Latest Articles about South Caucasus
GAZPROM’S MOVE ON ABKHAZIA: MORE REASONS FOR GEORGIA TO BLOCK RUSSIA’S WTO ACCESSION
Russia’s Gazprom has announced its intention to launch exploration for oil and gas in Abkhazia on July 1, apparently offshore in the Black Sea. According to a notice just circulated by Gazprom’s board, the June 27 shareholders’ meeting will discuss plans by Gazprom, its subsidiary... MORE
GEORGIAN OPPOSITION RIVEN BY MULTIPLE SPLITS AS NEW PARLIAMENT OPENS
As anticipated on the eve of Georgia's parliamentary elections (see EDM, May 19), the composition of the new parliament should guarantee the stability and continuity of the incumbent leadership's liberal economic policies and security alignment with the West. The governing National Movement won 119 out... MORE
MODUS VIVENDI AGREED WITH MODERATE OPPOSITION IN THE GEORGIAN PARLIAMENT
The upstart Christian-Democrat Movement follows its own game plan, positioning itself as the main parliamentary opposition party and emphasizing moderation in contrast to the irreconcilable opposition leaders. Party leader Giorgi Targamadze created this organization from scratch, shortly before the electoral campaign. Targamadze capitalized on his... MORE
SOLANA RETURNS EMPTY-HANDED FROM ABKHAZIA
The European Union’s High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana returned empty-handed from his June 6 talks with Abkhaz secessionist leaders in Sokhumi. Solana held talks with Georgian leaders first, while en route to Sokhumi; and briefed Georgian leaders afterward, before... MORE
THE RISE OF AZERI SEAPOWER
The Caspian’s legal status has been in limbo since the 1991 collapse of the USSR. The Caspian is the world’s largest enclosed body of water, with a surface area of 143,244 square miles. A mini-fleet of tankers now prowls its water, but less known is... MORE
EUROAPPEASEMENT: THE EU’S ANSWER TO RUSSIA’S ASSAULT ON GEORGIA
The European Union’s External Relations Council (known as GAERC, the EU’s policy making body at the level of ministers of foreign affairs) discussed Russia’s assault on Georgia in its latest monthly meeting in Brussels. Held on May 26 and 27, five days before Russia’s unlawful... MORE
RUSSIA DEPLOYS RAILWAY TROOPS TO ABKHAZIA
On May 30 and 31 Russia’s Defense Ministry sent railway troops into Abkhazia without informing Georgia, much less requesting its consent. The move involves some 400 personnel, mostly from the ministry’s Railway Troops and some from the military engineering troops. This deployment marks another move... MORE
UN MISSION CONFIRMS GEORGIAN, REJECTS RUSSIAN VERSION OF AIR CLASH
On May 26 the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) released its report on the downing of a unmanned Georgian aerial vehicle (UAV), which was reconnoitering Russian-controlled Abkhazia on April 20. Contrary to UNOMIG’s traditional tolerance of Russian pressures on Georgia, this report holds... MORE
A GEORGIAN CHARM OFFENSIVE IN MOSCOW
In an apparent attempt to defuse a tense diplomatic and military conflict with Russia over the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Georgian government is starting a major drive in Moscow to improve relations. The new Georgian ambassador to Moscow, Erosi Kicmarishvili, who... MORE
MOSCOW ENCOURAGES NORTH-SOUTH OSSETIAN IRREDENTISM AGAINST GEORGIA
On May 20 Moscow signaled officially that it was prepared to promote annexation of Georgia’s region of South Ossetia to the Russian Federation. The Russian government seems set to underwrite an ethnic irredenta there, seeking to put an Ossetian face on Russian state expansionism (as... MORE