On March 31, after several days of deliberation (Imedi.ge, March 28), Georgia’s Republican Party (RP) declared that it would participate in the upcoming fall 2016 parliamentary elections separately from the Georgian Dream (GD) party. The two political parties have been partners in the ruling GD-led... MORE

Georgia is gearing up for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) upcoming summit in Warsaw, hoping to receive a “strong message” from the Alliance about strengthening their mutual ties (see EDM, March 11). Georgian leaders have accepted that Tbilisi will most likely not receive a... MORE

On March 10, in a rare tripartite deal, Georgia released four Ossetian prisoners, three of which were serving life sentences on charges of terrorism against the Georgian state. In exchange, the authorities of South Ossetia (Tskhinvali region) and Abkhazia released 14 Georgians, held in these... MORE

Georgia’s newly appointed Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze recently visited the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), where he held talks with NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow. The Georgian minister also took part in a meeting of the NATO-Georgia Commission, with the participation... MORE

Chechen militants in Syria have been going through organizational changes since last summer. The position of the Chechen militants in the Middle East was especially damaged by a conflict within the Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar group and the difficult situation inside the Junud al-Sham group. Those... MORE

On February 19, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey held their fifth trilateral meeting, during which they agreed on the completion date for the construction of the Baku–Tbilisi–Kars (BTK) railway. The BTK railroad will eventually connect the three countries (Civil Georgia, February 19).... MORE

On February 8, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili personally announced the conclusion of the tender for the construction of the Anaklia deep-water port on Georgia’s Black Sea coast. His remarks were broadcast live on all national TV channels. The prime minister stated that Anaklia Development... MORE

In this year’s State of the State address, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili warned about the increasing influence of Russian “soft power” on his country (Ghn.ge, February 3). Moreover, the United States Intelligence Community’s 2016 Worldwide Threat Assessment report named “effective Russian propaganda” as one of... MORE

Hundreds of Muslim Georgians who live in the autonomous republic of Adjara, in southwestern Georgia, held a protest rally, on February 5, in the regional capital of Batumi. The protesters demanded that Georgian authorities give them permission to construct a new, large mosque in the... MORE

Speaking at a press conference reviewing the year 2015, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov unexpectedly revived a question thought to have been closed long ago. “We are receiving news that members of ISIS [Islamic State of Iraq and Syria—the former name of the Islamic State]... MORE