Latest Articles about The Caucasus

TWO YEARS INTO THE ROSE REVOLUTION, ECONOMY SHOWS LITTLE CHANGE

This November the Georgian government, including President Mikheil Saakashvili, has repeatedly emphasized the urgent need to improve the country's business environment. The rekindling of this issue hints at the government's increasing concern about the worsening socio-economic situation in the country. Already independent analysts are warning... MORE

ARMENIA ADOPTS LANDMARK BUDGET FOR 2006

On November 11 Armenia's parliament approved the national budget for next year. The budget volume is due to exceed $1 billion for the first time in the country's post-Soviet history. The administration of President Robert Kocharian presented the planned 22% increase in government spending as... MORE

AZERBAIJAN MOVES SWIFTLY TO ADDRESS ELECTORAL FRAUD COMPLAINTS

Azerbaijan's Central Electoral Commission convened on November 8 to begin considering complaints of electoral fraud in the November 6 parliamentary elections. The CEC ordered recounts of the vote in certain electoral districts where pro-government candidates had purportedly won, and requested the Prosecutor-General's Office to check... MORE

OPENING OF THE POLITICAL SYSTEM DEFINES AZERBAIJAN’S IMPERFECT ELECTIONS

Other than the irregularities that marred the New Azerbaijan Party's (YAP) clear-cut overall victory, ultimately the salient fact in these parliamentary elections is the opening up of the political system. Unsurprisingly, Azerbaijan's political system and most players are insufficiently prepared technically, professionally, and (not least)... MORE

AZERBAIJANI-UKRAINIAN RELATIONS DETERIORATE AFTER STOLEN ELECTIONS

Ukraine has followed the lead of the OSCE in not recognizing the official results of Azerbaijan's November 6 parliamentary elections. A Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, "We support the earlier conclusions of the OSCE observer mission on this question and are awaiting the final verdict... MORE

ABKHAZ MILITARY ACCUSED OF FORCIBLY DRAFTING ETHNIC GEORGIANS

Recent developments in Abkhazia, Georgia's breakaway region, do not bode well for the forthcoming Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations scheduled for mid-November in Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia. These UN-mediated talks have already been delayed because the sides failed to finalize a draft of a joint Georgian-Abkhaz declaration... MORE