In the direct aftermath of the 2008 Russian – Georgian war, the Russian Federation undertook a range of measures to extract both South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia, starting with the recognition of both as independent, this weekend exactly ten years ago. A little exploration in the past. Two weeks after …
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On August 12, ten years ago, when Georgia’s final defeat by Russian troops was near, a hastily negotiated ceasefire agreement between French President Nikolas Sarkozy acting on behalf of the EU and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was drafted. The Americans and Europeans recognized time was running out if they wanted …
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Q: Georgia broke off diplomatic relations with Syria over recognition by Assad’s regime of its two breakaway provinces. Was this a right step, in your mind? A: politically and legally this was the only natural step. A government is obliged to break off diplomatic relations with a country, which does …
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Four NATO ships, assigned to the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2), arrived on a four-day port call in Poti on Georgia’s Black Sea coast today. The maritime group, which includes the British frigate HMS Duncan, Turkish TCG Gemlik, Bulgarian BGS Drazki, and Romanian ROS Regele Ferdinand, is led by Mike …
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The Minister of Economy and Industry of Israel, Eli Cohen, and his Georgian counterpart, Dimitri Kumsishvili, signed yesterday a declaration on launching a joint feasibility study on free trade agreement between the two nations. Minister Cohen, who was on his first official visit to Georgia on May 9-11, said after …
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Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said at the government session yesterday that the state policy on drug trade would be “firm and inflexible.” “The state should be humane to those, who suffer from this disease, but at the same time, the authorities need to be firm on drug trade; we …
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A four-member delegation of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Security and Defense (SEDE) visited Georgia on May 8-10, discussing with Georgian leaders the country’s relations with the European Union and the situation in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia. The delegation of the SEDE subcommittee includes Anna Fotyga (ECR, Poland), Clare …
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Georgian Economy Minister Dimitri Kumsishvili paid a one-day working visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran on May 7, and held talks with high-ranking Iranian officials. During the visit, Kumsishvili met with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, Economy and Finance Minister Masoud Karbasian, Roads Minister Abbas Akhoundi, and Oil Minister …
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Marc Behrendt, Director for Europe and Eurasia programs at Freedom House (FH), spoke to Voice of America’s Nana Sajaia on Georgia’s worsened score in FH’s recent Nations in Transit report and the Georgian government’s criticism that followed its publication. What were the most striking issues that you observed in Georgia …
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The Government of Georgia unveiled a new action plan for education reform, which aims at improving the quality of education at all levels, and represents one of the areas in the Government’s four-point reform plan. The action plan, dubbed “Twelve Steps to Quality Education,” was introduced to government officials, lawmakers, experts, …
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Patrol cars of the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM). Photo: EUMM This past spring, the observers of largely anemic diplomatic talks in Geneva were exited to hear the reluctant confirmation by the Georgian foreign ministry of the “minor progress” regarding the non-use-of-force (NUF) agreement. This followed on Russian …
Read More »Mustafa Emre Çabuk, a Turkish secondary school teacher living in Georgia, “is at imminent risk of extradition to Turkey, where he is at risk of torture and other grave human rights violations,” the Amnesty International, London-based international human right organization, said in its brief report on May 26. Çabuk, who …
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It is a group of Georgians that rarely features in the country’s public life. But a stark reminder of their existence came in September and October 2013, when former President Mikheil Saakashvili granted Georgian citizenship to over 2,500 people of Georgian origin living in Turkey. Their enthusiasm took some people …
Read More »Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze delivers statement at the UN Security Council Open Debate, February 21, 2017. Photo: UN Mission of Georgia The February 21 UN Security Council Open Debate on Conflicts in Europe, focused primarily on the situation in Ukraine, but touched upon other European conflicts as well, including that …
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