On March 18, Georgian parliamentary speaker Irakli Kobakhidze stated that the country’s Constitutional Reform Commission (CRC) is readying to present to the public the draft of new constitutional changes by April 30, 2017. Among those planned changes, the most important clause affects the office of... MORE

“I appreciate that Georgia has [a governmental] agency that directly works on religious affairs and with religions. I am very pleased that thanks to the efforts of Georgian government representatives, different religions and ethnic groups peacefully coexist here. That is exactly how it is also... MORE

The government of the Russian Federation has approved the draft agreement between Russia and South Ossetia “on integrating some units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of South Ossetia [sic] into the structure of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.” The document has... MORE

Georgia’s seaport city of Batumi suddenly erupted in violence, on the night of March 11–12, as hundreds of protesters descended on the city streets, overturning, destroying, and burning police and civilian cars, throwing rocks, and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake (Ajaratv.ge, March... MORE

During the third ministerial meeting of the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) Advisory Council, held in Baku, on February 23, the European Commission’s vice president for the Energy Union, Maroš Šefčovič, encouraged international financial institutions to bankroll the SGC project (Trend, February 23). Amidst volatile oil... MORE

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has temporarily suspended the execution of the Georgian Supreme Court’s decision to return opposition television broadcaster Rustavi 2 to its former owner, the businessman Kibar Khalvashi (Civil Georgia, March 4). Khalvashi is affiliated with the ruling party Georgian... MORE

After Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili met with his Armenian counterpart, Karen Karapetyan, in Tbilisi, on February 23–24, the initial reports in the Georgian media were vague. Kvirikashvili provided general statements on the meeting’s purpose: “Armenia is a country with which we share centuries-old good-neighborly... MORE

Some 78,000 Georgians, led by several opposition political parties and civic activists, marched in the streets of downtown Tbilisi, on February 19, to protest against the alleged government attempt to take over the Rustavi 2 TV station (Channel 1 TV, February 19). Rustavi 2 has... MORE

The Georgian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has reintroduced compulsory military service in the army, eight months after then–defense minister Tina Khidasheli abolished military conscription (Civil Georgia, February 15). As early as November 2016, Georgian Minister of Defense Levan Izoria announced his plans to ultimately restore... MORE

For the past several weeks, a group of Armenian soldiers have been taking part in a joint exercise with their Georgian counterparts at the Sachkhere Mountain Training School—a training facility in Georgia established with assistance from the United States and France. Since 2010, the school... MORE