Intensive discussions are underway at the OSCE's Vienna headquarters on the decisions and documents to be adopted by the organization's year-end conference. Moscow has already successfully ruled out from the principal final document, the Political Declaration, any reference to Russia's 1999 Istanbul Commitments to withdraw... MORE

Intensive discussions are underway at the OSCE's Vienna headquarters on the decisions and documents to be adopted by the organization's year-end conference. Moscow has already successfully ruled out from the principal final document, the Political Declaration, any reference to Russia's 1999 Istanbul Commitments to withdraw... MORE

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's call to make building a strong army a top priority may have fallen on deaf ears. Not only are the Georgian armed forces not reforming, but also there are indications that military personnel are selling their weapons. During an October 21... MORE

"Dangerous uncertainty" describes the current situation in Abkhazia, while the breakaway region awaits the announcement of a winner in its controversial October 3 presidential election. The pro-government and Moscow-backed candidate, Raul Khajimba, and the main opposition candidate, Sergei Bagapsh, have both claimed victory. Both have... MORE

Predictions that Georgia might replicate the Russian practice of taming disobedient media owners appear to have come true. The voluntary renunciation by Georgian media mogul Erosi Kitsmarishvili of his lucrative media business has rekindled the thorny question about how Saakashvili's government treats the private media... MORE

The October 3 presidential election in Abkhazia has produced a far greater reaction in the Russian media than the scale of Russia's involvement in this Georgian separatist region or indeed the importance of the choices in these elections should merit (Kommersant, October 7, 8; Nezavisimaya... MORE

Although the outcome of the chaotic October 3 "presidential election" in Georgia's separatist region of Abkhazia is still uncertain, one major loser is already known: the Kremlin. Russia's crude involvement in the campaign and its open backing of one candidate in the first contested ballot... MORE

The investigation into the September 1 terrorist attack on the North Ossetian town of Beslan continues. Apart from law-enforcement agencies and prosecutors, the Russian Federation Council and State Duma have also established an independent commission to tackle the problem. Commission members visited North Ossetia in... MORE

In late September, two remarkable anniversaries passed nearly unnoticed in Moscow. On September 20, 1994, the first contract on developing Caspian oilfields was signed between the government of Azerbaijan and the consortium of ten international oil companies (AIOC). On September 29, 1999, Russian troops moved... MORE

On October 4, Abkhazia's Central Election Commission (CEC) declared Raul Khajimba winner of the October 3 presidential election. Outgoing Abkhaz leader Vladislav Ardzinba had backed Khajimba's candidacy. According to the CEC, Khajimba received 101,500 votes (52.84%), runner-up Sergei Bagapsh took 64,500 (33.58%), Sergei Shamba 19,050... MORE