On June 30, the Abkhaz separatist regime announced that it would remove from the voter lists 22,787 ethnic Georgians living in the Russian-occupied Abkhazia. The separatist regime officials claimed that those people acquired so-called “Abkhaz passports” illegally and hence, as non-citizens, they could not qualify... MORE

On July 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin chaired a meeting of the presidential council for interethnic relations, which he began by stating that the focus of the meeting would be improving his government’s interethnic policies. “It is important for youth to understand the significance of... MORE

As the crisis in Russian-Ukrainian relations deepens, Ukrainian refugees are turning up in unlikely locations, such as the North Caucasus. An estimated 200 refugees from eastern Ukraine, who went to North Ossetia, have been put up in local resorts and more are expected to arrive... MORE

On June 27, Georgian Prime Minister Irakly Garibashvili signed a historic Association Agreement between Georgia and the European Union (EU). People in Tbilisi celebrated this event as a national holiday. Political forces in the country unanimously agree on the necessity and benefits of association with... MORE

From the start of the second Russian-Chechen war in 1999, everybody has been trying to find connections between the Chechens and al-Qaeda (rg.ru, May 24, 2000). That effort suited Moscow, since the Russian authorities wanted to prove to the world that they were fighting not... MORE

Moscow’s much-advertised grand project in the North Caucasus since 2010, the creation of a ski tourism industry, has ceased to exist. In a speech to the Federation Council on June 18, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Khloponin said the government was suspending several projects within... MORE

On June 24, Circassian activist Andzor Kabard exposed the International Circassian Association (ICA) for having applied for Russian government funding to challenge other Circassian organizations. In revealing this fact, Kabard declared on Facebook that ICA no longer exists (facebook.com, June 24). ICA’s grant application title... MORE

Russia’s State Duma is expected to pass a law on how languages are taught in the country’s state schools. The proposed changes may have a significant impact on the ethnic republics within the Russian Federation. Intentionally diminishing the use of languages of minorities in Russia... MORE

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov stated recently that a new training center for special forces will be built on the territory of the Chechen Republic. Russian forces are expected to use the facility for training (rg.ru, June 21). “There are no similar centers in Russia and... MORE

On June 15, Georgia held local elections. Hundreds of seats on the councils (sakrebulos) of 59 counties (municipalities) and positions for 59 county governors (gamgebeli) and 12 city mayors were contested at the polls. Twenty-four political parties and electoral blocs participated in the election campaign... MORE