Latest Articles about The Caucasus

SOLANA BLINKS, DEEPLY

The European Union’s High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, opined in a European Parliament hearing that international recognition of Kosovo’s independence from Serbia could set “a precedent” adversely affecting Georgia in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. With some trepidation Solana imagined, “We... MORE

RUSSIA’S ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WARFARE FAILING TO SUBDUE GEORGIA

Russia’s economic and psychological warfare against Georgia is intensifying in the wake of, and notwithstanding, the release of four Russian military intelligence officers who had been caught in flagrante in Georgia. Arrested on September 27 and indicted for espionage and subversion, the four officers (a... MORE

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION ATTACKS “CRIMINAL ELEMENTS” IN GOVERNMENT

Armenia’s main opposition forces have opened a new front in their standoff with the government, launching a joint movement against what they claim is the growing role of “criminal elements” in the country’s political life. Influential Defense Minister Serge Sarkisian and other leaders of the... MORE

PUTIN COMMENTS REVEAL DESIRE FOR REGIME CHANGE IN TBILISI

The ordeal of four Russian military intelligence officers arrested in Georgia on September 27 and charged with espionage (see EDM, October 2) ended when the men were expelled to Moscow on Monday, October 2. Speaking on the condition of confidentiality yesterday in Moscow, a high-ranking... MORE

SAAKASHVILI’S U.N. ADDRESS TRANSFORMS DISCUSSION ON POST-SOVIET CONFLICTS

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s September 22 address to the United Nations General Assembly has transformed the terms of international discussion on the post-Soviet “frozen” conflicts. After Saakashvili’s address, hardly any international actors other than Moscow’s ad-hoc supporters could any longer defend Russia’s “peacekeeping” and “mediation”... MORE

ABKHAZIA REQUESTS GEORGIAN APOLOGY AND DREADS NEW WAR

Abkhaz separatists have dismissed Tbilisi’s “fresh roadmap” to resolve Georgia’s secessionist conflicts. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili proposed the new approach in his address to the UN General Assembly on September 22. Saakashvili called for a direct Georgian-Abkhaz dialogue, but he hinted that force could become... MORE