Ruben Vardanyan has said his move is a patriotic gesture and he has dropped hints about entering politics. But others wonder if international sanctions against Russia may be motivating him, too.
Land ownership is a sensitive issue in Abkhazia. The deal also sparked controversy in Georgia proper, where critics accused the government of closing its eyes to Russian expansion.
Because official statistics are nonsense, we look to personnel reshuffles to understand where the government recognizes it is underperforming. Our weekly briefing.
While the country’s public defender says the group’s activities violate the constitution, others argue that banning it could set a dangerous precedent.
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.
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.