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Geopolitical Calendar: Week of March 31, 2014



EUROPE

March 31: Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic and Kosovar Prime Minister Hashim Thaci will attend a new round of talks in Brussels, which will include EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton.
March 31: Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit EU headquarters in Brussels and meet with European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. He will then deliver a speech April 1 on EU-China relations at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.
March 31: Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades will continue talks with Turkish Cypriot leader Dervis Eroglu on the Cyprus issue.
March 31-April 4: European Parliament committee meetings will be held all week.
April 1: Hungary will reduce household natural gas prices by 6.5 percent.
April 1-2: EU finance ministers will gather in Athens for an informal meeting.
April 1-2: The foreign ministers of NATO member states will meet and discuss topics including the standoff with Russia over Ukraine.
April 2-3: The European Parliament will hold a plenary session in Brussels.
April 2: The European Union's Committee of Regions will start a meeting with the Committee of Permanent Representatives I and Committee of Permanent Representatives II, with meetings continuing on April 3 and April 4, respectively.
April 5-6: EU foreign ministers will hold an informal meeting, called the Gymnich Council, at Lagonissi, Greece.
April 6: Hungary will hold general elections.

FORMER SOVIET UNION
March 31: Russia will begin a ban on imports of refrigerated beef from Australia.
April 1: Russia's natural gas price for Ukraine could rise 79 percent to $480 per 1,000 cubic meters.
April 1: The Kazakh government plans to transfer all the individual pension accounts and pension assets to the Single Pension Fund, managed by the National Bank of Kazakhstan.
April 2: The EU-U.S. energy summit will discuss energy cooperation as well as methods of assisting Ukraine in meeting future energy needs and repaying debts to Russia. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton will attend.
April 3: Baku will host an Azerbaijan-Russia business forum ahead of a Russian delegation visit.

ASIA-PACIFIC
March 30: Protesters in Taipei currently occupying Taiwan's legislative chamber have planned a mass rally against a potential trade pact with China.
March 31: Liu Han, former chairman of Chinese company Sichuan Hanlong, will face trial in a Hebei court. His prosecution may be connected to the government investigation of retired security head Zhou Yongkang.
April 2-4: Officials from Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam will gather in Ho Chi Minh City to agree on plans for sustainable development of the Mekong River Basin.
April 5: The Thai pro-government group United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, also known as the Red Shirts, is expected to hold a rally.
April 6: The Dalai Lama will travel from his headquarters in India to visit Japan, where he will remain until April 18.
Unspecified date: Hu Deping, the eldest son of late Chinese reformist leader Hu Yaobang, plans to visit Japan to help improve relations.
Unspecified date: Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, headed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, will submit a bill to revise the country's referendum law in April that could come into force during the current session and lead to future constitutional reforms.
Unspecified date: Leaders of ethnic Rakhine political groups will hold the Arakanese National Convention in Kyaukpyu, Myanmar, in April.
Unspecified date: Myanmar's government plans to sign a nationwide cease-fire agreement with ethnic militant groups in April, although this has been delayed several times.

SOUTH ASIA
March 31: A Chinese business delegation from Guangdong province will arrive in Sri Lanka to explore trade and investment opportunities.
March 31: Pakistan's Supreme Court will present formal high treason charges against former President Pervez Musharraf.
March 31: India's fiscal year will end, and the Elections Commission will make its decision on the issuance of new bank licenses by the Reserve Bank of India.
April 5: Afghanistan will hold presidential elections.

MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA
March 31: Lebanese President Michel Suleiman is expected to invite Lebanon's rival political leaders to a national dialogue session.
April 2-3: Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Algeria to meet with senior officials, then travel to Morocco from April 3-5.

AMERICAS
March 31: The Chilean government will send its tax reform proposal to Congress.
April 1: Venezuela will open registration for government food distribution centers.
April 1: The Argentine government's newly created grain registry and storage regime that will take effect.
April 1: The Argentine government will start a gradual reduction of water and natural gas subsidies.
Unspecified date: Ecuadorian Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino will meet with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

AFRICA
March 29-30: West African regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States will hold its 44th summit of heads of state in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast.
March 31-April 1: More than 500 high-level private sector participants will meet at the fifth EU-Africa Business Forum in Brussels. A number of African and European leaders will attend the summit.
April 1-2: The African Union Commission of Inquiry on South Sudan will meet and review the first round field investigation.

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