EU | Eurasianet

(Photo: NATO)

US diplomat says Georgian Dream actions put Tbilisi’s Euro-Atlantic integration hopes at risk

Official points out that government policies are at odds with popular will.

Jul 16, 2024

Aliyev delivers opening remarks at the summit of the Organization of Turkic States on July 5. (Photo: president.az)

Azerbaijan’s Aliyev wants to make Turkic states group a major international player

Hungary’s Viktor Orban attends a summit of Turkic leaders as observer.

Jul 11, 2024

Georgia’s Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili (right) met with the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Javier Colomina, on the sidelines of the NATO summit. (Photo: gov.ge)

Georgia: FM tries to put positive spin on Georgian-NATO ties

The Pentagon and State Department are unhappy with Tbilisi’s recent “actions and statements.”

Ekaterina Venkina Jul 10, 2024

Georgia doesn’t have a national security strategy that accurately evaluates the threats and challenges to national security, and plans to prevent those threats, opposition lawmakers say. (Photo: gov.ge)

Georgia: Lawmakers contend national security concept needs updating

Georgian Dream government reluctant to do anything that may rile Russia.

Brawley Benson Jul 9, 2024

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a press conference ahead of the alliance’s summit in Washington. (Photo: NATO press service)

NATO Summit: Georgia and Armenia will get some attention

A carrot for Yerevan and maybe a stick for Tbilisi.

Ekaterina Venkina Jul 8, 2024

The ghost tower of Anaklia. The town seems like a graveyard of investment projects: there are empty villas, remnants of beach bars, and too many half-finished buildings to count. (All photos: Brawley Benson)

Georgia: In the doldrums at the fulcrum of a geopolitical pivot

Locals aren’t optimistic about Chinese consortium’s port plans for Anaklia.

Brawley Benson Jul 1, 2024

Georgian government officials present a bottle of Georgian wine to a senior Chinese executive at a trade fair in Shanghai. Tbilisi’s growing ties with and reliance on Beijing conflict with Georgia’s long-term ambitions. (Photo: gov.ge)

Perspectives: Georgia to be disappointed if it expects security guarantees from China

An unequal strategic partnership for Georgia.

Rasmus G. D. Hardt, Anders Streubel-Kristensen Jun 28, 2024

Crocus City Hall in Moscow burns after a terrorist attack in March 2024. ISKP, the terror group responsible for the attack, is believed to also be targeting Central Asia. (Photo: gov.ru)

Perspectives: ISKP posing rising threat to Central Asia

Outreach campaign shifts into top gear.

Lucas Webber Jun 25, 2024

A Caesar self-propelled howitzer. France announced the sale of 36 such howitzers to Armenia, which immediately sparked vitriolic responses from Azerbaijan and Russia. (Photo: U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Mikki L. Sprenkle)

French arms sale to Armenia fuels tension in Caucasus

Azerbaijani media raises specter of Third Karabakh War.

Ani Avetisyan Jun 24, 2024

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze shakes hands with Iranian officials in Tehran in late May. (Photo: gov.ge)

Georgia probing closer ties with Iran

Are tighter ties with Tehran part of a geopolitical pivot?

Brawley Benson Jun 19, 2024

Heads of state pose for the traditional family photo during the summit on peace in Ukraine, in Stansstad, Switzerland, June 15, 2024. (KEYSTONE/EDA/POOL/Michael Buholzer)

Swiss summit gives Georgia and Ukraine presidents chance to reaffirm commitment to European integration

Summit communique urges dialogue to end warfare without providing roadmap for talks.

Ekaterina Venkina Jun 17, 2024

An employee of Gazprom Kyrgyzstan at a station in Bishkek. Under a recently signed deal, Gazprom Kyrgyzstan will be supplied with Russian gas for 15 years, beginning in 2025. (Photo: bishkek.gov.kg)

Energy Roundup: Eurasian natural gas exporters making headway in reorienting operations

Russia looking south instead of west, while Azerbaijan aims to replace Russian supplies to EU.

David O'Byrne Jun 13, 2024

President and Commander-in-Chief Salome Zourabichvili (center, back) during a military parade on May 26. (Photo: gov.ge)

Georgia: President unveils blueprint for opposition coalition

Prime minister insinuates president is a traitor.

Brawley Benson May 28, 2024

$Opinion polls show large majorities of Georgian supporting membership in the European Union. There have been calls for Georgia’s fractured opposition forces to form a unified front and turn the upcoming parliamentary elections into a referendum for EU integration, but that will require overcoming old divisions and disagreements. (Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media)$

Georgia: With ‘foreign agents’ law a fait accompli, opposition focus turning to elections

Can fractured opposition come together?

Brawley Benson May 23, 2024

A protester in New Caledonia holds posters with images of Azerbaijan’s Iron Fist war memorial and President Ilham Aliyev. (Photo: caliber.az)

Azerbaijan: Baku denying French accusations of meddling in New Caledonia

But a Baku-based group denounces ‘French colonialist doctrine’.

May 22, 2024

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan meets with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on May 8. Politically, Pashinyan has been quick to bolster relations with the European Union and United States, but making a political shift is proving a faster process than reorienting the Armenian economy. (Photo: kremlin.ru)

Armenia: Tax records tell tale of continuing economic dependency on Russia

Moscow’s financial gravitational pull on Yerevan remains powerful.

May 17, 2024

Protestors in front of Georgia’s parliament on May 14, the day the “foreign agents” bill passed its third and final reading. (Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC Media)

Georgia: Market reaction shows ‘foreign agents’ law is bad for business

Both sides preparing for extended fight.

Brawley Benson May 17, 2024

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze delivers a keynote speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Hungary in late April 2024. (Photo: gov.ge)

Georgia: Tracing the rise of illiberalism in Tbilisi

Georgian Dream following Hungarian example.

Alec Gitelman May 15, 2024

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan signed a deal to link their power grids with an intention to export electricity to the EU. (Photo: gov.kz)

Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan press ahead with ambitious electricity export plan

The European Union seen as the primary export market.

May 14, 2024

Protestors in front of Georgia’s parliament on May 14. (Photo: Brawley Benson)

Georgia taking authoritarian turn with adoption of foreign agents legislation

Sanctions may be looming for Georgian Dream leaders.

Brawley Benson May 14, 2024

University students at a rally against the “foreign agents” draft law. On May 11, critics of the bill mounted one of the largest public protests seen in decades in Georgia. (Photo: newsgeorgia.ge)

Georgia: As protests rock Tbilisi, prime minister claims silent majority backs ‘foreign agents’ bill

Government determined to press ahead with legislation seemingly at any cost.

May 13, 2024

Cargo trucks at the Upper Lars checkpoint on the road that connects Russia with Armenia (via Georgia). Russia accounted for almost 36 percent of Armenia’s overall trade turnover in 2023. (Photo: gov.ru)

Armenia making slow progress in reorienting economic direction

Remittances from Russia experience significant decline.

May 8, 2024

Bidzina Ivanishvili during his April 28 speech. (Photo: gd.ge)

Perspectives: It is time for Georgia’s citizens to decide

“The transformation of Georgian Dream into a party dedicated to the eradication of multiplicity and tolerance is complete”

Stephen F. Jones May 3, 2024

Georgians have demonstrated outside of parliament each night for two weeks, including mass rallies against the law on April 17 and 28. (Photo: t.me/NGnewsgeorgia)

Georgia: Draft law would negate 30-plus years of work to promote rule of law – activists

Many of those potentially impacted by foreign agents legislation say they won’t comply.

Brawley Benson Apr 29, 2024

The reintroduction by Georgian Dream of the so-called foreign agents bill has led to mass protests across Georgia. (Photo: Mariam Nikuradze/OC-Media.org)

Perspectives: Georgian Dream’s doublethink may backfire in Tbilisi

An awakening of youth activism poses a challenge for the government.

Giorgi Revishvili Apr 26, 2024