Zaal Anjaparidze

On October 23 Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Russia “is not planning” to restore air, land, sea, postal, and banking communications with Georgia, which were cut October 3

As expected, President Mikheil Saakashvili’s National Movement party won Georgia’s October 5 local elections by a landslide. Held amid Tbilisi’s sharpest confrontation with Moscow in a decade, the elections provided

Abkhaz separatists have dismissed Tbilisi’s “fresh roadmap” to resolve Georgia’s secessionist conflicts. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed the new approach in his address to the UN General Assembly on September

On October 5, Georgians will vote to fill 1,683 seats in 69 local municipal councils. Unlike the 2002 local elections, where voters directly elected the mayors except in Tbilisi and

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned the Georgian government to curb the country's creeping inflation. The admonition has provided evidence that the country's actual economic situation significantly differs from

Georgia will hold elections for local governments in early December, Giorgi Arveladze, head of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration, announced on August 7. Arveladze mentioned two reasons for choosing that month:

Opponents have long criticized Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili for not adopting a consistent strategy for the country’s economic development. The past five years have brought unprecedented levels of unemployment, rising

The Georgian government claims to have restored “constitutional order” in the upper Kodori Gorge -- the sole Georgia-controlled part of breakaway Abkhazia. As a result of a special operation by

On Tuesday, July 18, the Georgian parliament passed a resolution calling for the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The resolution, adopted overwhelmingly amid harsh anti-Russian rhetoric,

On July 9 Oleg Alborov, secretary of South Ossetia’s security council, was killed by a remote-controlled bomb as he opened his garage door. Officials in the breakaway Georgian republic immediately

As top Georgian leaders conducted diplomatic trips abroad, the domestic political situation at home heated up. President Mikheil Saakashvili returned from his July 3-6 visit to the United States with

The promising movement toward reopening railways to link Russia, Georgia, and Armenia via Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region is now in jeopardy. The $300 million project to restore the Abkhaz section

Despite huge losses, Georgian wine merchants continue to suffer the consequences of Moscow’s March 27 ban on imported Georgian wines. Russian authorities claimed to be protecting the Russian consumer market

This week two Georgian newspaper articles stood out from the typical reports about current events. One was about the sanity of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and the other was about

The current situation in Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region shows that the December 2005 plans for a peaceful settlement of this 16-year old conflict (see EDM, December 15, 2005) largely

The upcoming local elections in Georgia, and the controversial electoral code guiding the vote, have already triggered confrontations between the government and the opposition and even within the opposition camp.

As expected, the Abkhaz separatists rejected the peace plan that the Georgian government had offered in response to an earlier Abkhaz framework (see EDM, May 10). Sergei Shamba, the self-styled

A report presented to Georgia's Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights on May 19 exposed severe violations in Georgia's law enforcement system and correctional facilities. The unusually harsh report by State

One consideration that may influence Georgia's planned departure from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is whether Tbilisi will find itself alone and vulnerable to retaliation by an angry Russia.

May 6 marked the second anniversary of the restoration of Georgia's full jurisdiction over the Ajarian Autonomous Republic. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, attending the celebration in Batumi, Ajaria's main city,

Tbilisi has responded to international and domestic complaints that Georgia's judiciary frequently makes unfair, politically motivated decisions. President Mikheil Saakashvili, known as the "Godfather" of Georgia's 1997-98 judicial reforms, now

After banning imports of Georgian wine and some other food products last month (see EDM, March 28), Russian authorities now say the ban might extend to Georgia's famous "Borjomi" mineral

Questions are flying about how the Georgian government operates two special bank accounts earmarked for developing the army and law-enforcement agencies. The funds were established shortly after the November 2003

During a March 29 news conference at UN headquarters in New York, Revaz Adamia, Georgia's permanent representative to the United Nations, stated that Georgia would not oppose temporary UN governance

The rapid succession of crises this week in Georgia suggests that President Mikheil Saakashvili's government and its policies are at a critical juncture. On March 27 the government announced that

Talk of possible independence for Kosovo, Serbia's separatist enclave, is markedly hampering the Georgian government's efforts to find a mutually acceptable model for the reintegration of its breakaway regions, Abkhazia

Tensions are running high in Tsalka and Akhalkalaki, two regions of Georgia that are predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians. The latest problem began in Tsalka on March 9, when a

The Georgian Interior Ministry has announced that it has solved the killing of Sandro Girgvliani, the 28-year-old chief of the international relations division at the United Georgian Bank. On March

In recent weeks Georgia's ruling National Movement party has repelled attacks from opposition groups criticizing the government's policies in various fields. The opposition charges that Georgia under President Mikheil Saakashvili

Georgian officials and pundits are vigorously denying allegations that U.S. officials are in secret talks with Tbilisi about using Georgian military bases and airfields in the event of a military

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili delivered his annual state-of-the-nation address at the first meeting of the parliament's spring session on February 14. Like his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko, who in his

On January 4, two leading Georgian private television companies announced a merger, suggesting to analysts that these changes in the country's media industry reflect domestic political jockeying. According to the

A wave of strikes by inmates at prisons across Georgia is part of the criminal world's carefully crafted plan to resist government efforts to assert their authority in the penal

On December 12, Eduard Kokoiti, the self-styled president of South Ossetia, sent a letter to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and leaders of OSCE countries to familiarize

Last week the saber rattling that has characterized Georgian-Abkhaz relation subsided as UN- mediated talks about confidence building commenced. Against a backdrop of continuing mutual violence in Georgia's breakaway region

Widespread allegations about restrictions on judicial independence since the Rose Revolution have received new credibility following sensational confessions by four members of the Georgian Supreme Court. Tamaz Iliashvili, Merab Turava,

The leaders of Georgia's breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, are anxiously watching developments in Serbia's separatist region, Kosovo. The sudden interest stems from the UN Security Council's October 24

This November the Georgian government, including President Mikheil Saakashvili, has repeatedly emphasized the urgent need to improve the country's business environment. The rekindling of this issue hints at the government's

Recent developments in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway region, do not bode well for the forthcoming Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations scheduled for mid-November in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia. These UN-mediated talks have already

Scandal-prone Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili is back in the news thanks to the continuing investigation into the Ministry of Defense purchase of allegedly defective armored vehicles from Ukraine in

Reporters Without Frontiers, a Paris-based watchdog organization, released the 2005 version of its Worldwide Press Freedom Index on October 20. Georgia fell from 94th place in 2004 to 99th place.

Late on Wednesday, October 19, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli announced the dismissal of Foreign Minister Salome Zourabichvili. Nogaideli, who was forced to postpone a scheduled trip to the United

Two separate events affecting Georgia's opposition groups vividly demonstrate the extremes of contemporary political life in Georgia. On October 17, the Conservative and Republican parties announced the establishment of a

Almost every day, Georgian television airs government-sponsored ads inviting Georgians to join the mighty Georgian army. While, this patriotic display tries to create a rosy picture of Georgia's military potential,

The October 1 by-elections to fill five seats in the Georgian parliament produced a convincing victory for the ruling National Movement party. Party leader and President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili

So far, the Georgian government has weathered the latest cycle of disturbances in the country's restive regions. Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, came under mortar fire on the heels of

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his team are continuing to send varied signals about their plans for Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia. The recent initiative by Georgian and Abkhaz officials

Georgia and its separatist region of Abkhazia have marked the 13th anniversary of their civil war in understandably different ways. This difference, accompanied by challenging statements and moves from the

The month-long negotiations among Georgia's opposition parties about fielding common candidates in the forthcoming parliamentary by-elections on October 1 have produced an agreement. On August 5, leaders of the Conservative,

The recent anti-terrorist operations in Georgia (see EDM July 25, 29) have overshadowed coverage of anti-Georgian developments flaring in Georgia's turbulent Javakheti region, a southern area predominantly populated by ethnic

This week the Georgian special services celebrated breakthroughs in two high-profile criminal cases. Shortly after arresting a man accused of throwing a hand grenade at U.S. President George W. Bush

After weeks of vehemently denying media speculation about the imminent dismissal, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili fired Tbilisi Mayor Zurab Chiaberashvili on July 12. Chiaberashvili had called the rumors "a well-planned

For the first time since the November 2003 Rose Revolution, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's government has faced a large-scale, violent anti-governmental rally involving major opposition parties. The protest erupted June

The situation in South Ossetia is still teetering between war and peace. Unidentified Ossetian gunmen kidnapped four Georgians from the ethnic Georgian-populated villages inside this breakaway region on June 6,

The prospects of reopening the Georgian-Abkhaz railway line seem to be improving. The issue has been the subject of discussions at various high-profile meetings in recent months. The Georgian government

The composition of Georgia's new Central Electoral Commission (CEC) has already raised doubts about the fairness of the coming elections. In April parliament amended the Georgian election code to change

Recent weeks have brought alarming developments from Georgia's separatist South Ossetia region. Kidnappings, militant statements, Russian military assistance to the separatists, and fruitless peace negotiations -- the same factors that

In April Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and his Armenian counterpart Robert Kocharian held talks in Tbilisi following unrest in Georgia's predominately Armenian-populated southern region, Samtskhe-Javakheti. The disturbances, which calmed down

"Aslan has fled, Ajaria is free!" With these words, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili greeted his countrymen on the morning on May 6, 2004. A popular revolution in the Georgian Autonomous

The leadership of Georgia's separatist region Abkhazia is beefing up its military potential, while the Georgian armed forces are continuing their military exercise. Televised reports about the Georgian exercises began

Intense planning is underway as Georgians prepare to welcome the first U.S. President to visit their country. President George W. Bush will stop in Georgia on May 10, following the

Embattled Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili has dropped hints that he might resign from the cabinet. Okruashvili has made headlines recently due to several scandalous statements about his opponents. First,

At a closed-door meeting on April 9, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili sharply criticized his ministers for alienating the general public. Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli later confirmed the tongue-lashing (Rustavi-2 TV,

Backstabbing, intrigue, and corruption continue to plague Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's government, despite its repeated statements about centralizing power and eradicating corruption. To the delight of Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili,

Backstabbing, intrigue, and corruption continue to plague Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's government, despite its repeated statements about centralizing power and eradicating corruption. To the delight of Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili,

Early this week Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili sent a formal letter to Kyrgyz President Askar Akayev calling upon him to be more tolerant toward the opposition's demands and offered to

Last week the Georgian and the Greek-Armenian communities clashed in Tsalka, a multi-ethnic district in Georgia's southern Kvemo Kartli region. The confrontation broke out after a group of burglars assaulted

Sergei Bagapsh, the self-styled president of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia, arrived in Moscow on March 11. The visit, originally scheduled for March 3, was postponed as many as three

On March 10, the Georgian parliament unanimously (158-0) approved a resolution that orders Moscow to withdraw Russian bases from Georgia no later than January 1, 2006. Analysts have already predicted

While a proposal to sell Georgian gas trunk lines to the Russian gas giant Gazprom remains on Tbilisi's agenda, the Georgian government has made a different move that would increase

Last week two events highlighted the unstable situation in the Georgian armed forces. The army's supreme command shuffled its top personnel yet again and "Justice and Freedom," a military watchdog

The mysterious death of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania did not trigger an immediate political crisis as feared, but the incident has drawn additional attention to the continuing backstage discord

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was buried on Sunday, February 6, becoming the 101st distinguished Georgian to be interred in the Didube memorial in Tbilisi. As the Georgian people paid

When Tbilisi recently completed the privatization of several Georgian industrial giants, Russian companies had become owners of several strategic economic entities in Georgia. All indications suggest that the Russian firms

While Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is preparing to address the January 26 session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe with "unprecedented" peace proposals for Georgia's breakaway regions,

The Georgian government has crafted a new framework to facilitate the reintegration of Abkhazia and South Ossetia into the Georgian state. A special blueprint drafted by the National Security Council

After last week's intense media speculation, yesterday Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced an overhaul of key ministries. That same day, December 14, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania announced the structural and

After two days of media speculation, there are signs that the rumored imminent reshuffle of Georgia's power ministries may contain a grain of truth. On December 8 both Georgian President

Sergei Bagapsh, the opposition's presidential candidate in the disputed presidential elections in Georgia's breakaway region, Abkhazia, is inching toward securing the presidency. On November 26, the Abkhazian parliament officially decreed

The month-long confrontation over the disputed presidential elections in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia has claimed its first victim. Tamara Shakryl, 78, was a senior associate at the Institute for

The Georgian parliament and public are deeply divided about a government-proposed tax amnesty. The most controversial part of the bill, which focuses on "undeclared taxation duties and property legalization," is

On November 5, Russia and the OSCE sponsored a meeting in Sochi between Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and South Ossetian separatist leader Eduard Kokoiti. This was the first meeting

The aftermath of the October 3 presidential election in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia has finally unmasked Moscow's policy towards Abkhazia. Ironically, Russia has presented itself as a player --

The Georgian government faces new problems in its two breakaway provinces. Nightly shoot-outs have resumed in South Ossetia, while Abkhazia still has no clear winner in its October 3 presidential

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's call to make building a strong army a top priority may have fallen on deaf ears. Not only are the Georgian armed forces not reforming, but

"Dangerous uncertainty" describes the current situation in Abkhazia, while the breakaway region awaits the announcement of a winner in its controversial October 3 presidential election. The pro-government and Moscow-backed candidate,

Predictions that Georgia might replicate the Russian practice of taming disobedient media owners appear to have come true. The voluntary renunciation by Georgian media mogul Erosi Kitsmarishvili of his lucrative

On October 4, Abkhazia's Central Election Commission (CEC) declared Raul Khajimba winner of the October 3 presidential election. Outgoing Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba had backed Khajimba's candidacy. According to the

The Georgian political establishment has reacted angrily to a one-hour documentary entitled, "Who is Misha?" about Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The film was broadcast on Russian television on September 29

On October 3, voters in Abkhazia will choose a successor to their ailing president. Vladislav Ardzinba led the region in its fight for independence from Georgia in 1992 and 1993

Georgia's draft media law is rapidly becoming a major embarrassment for the Saakashvili government. Ironically, the new legislation, if adopted, would make life much harder for the Georgian media, which

On September 16, Georgian television broadcast live parliamentary debates on recent events in South Ossetia and how they fit into the broader context of Georgian-Russian relations. The pointed debate suggested

The fallout continues over the recent public statement by Richard Miles, U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, about the presence of terrorist groups in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge (see EDM, September 16). On

The U.S. Ambassador to Georgia, Richard Miles, has weighed in on Russian media and official allegations that Georgia is harboring terrorists and thus is a possible target for preemptive strikes.

For the first time in eleven years, the entire rail line between Moscow and Sukhumi, the capital of Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia, resumed operation on September 10. Gennady Fadeyev, chief of

Over the last two days of August, Georgian senior officials, including Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and National Security Council Secretary Gela Bezhuashvili, have vehemently denied media speculation about an impending

On August 25, Saakashvili fired the Chief of Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces, Givi Iukuridze, and replaced him with his Western-educated deputy, Maj. Vakhtang Kapanadze. Saakashvili explained the move

Armed clashes between Georgian and South Ossetian forces have resumed after a 14-year lull. On August 13, overnight gunfire began around 3:00 a.m. and left three Georgian civilians wounded. Three

The hostilities continue in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia. This week the Georgian and Ossetian sides are accusing each other of firing at villages in the conflict zone. On

The preparations for the October 3 presidential elections in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region are gaining momentum and presenting political surprises. Sergei Shamba, the former foreign minister, has kept his promise

After the Rose Revolution, relations between the Georgian government and local media have increasingly caused concern, because the government has attempted to tame the press by administrative measures under the

The upcoming October 3 presidential election in the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia has caused a flurry of re-grouping among local political forces. The incumbent, Vladislav Ardzinba, cannot run for another

A new development in the Netherlands may influence efforts to settle the conflict between Georgia and its restive republic, Abkhazia. On July 8 prosecutors at the Hague-based UN International Criminal

After remaining vacant for nine months, the post of Public Defender (Ombudsman) will be filled by a representative of the NGO community. President Mikheil Saakashvili made this decision on July

On July 8 the Ossetian militia captured 47 Georgian servicemen and publicly humiliated them by forcing them to their knees before Russian TV cameras, roiling tensions between Tskhinvali and Tbilisi.

Commenting on the latest developments in and around the breakaway South Ossetia region before departing for London on July 12, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili made a remarkable statement. He said

Tbilisi and the leaders of South Ossetia nearly came to blows this week, as Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili continued his campaign to rein-in separatist republics. South Ossetian paramilitary groups had

"I'm leaving my political party and opt for political silence," declared the new chairman of the Georgian Supreme Court, Kote Kemularia, after his strong parliamentary confirmation on June 24 (Dilis

The critical phase in the political situation of the breakaway region of Abkhazia continues, following the June 9 assassination of Gary Aiba, political secretary of the influential Abkhaz political-public movement

The pro-governmental "Saakashvili-Victorious Ajaria" party, the Ajarian branch of the ruling "National-Movement-Democrats," scored a landside victory in the June 20 elections in Ajaria. The elections were the first to be

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's steps toward improving material and technical support for the Georgian army resulted in a significant increase in the military call-up. During the current draft, which started

Prior to this week's cabinet of ministers' parliamentary vote of confidence, according the new Constitution, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili issued a surprise reshuffling of officials to lead the "force" ministries.

Torture in prisons, mistreatment of prisoners, illegal arrests and abused police discretion have reappeared on the agenda only five months after the Rose Revolution, the leaders of which publicly pledged

The first conference on Russian business investment in Georgia held on May 28-30 was a logical consequence of warming Georgian-Russian political relations after the recent "rose revolutions" in Tbilisi and

Elections for the 34-seat Parliament of the self-proclaimed South Ossetian Republic were held on May 23. The Ossetian party claims that 70% of voters participated in the elections. Local laws

The "Hand of Tbilisi" will be a greater presence in post-Abashidze Ajaria. On May 18, the Georgian Parliament overwhelmingly (117/5) voted for a resolution, which allows for a one-month public

The arrest of a 33-year old member of Georgia's Parliament on May 19 has seriously damaged the Saakashvili government's reputation. MP Giorgi Kenchadze, an activist in the National-Democrats ruling party,

Secretary of the Russian Security Council Igor Ivanov paid an urgent visit to Tbilisi on May 17 to negotiate with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and other top officials on the