Exactly one year ago, in Mach 2017, Georgia celebrated the launch of the much-sought-after visa-free travel rules (so-called visa liberalization) with the European Union. The event was considered of such high political importance for Georgia that the country’s prime minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, called it an... MORE

Russia has little hope of boosting its population through increasing the number of births—the size of the child-bearing cohort is rapidly declining, and preferences for smaller families are growing. In light of this, Vladimir Putin has begun to claim remarkable progress in reducing death rates... MORE

The Minsk city administration allowed the opposition-based Organizing Committee (OC) of the centennial celebration of the Belarusian People’s Republic (BPR) (see EDM, January 25) to organize a meeting and a concert downtown, at a square park adjacent to the capital city’s massive opera house. Both... MORE

On February 19, after a decade of investigations, Spanish prosecutors finally launched a major trial against notable members of the Russian mafia operating in the Iberian country. All in all, sufficient evidence was collected against 18 persons (cases, however, were opened against 27 alleged members... MORE

The ataman (head) of the Kuban Cossack voisko (army), Nikolay Doluda, reported that a National Guard platoon made up entirely of Cossacks is being created in Krasnodar Krai. This Cossack National Guard platoon will eventually be scaled up to a company, a battalion or even... MORE

Despite popular misperceptions of religiosity in general and Islam in particular flourishing most strongly in poor rural areas, the Islamist revival of the last 30 years has been primarily an urban phenomenon. This has been the result of the loss of familial ties by those... MORE

Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili died in custody in breakaway Tskhinvali Region (South Ossetia), on February 23 (Civil Georgia, February 23). Subsequently, the de-facto authorities have refused to hand over the body of the deceased (Civil Georgia, February 26) or to allow the return of two... MORE

Surprise is a political technique Russia’s President Vladimir Putin excels at, and he did not miss the occasion to spring some notable surprises during his annual address to the parliament, on March 1 (see EDM, March 1). The first half of the speech contained a... MORE

Many in Moscow and the West have long kept track of what might be called “retail” emigration from Russia: the flight of people who have landed in trouble with the authorities and sought asylum in the Baltic countries, Western Europe or the United States. But... MORE

In his annual address to the Russian parliament (on March 1), President Vladimir Putin began by speaking at length about plans to kick-start the stagnant economy, increase household incomes and pensions, as well as spend more on education and medicine. This first, civilian part of... MORE