Latest Articles about Georgia
TIME SHORT, OPTIONS NARROWING, CALL NEEDED FOR A NEW GEORGIA BMO
Two months after Russia killed the OSCE's Georgia Border Monitoring Operation (BMO) -- and many months after Moscow had served advance notice of that move -- Georgia's Western partners are still bogged down in inconsequential talk about organizing a substitute operation. Only two months remain... MORE
GEORGIA UNDER GROWING RUSSIAN PRESSURE AHEAD OF BUSH-PUTIN SUMMIT
Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov's imminent visit to Tbilisi appears designed for Washington's consumption ahead of the George W. Bush-Vladimir Putin summit on February 24. Moscow wishes to avoid discussion of its ongoing threats to Georgia during the summit. Lavrov may briefly put... MORE
GEORGIA’S NEW PRIME MINISTER COMES FROM ZHVANIA’S TEAM
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 in the ruling party. President Mikheil Saakashvili had to take this intra-party drama into consideration... MORE
MOSCOW MULTIPLYING EXTRANEOUS PRECONDITIONS TO TROOP WITHDRAWAL FROM GEORGIA
After a two-year interruption and ten years of futile talks, another round of Russian-Georgian negotiations on the withdrawal of Russian troops was held in vain on February 10-11 in Tbilisi. The Russian side advanced conditions that amount to a refusal to withdraw its troops from... MORE
WILL ZHVANIA’S DEATH UNDERMINE GEORGIA’S DELICATE POLITICAL BALANCE?
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 their last respect to Zhvania at the St. Trinity Cathedral in Tbilisi, confidants of Zhvania... MORE
NEW GROUP OF GEORGIA’S FRIENDS FOUNDED
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria founded the "New Group of Georgia's Friends" on February 4 in Tbilisi. The specification "new" differentiates it from the decade-old "Group of Friends of Georgia," originally comprised of the United States, Germany, Britain, and France. That old group... MORE
DEATH OF GEORGIA’S PRIME MINISTER ZHVANIA RAISES QUESTIONS
The sudden death of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania last night (February 2) has plunged the country into shock. The news of Zhvania's death comes on the heels of the car bomb that exploded in Gori two days ago, killing at least a dozen people.... MORE
RUSSIA CLAIMS STRATEGIC VICTORY IN GEORGIAN PRIVATIZATION ROUND
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 are not finished with their Georgian acquisition plans. Evraz Holding has taken ownership of 70.8%... MORE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL’S HANDLING OF ABKHAZIA: A DISQUIETING PRELUDE TO BUSH-PUTIN SUMMIT
On January 28, the UN Security Council (UNSC) voted to approve a routine six-month extension of the UNOMIG (UN Observer Mission in Georgia) mandate to observe the ceasefire in Abkhazia. The UNSC had finalized the wording of the relevant resolution at a closed-door meeting on... MORE
GEORGIAN PRESIDENT LAUNCHES SOUTH OSSETIA PEACE INITIATIVE
Addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on January 26, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili unveiled an offer of full autonomy for South Ossetia. Under this offer, South Ossetia would enjoy -- both de facto and de jure -- a higher... MORE