The National Assembly of Armenia affirmed Karen Karapetyan as the country’s new prime minister, on September 13. Karapetyan’s previous career was predominantly linked in various ways to Russia’s natural gas producer Gazprom (with the exception of ten months in 2010–2011, when he served as mayor... MORE

Sunday’s runoffs in 50 precincts—which became necessary because none of the candidates in these single-mandate districts garnered an absolute majority of the vote in the first round of the October 8 Georgian parliamentary elections—were overwhelmingly won by the ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia (GDDG). On October... MORE

The opposition United National Movement (UNM) came in distant second in the Georgian parliamentary elections that took place on October 8 (see EDM, October 13). The party of former president Mikheil Saakashvili received only 27.11 percent of the vote for the party list. And it... MORE

Top decision makers, opinion leaders and CEOs of the world’s largest energy companies, including BP, Gazprom, Shell and Total, convened in Istanbul, on October 9–13, for the 23rd World Energy Congress. High-level officials, including 56 ministers from various countries around the globe, also attended the... MORE

Political infighting and bureaucratic red tape in Italy are jeopardizing the realization of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), the westernmost segment of a wider energy corridor to bring Azerbaijani natural gas to Southeastern Europe. In turn, these problems are frustrating Rome’s efforts to establish a Mediterranean... MORE

Late on the evening of October 4, a car was blown up next to Tbilisi’s Freedom Square. Givi Targamadze, a high-ranking member of Georgia’s United National Movement (UNM) party, along with his driver, survived; four passersby were injured, one seriously (Civil Georgia, October 4). Targamadze... MORE

Georgia held nationwide parliamentary elections on October 8. Against the background of the country’s stagnant economy and worsening living conditions, it was not entirely clear if the ruling Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia (GDDG) party would actually manage to hold on to power (see EDM, September 28).... MORE

On September 27, Georgian authorities and activists commemorated the 23rd anniversary of the “Fall of Sukhumi.” On that date in 1993, an armed group of Abkhaz and North Caucasian fighters, clandestinely supported in various ways by Russian forces stationed in Abkhazia, managed to establish control... MORE

In recent weeks, Armenia has been showing off the sophisticated new weapons it acquired via a $200 million credit line extended by Russia. And most notably, on September 21, during a parade in Yerevan commemorating the 25th anniversary of Armenian independence, the Armed Forces showcased... MORE

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, who also serves as the chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream–Democratic Georgia party (GDDG), stated on September 14 that the formerly ruling United National Movement (UNM) was trying to radicalize the country’s political situation through its affiliate organizations. He asserted... MORE