Latest Articles about The Caucasus
ANNEXATION AND MILITARIZATION OF ABKHAZIA CONTINUE APACE
Russia has again challenged Georgia and the West in Abkhazia, this time with military action. Its first challenge had been President Vladimir Putin’s April 16 decree, authorizing direct official relations between Russian government bodies and the secessionist authorities in Georgia's Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions... MORE
AZERBAIJAN SEES ARMENIA DIFFERENTLY AFTER ELECTIONS
“Democracy in Azerbaijan is at least no worse than in Georgia, but the comparison with Armenia is almost impossible,” said Khazar Ibrahim, the head of the press service of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs (www.day.az, April 29). This statement came as a result of... MORE
NEW ARMENIAN LEADER FORMS CABINET
On April 22 Armenia’s new President Serzh Sarkisian completed the formation of his cabinet comprising representatives of four political parties and key loyalists of his predecessor Robert Kocharian. The appointment of the last five government ministers came after weeks of horse-trading within the ruling coalition,... MORE
RUSSIA OFFERS GEORGIA A STICK AND A CARROT
On Sunday, April 20, an unarmed Georgian reconnaissance drone was shot down over the territory Abkhazia. The Georgian authorities alleged that a Russian Air Force MiG-29 fighter had downed the drone. The jet, according to Georgian radar data, took off from an airbase near Gudauta... MORE
RUSSIA MOVES TOWARD OPEN ANNEXATION OF ABKHAZIA, SOUTH OSSETIA
On April 16 Russia’s outgoing president Vladimir Putin signed a decree authorizing direct official relations between Russian government bodies and the secessionist authorities in Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The decree also treats as valid the secessionist authorities’ “legislation” in the respective territories, which looks... MORE
NEW ARMENIAN PRESIDENT TAKES OFFICE, KEEPS UP REPRESSION
Serzh Sarkisian was sworn in as Armenia’s new president on April 9 amid a lingering political crisis triggered by his extremely controversial victory in last February’s presidential election. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the 53-year-old former prime minister sought to reach out to hundreds of... MORE
THE PRO-MAP FACTION SUCCEEDS AT NATO SUMMIT
NATO’s recently concluded summit in Bucharest highlighted the political weight of the new member countries from Central and Eastern Europe in the alliance’s decision-making processes. Aligned with the United States, Canada and two small West European countries, the new members formed the critical mass that... MORE
UKRAINIAN AND GEORGIAN MEMBERSHIP PROSPECTS INTENSELY DEBATED AT NATO SUMMIT
Midway through the NATO summit in Bucharest on April 2 to 4, Germany and France seemed to have blocked the approval of Membership Action Plans for Ukraine and Georgia (MAPs). The summit representatives have until April 4 to agree on substitute language regarding Ukraine’s and... MORE
KARABAKH PEACE IN QUESTION AFTER ARMENIAN VOTE
Armenia’s post-election political crisis and Azerbaijan’s apparent attempts to take advantage of it are dealing a serious blow to international mediators’ hopes for a near-term solution to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. The conflicting parties are hardening their positions and stepping up mutually hostile rhetoric, despite significant... MORE
EXTRANEOUS CONSIDERATIONS BLOCK GEORGIAN AND UKRAINIAN MAPS AT THE NATO SUMMIT
In on-the-record interventions and, especially, at off-the-record policy conferences, German officials laid out a whole collection of arguments against Membership Action Plans (MAPs) for Georgia and Ukraine at the upcoming NATO summit. Several West European governments share some of those arguments to one degree or... MORE