Latest Articles about Georgia
SUKHUMI’S ANTI-GEORGIAN STANCE JEOPARDIZES INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC INITIATIVES
The promising movement toward reopening railways to link Russia, Georgia, and Armenia via Georgia’s breakaway Abkhazia region is now in jeopardy. The $300 million project to restore the Abkhaz section of the Russo-Georgian railway after it was cut in 1992-93 appears to have stumbled over... MORE
IS ABKHAZIA A PAWN IN THE GLOBAL POWER GAME?
The reactivated confidence-building measures for settling the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict have not moved Georgia any closer to restoring its territorial integrity, but instead has raised hopes among the separatists. On June 30 the UN-sponsored Georgian-Abkhaz Coordinating Council's working group convened after a five-year pause and discussed... MORE
GEORGIAN WINE WAR — IS HANGOVER MORE POLITICAL THAN ECONOMIC?
Despite huge losses, Georgian wine merchants continue to suffer the consequences of Moscow’s March 27 ban on imported Georgian wines. Russian authorities claimed to be protecting the Russian consumer market from fake beverages. According to Gennady Onishchenko, Russia’s chief health inspector, more than 1.5 million... MORE
GEORGIAN MEDIA QUESTIONS SAAKASHVILI’S HEALTH, CABINET PLANS
This week two Georgian newspaper articles stood out from the typical reports about current events. One was about the sanity of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, and the other was about his plans to reshuffle the cabinet once again. On Monday, June 26, Khronika published a... MORE
SOUTH OSSETIA PEACE PLANS SMELL OF GUNPOWDER
The current situation in Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia region shows that the December 2005 plans for a peaceful settlement of this 16-year old conflict (see EDM, December 15, 2005) largely remain on paper. There is no progress toward conflict settlement despite the increased political and... MORE
PUTIN-SAAKASHVILI MIDNIGHT MEETING: FUTILE BUT NECESSARY
Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia and Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia held a three-hour meeting and joint news conference in St. Petersburg during the night of June 13-14. Saakashvili, who had solicited this meeting, succeeded in demonstrating Georgia's mature approach to the contentious issues beyond Western... MORE
OPPOSITION FEARS SAAKASHVILI WILL MANIPULATE — OR CANCEL — LOCAL ELECTIONS
The upcoming local elections in Georgia, and the controversial electoral code guiding the vote, have already triggered confrontations between the government and the opposition and even within the opposition camp. Currently the parliament is scrutinizing amendments to the election code proposed by the ruling National... MORE
CAN ABKHAZ AND GEORGIAN PEACE PLANS COEXIST?
As expected, the Abkhaz separatists rejected the peace plan that the Georgian government had offered in response to an earlier Abkhaz framework (see EDM, May 10). Sergei Shamba, the self-styled Abkhaz foreign minister, had officially submitted the Abkhaz plan while he was Tbilisi on May... MORE
LAW-ENFORCEMENT REVIEW PROVOKES CONFLICT IN SAAKASHVILI’S GOVERNMENT
A report presented to Georgia's Parliamentary Committee for Human Rights on May 19 exposed severe violations in Georgia's law enforcement system and correctional facilities. The unusually harsh report by State Ombudsman Sozar Subari, known as a staunch backer of the Rose Revolution and President Mikheil... MORE
SAAKASHVILI CONVENES COMMISSION ON CONSEQUENCES OF WITHDRAWING FROM CIS
One consideration that may influence Georgia's planned departure from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is whether Tbilisi will find itself alone and vulnerable to retaliation by an angry Russia. So far, the Georgian government seems confident of its future prospects. Following the recent Russian... MORE