to meet with French Prime Minister Manuel Valls.
  • April 29: The French parliament will discuss the spending cuts proposed by the French government.
  • April 29: The EU Political and Security Committee will meet in Brussels.
  • April 30-May 2: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will visit the United Kingdom to discuss bilateral ties.
  • May 1: Danish fighter jets will be based in Estonia for NATO air patrol missions over the Baltics.
  • May 2: German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde in Washington to discuss the eurozone situation and Greece's debt relief program. Merkel will also meet with U.S. President Barack Obama.
FORMER SOVIET UNION
  • April 28: Talks are expected in Moscow between officials from the European Union, Russia and Ukraine on the natural gas supply for Europe.
  • April 29: Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca and Romanian Prime Minister Victor Ponta will meet in Moldova to celebrate the end of visa requirements for Moldovans to enter the European Union.
  • April 29: Armenia is expected to sign a treaty of accession to the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.
  • April 29: The International Monetary Fund will make a decision on the provision of a first tranche of $3 billion to Ukraine.
  • April 30: Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will visit Azerbaijan.
  • May 1: Ukraine plans to increase the price of natural gas for household consumers by an average of 50 percent.
  • May 1: The first Russian oil from the Arctic Sea is expected to reach Rotterdam.
ASIA-PACIFIC
  • April 28: Thai opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva plans to meet with Supreme Commander Gen. Thanasak Patimaprakorn in a bid to resolve the ongoing political deadlock in the country.
  • April 28: U.S. President Barack Obama will travel to the Philippines to meet with President Benigno Aquino III.
  • May 2: Thailand's Constitutional Court has given an order for Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to give her defense against allegations of abuse of power.
SOUTH ASIA
  • April 28: Afghanistan will release the preliminary results of its nationwide elections.
  • April 28: Nepal will receive the first of five Chinese-made MA60 airliners to add to its fleet.
  • April 30: India will begin phase seven of its Lok Sabha elections, which began April 7 and will end May 12.
  • April 30: The first phase of national and state assembly elections will be held in India's Andhra Pradesh. The second phase will be held May 7.
  • May 1: Bhutan will begin to receive new direct flights from Mumbai.
  • May 1: Pakistan will host a two-day visit by Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli to discuss border issues.
  • May 1: The World Bank will approve $1 billion for Pakistan to pay for two projects of energy and revenue development.
MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
  • April 28: Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman and Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will meet in Jerusalem.
  • April 28: Re-elected Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika will take the oath of office.
  • April 29: A Gulf Cooperation Council security agreement will be reviewed by the Kuwaiti parliament.
  • April 30: Iraqi parliamentary elections will be held.
  • April 30: Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri scheduled the second round of voting to elect a new president on this date, after the first parliament session was adjourned for lack of quorum.
  • May 1: This is the deadline by which Syrian presidential candidates must submit their applications to run in the election.
AMERICAS
  • Unspecified date: Argentine and Brazilian government officials will meet in Sao Paulo to discuss trade barriers.
  • April 28: Colombian farmers have planned a strike for this date.
  • April 29: The European Union and Cuba will hold negotiations on a political cooperation accord in Havana.
  • May 1: Brazilian labor union Forca Sindical will march in Sao Paulo.
AFRICA
  • April 28-29: The Third Oil and Gas Africa Exhibition will continue in Nairobi, Kenya.
  • April 29: The African Union will discuss unconstitutional changes of government and popular uprisings in Africa.
  • April 30: Angola is scheduled to launch the tendering process for onshore oil exploration at 10 new blocks in the Congo and Kwanza basins.
  • April 30: This is the deadline set by the African Union to reach a final deal between the Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North rebels to end fighting in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states.


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