Latest Articles about South Caucasus
Armenia Scrambling To Cushion the Effects of the Global Economic Crisis
Armenia’s decade-long economic recovery seems to be slowing down due to the increasingly visible effects of the global financial and economic crisis. The authorities in Yerevan are scrambling to minimize them by boosting government involvement in business activity and seeking hundreds of millions of dollars... MORE
Ukrainian and Georgian ANPs Are Also Testing NATO
The NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels on December 3 announced that Albania and Croatia were now completing their Membership Action Plans (MAPs) and would be welcomed at the NATO Summit in April 2009 as new members of the alliance. The ministerial communiqué takes note of... MORE
From MAPs to ANPs: the Background to NATO’s Compromise Decision
NATO’s ministerial meeting on December 3 decided to offer Annual National Plans (ANPs), instead of Membership Action Plans (MAPs), to Georgia and Ukraine. The old NATO-Ukraine Commission and the new NATO-Georgia Commission are to draw up and administer the ANPs (see EDM, December 5). A... MORE
Georgia Dispute Casts Shadow over NATO
On November 25 Georgia’s former ambassador to Russia, Erosi Kitsmarishvili, questioned by a parliamentary panel probing the circumstances of the war with Russia, quoted Saakashvili’s entourage as saying, “the U.S. leadership had given the green light to Georgia’s military operation in South Ossetia.” The following... MORE
Armenian Foreign Minister Visits Turkey, Reaffirms Determination for Dialogue
Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia continue to take steps toward resolving their problems through diplomatic channels. High-level meetings coinciding with international gatherings have become an ordinary development, showing the confidence and progress gained so far.Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian visited Turkey on November 24 to discuss... MORE
Azerbaijan Quietly Lending Impetus to Nabucco Project
Presidents Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan, Gurbanguly Berdimukhamedov of Turkmenistan, and Abdullah Gul of Turkey met on November 28 and 29 in Turkmenistan to discuss trilateral cooperation with a focus on natural gas deliveries. The presidents held bilateral talks in Ashgabat before meeting in the trilateral... MORE
Armenia Debates an Elusive Peace with Azerbaijan
Faced with a growing outcry from nationalist groups opposed to major concessions to Azerbaijan, Armenia’s leadership is scrambling to clarify its policy on the unresolved Karabakh conflict to the domestic political elite and the broader public. President Serzh Sarkisian met with leaders of about 50... MORE
Shooting Incident in Georgia: Information Warfare Heats Up
On November 23, in an already tense situation between Moscow and Tbilisi, automatic gunfire was allegedly directed toward a motorcade taking Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Polish President Lech Kaczynski to the village of Metekhi, in Kaspi District, to meet victims of the Russian-Georgian war.... MORE
Russia Admits Rebel Fighter Activity in Chechnya
Faced with recurring reports of assaults and assassinations in Grozny and the rest of Chechnya, Russian government officials are being forced to admit that rebel fighter operations have become a reality. As always, the leadership of Russia’s Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Defense attempts... MORE
Polish, Georgian Presidents’ Motorcade Shot at from South Ossetia
At dusk on November 23, machine-gun fire from the direction of a Russian checkpoint forced Presidents Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Lech Kaczynski of Poland to cut short a visit with Georgian refugees from South Ossetia. By most accounts, three bursts were fired into the... MORE