Eurasianet

Georgians and Russians have not had such close contact, and on such a scale, since the breakup of Soviet Union. Now they are figuring each other out again.

At the alliance’s summit in Madrid enlargement was a top agenda item, but Georgia’s accession prospects remain unclear.

The EU is demanding a decrease in political polarization in Georgia. But the government and opposition are bitterly divided on how that should happen.

This week will see a higher-than-usual level of attention paid to Turkmenistan, which is poised to host the heads of states of the five Caspian Sea states.

The announcement prompted a half-full-or-half-empty debate in Georgia, which is now closer than ever to EU membership but behind Ukraine and Moldova.

She used her first-ever veto to try to block a controversial surveillance bill as the government blusters in its response to criticism from Europe.

Expanding Ashgabat’s dependence on China, visiting Iran, and talking north-south transportation links. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Democracy relies on a language of compromise and mediation. Georgia’s political elite, however, is fixated on “traitors” and “enemies.”

The mass slaughter of animals in the syncretic pagan-Christian Lomisoba festival is out of step with 21st-century mores, some Georgians argue.

The news from Brussels represented a significant step forward for Georgia’s European aspirations, but Ukraine and Moldova were offered quicker paths toward EU accession.

As signals from Brussels appear to foreshadow bad news for Tbilisi, the government is preemptively making excuses and the president is working on damage control.

Uniting in paranoia with Russia, warming to Iran, and opening for business. This and more in our weekly Turkmenistan briefing.

Students are protesting that they can’t afford to return to the capital to resume their studies in person because rents have gotten so high, a trend many blame on the recent Russian influx.

The body cited Bidzina Ivanishvili’s “Kremlin links” just as the country is waiting for news from Brussels on whether it will be granted EU candidate status.

Georgian cinema has been enjoying a renaissance, becoming a darling of the international independent film world. But it’s also running into political problems at home.