Latest Articles about Georgia
INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY ON ABKHAZIA RESUMES IN TBILISI AFTER LONG HIATUS
The Coordinating Council, an overarching format for Georgian-Abkhaz dialogue also known as the Geneva Process, reconvened on May 15 in Tbilisi after a five-year suspension. The resumed Council and Process are meant to discuss Georgian and Abkhaz plans for a political settlement and, on parallel... MORE
GEORGIA NEAR EXIT FROM CIS
The presidents and other officials of Georgia and Ukraine have announced in recent days that they are considering the possibility of their countries' quitting the Commonwealth of Independent States or minimizing their participation. Stung, Russian officials are threatening severe retaliatory measures against the two countries... MORE
ABKHAZIA SLIDES TOWARD RUSSIA, BUT GEORGIA HOLDS ONTO ITS CLAIMS
May 6 marked the second anniversary of the restoration of Georgia's full jurisdiction over the Ajarian Autonomous Republic. Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, attending the celebration in Batumi, Ajaria's main city, stated that this process "should surely be completed" in breakaway Abkhazia (TV-Imedi, Regnum, May 6).... MORE
GEORGIAN ARMY MARKS 15th ANNIVERSARY, BUT IS IT READY FOR NATO?
Fifteen years ago this week, Georgia created its own armed forces. Tbilisi celebrated this anniversary by taking major steps toward eventual NATO integration. Yesterday, May 2, Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili presented Georgia's Strategic Defense Review (SDR) to a high-ranking audience of senior NATO policymakers... MORE
CRITICS PRESS FOR IMPROVED JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE IN GEORGIA
Tbilisi has responded to international and domestic complaints that Georgia's judiciary frequently makes unfair, politically motivated decisions. President Mikheil Saakashvili, known as the "Godfather" of Georgia's 1997-98 judicial reforms, now admits that the reform drive has not been a complete success. During a meeting with... MORE
RUSSIA CONTINUES TO PRESS GEORGIAN WINE INDUSTRY
After banning imports of Georgian wine and some other food products last month (see EDM, March 28), Russian authorities now say the ban might extend to Georgia's famous "Borjomi" mineral water. Following an order from Gennady Onishchenko, Russian chief sanitary inspector, about 1 billion liters... MORE
GEORGIAN GOVERNMENT QUESTIONED ABOUT SECRET FUNDS
Questions are flying about how the Georgian government operates two special bank accounts earmarked for developing the army and law-enforcement agencies. The funds were established shortly after the November 2003 Rose Revolution. Specifically, Georgian media mogul Badri Patarkatsishvili publicly charged the authorities with forcing Georgian... MORE
WILL ABKHAZIA COME UNDER UN GOVERNANCE?
During a March 29 news conference at UN headquarters in New York, Revaz Adamia, Georgia's permanent representative to the United Nations, stated that Georgia would not oppose temporary UN governance for Abkhazia. His comment likely is a trial balloon to test the reaction of the... MORE
PROTESTS, ACCUSATIONS, AND RIOTS SHAKE GEORGIA
The rapid succession of crises this week in Georgia suggests that President Mikheil Saakashvili's government and its policies are at a critical juncture. On March 27 the government announced that it had prevented a nation-wide prison riot plotted by criminal kingpins. Minister of Justice Ghia... MORE
UN SECURITY COUNCIL SHUTS EYES AND EARS TO GEORGIA
At Moscow's request, the United Nations Security Council excluded Georgia from the March 28 session that discussed prolonging the mandate of the United Nations Missions of Observers in Georgia. UNOMIG has been stationed in Abkhazia since 1994 as a passive, largely irrelevant bystander that never... MORE