Latest Articles about Georgia
TBILISI NEUTRALIZES ALLEGED RUSSIAN SPY RING, GAINS POLITICAL MILEAGE
The arrest of four Russian military intelligence officers and eleven alleged accomplices in Georgia on September 27-28 is part of Tbilisi’s ongoing efforts to neutralize a purported Russian spy network in Georgia. Two weeks earlier, on September 6, Tbilisi claimed to have averted a coup... 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
OPPOSITION FRAGMENTS AHEAD OF GEORGIAN LOCAL ELECTIONS
On October 5, Georgians will vote to fill 1,683 seats in 69 local municipal councils. Unlike the 2002 local elections, where voters directly elected the mayors except in Tbilisi and Poti, the October ballot will chose city councils, which will later elect mayors. In Tbilisi... MORE
GEORGIA INDICTS PRO-MOSCOW ACTIVISTS AHEAD OF PLANNED DISTURBANCES
A dozen activists of pro-Moscow groups in Georgia are being held in pre-trial custody for a period of up to two months; and two others have been freed on bail, pending trial. They all face charges of treason and conspiracy to overthrow the government and... MORE
IMF WARNS TBILISI TO CURB RISING INFLATION
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned the Georgian government to curb the country's creeping inflation. The admonition has provided evidence that the country's actual economic situation significantly differs from the government's rosy pronouncements. Since the beginning of 2006, the government has continuously touted impressive... MORE
GEORGIA’S SUCCESS IN KODORI GORGE BOLSTERS CASE TO REPLACE RUSSIAN “PEACEKEEPERS”
Georgian authorities have successfully restored legal order and are starting intensive development work in the hitherto isolated upper part of the Kodori Gorge. Tbilisi-based authorities of the pre-1992 Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia are now relocating to upper Kodori, the only part of Abkhazia not controlled... MORE
OPPOSITION DIVIDES OVER LOCAL ELECTIONS WHILE GOVERNMENT INTENSIFIES CAMPAIGN
Georgia will hold elections for local governments in early December, Giorgi Arveladze, head of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration, announced on August 7. Arveladze mentioned two reasons for choosing that month: to allow incumbent governments time to complete projects and to allow the new governments to... MORE
SAAKASHVILI UNVEILS NEW ECONOMIC STRATEGY
Opponents have long criticized Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili for not adopting a consistent strategy for the country’s economic development. The past five years have brought unprecedented levels of unemployment, rising prices, and declining standards of living to many households. Salaries in Georgia are reported to... MORE
TBILISI PREPARES TO SEND ABKHAZ GOVERNMENT-IN-EXILE TO KODORI
The Georgian government claims to have restored “constitutional order” in the upper Kodori Gorge -- the sole Georgia-controlled part of breakaway Abkhazia. As a result of a special operation by police and army units, the Kodori-based paramilitary group “Monadire” (Hunter) and its chieftain, Emzar Kvitsiani,... MORE