(Interfax – TBILISI, May 16, 2013) The Georgian presidential administration believes the investigation into the 2008 war and the attempts to accuse the previous government of Georgia increase the risk of South Ossetia and Abkhazia being recognized as different countries. “The attitude adopted by the new administration may lead to a catastrophic result for our country, and responsibility for it will fully rest with the initiators of this investigation,” the
(Interfax – TBILISI, May 15, 2013) Georgia will do everything to restore relations with “the big neighbor”, Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili said in an interview with Euronews TV company reported partially by local mass media outlets on Wednesday. “The current state of the relations between Georgia and Russia is not in anybody’s interests. Georgia lost 20% of its territory and we will do everything to return it,” Ivanishvili said.
(Interfax – TBILISI, May 12, 2013) Commenting on the nomination of the presidential candidate from the ruling coalition Georgian Dream, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili recalled an old joke about Roman Emperor Caligula who made his horse a senator. Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili earlier said the presidential candidate from Georgian Dream will be Giorgy Margvelashvili, deputy prime minister and education minister. In the meantime, Saakashvili told reporters he does not
(RIA Novosti – WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013) US Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that Washington supports Georgia’s aspirations to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), ambitions that Moscow has repeatedly warned will only inflame tensions in the South Caucasus. “We are very supportive of Georgia’s aspirations with respect to NATO and Europe,” Kerry said ahead of a meeting in Washington with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, whose
(RIA Novosti – TBILISI, May 2, 2013) Georgia will not boycott next year’s Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi after the country’s National Olympic Committee voted unanimously Thursday in favor of taking part. The question of a boycott has repeatedly arisen in Georgia as a result of the 2008 war with host national Russia. The two countries still do not have formal diplomatic relations. The Games will be
(Interfax – TBILISI, April 29, 2013) Georgia will not establish diplomatic ties with Russia while 20% of its territory is occupied, Georgian Foreign Minister Maya Pandzhanikidze told reporters on Monday. “While 20 percent of the Georgian territories are occupied by Russia, establishing diplomatic ties is impossible. Another reason is that Russia recognizes two Georgian regions as independent states. Until this recognition is cancelled and until the Georgian territories are no
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – April 27, 2013) Irakli Alasania served as Georgia’s UN ambassador before resigning in late 2008 and joining the opposition to President Mikheil Saakashvili. He is now defense minister in Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili’s coalition government. RFE/RL correspondent Brian Whitmore caught up with Alasania in Tbilisi to discuss the new government’s approach to Russia. RFE/RL: Since the new government came to power after the October elections, President Mikheil
(RFE/RL – rferl.org – Brian Whitmore – April 29, 2013) TBILISI – Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili says resolving his country’s conflicts with Russia is his “big dream.” But it’s a dream that has him locked in a war of words with President Mikheil Saakashvili and his allies. Saakashvili slammed Ivanishvili on April 23 for saying, in remarks to the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, that Georgia made “many mistakes”
(Interfax – TBILISI. April 17, 2013) Georgian State Minister for Reintegration Paata Zakareishvili has accused President Mikheil Saakashvili for provoking Russia into occupying the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and then recognizing their independence. “For instance, in line with international agreements, Georgia did not have the right to deploy its troops in the Kodori Gorge of Abkhazia controlled by Georgia, but it did so in 2006. The same year,
(Interfax – TBILISI. April 17, 2013) A member of the Georgian parliamentary majority harshly criticized some of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s recollections of details of the August 2008 war with Russia over South Ossetia in an interview shown on Rustavi-2 television. “Saakashvili’s statement that the United States considered the possibility of bombarding the Roki Tunnel during the August war will certainly not improve relations between Georgia and the United States, between
(Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 10, Issue 72 – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Vladimir Socor – April 17, 2013) Georgia’s Prosecutor-General Archil Kbilashvili (formerly a legal counsel to the current Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili), Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani (who does not have a formal degree in law), Georgian Dream parliamentary majority leader Davit Saganelidze, and Defense Minister Irakli Alasania are all announcing criminal investigations against lame duck President Mikheil Saakashvili
(RIA Novosti – TBILISI, April 17, 2013) Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Tuesday he was not against mending diplomatic relations with Russia that were severed several years ago. “I am one of those supporting the improvement of these relations. It was my initiative to lift the visa regime with Russia so that more Russian tourists could visit Georgia,” Saakashvili said in an interview with Rustavi-2 television channel. “I am
(Interfax – TBILISI. April 16, 2013) If Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili does not want to be questioned on the South Ossetian-Georgian conflict in August 2008, then he cannot be, Georgia’s chief prosecutor Archil Kbilashvili said. “The president is untouchable and there are no judicial mechanisms which would permit him to be interrogated,” Kbilashvili told reporters on Tuesday. Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has said recently that it was necessary to
(Interfax – TBILISI, April 15, 2013) A vast majority of Georgians approve of the government’s plan to resume exports of wine, mineral water and agricultural produce to Russia, an opinion poll suggests. Current Georgian-Russian talks on the resumption of such exports were acceptable to 84% of respondents and unacceptable to only 3% of respondents in a recent survey by the U.S. National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), with 11%
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Bratersky – April 12, 2013) As Russia’s relationship with Georgia warms up after the new Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili assumed power in Tbilisi, Moscow will host its long awaited Georgian guest, the famous Rustavi ensemble. Rustavi, a folk dance and chorus group, will perform in Russia on Thursday after a 10-year absence. “We are awaiting those spectators who love Georgia and Georgian culture,”
(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 11, 2013) Russia likes the Georgian government’s pragmatism and is ready to expand ties with the South Caucasus country, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said. “The pragmatism with which Bidzina Ivanishvili’s government addresses [bilateral] relations appeals to us,” Lavrov told Russian television channel RTVi. “We are ready to expand not only trade… but also cultural, humanitarian and sport contacts,” the foreign minister said. He
(Voice of America – James Brooke – April 11, 2013) A foreign correspondent who has reported from five continents, Brooke, known universally as Jim, is the Voice of America bureau chief for Russia and former Soviet Union countries. From his base in Moscow, Jim roams Russia and Russia’s southern neighbors. In the aftermath of the 2008 Russia-Georgia war, Russia recognized Abkhazia, a breakaway region of Georgia, as a fully independent
(Bloomberg – bloomberg.com – Helena Bedwell – April 10, 2013) Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili wants to question President Mikheil Saakashvili over the country’s five-day war with Russia in 2008, a probe that may lead to legal proceedings against Saakashvili. The president and the government “acted inadequately” and the Georgian army acted before Russian forces crossed the border during the conflict over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia,
(Interfax – TBILISI, April 8, 2013) The return of Georgian wine, mineral water, fruit, vegetables and other produce to Russia is going successfully and supplies might resume by June, Georgian Minister of Agriculture David Kirvalidze said at a briefing on Monday. “We have stepped forward in both directions,” Kirvalidze said when commenting on the second inspection the Russian consumer rights watchdog, Rospotrebnadzor, carried out last week. Russian experts inspected another
(Interfax – TBILISI, April 4, 2013) Akhmed Zakayev, formerly known as a Chechen separatist emissary, has accused Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s entourage of arming and training a group of Chechen saboteurs and planning to send them to Russia in 2012. “People from Saakashvili’s inner circle brought a group of Chechens from Europe, organized their training, provided them with weapons and were supposed to arrange a safe corridor for them to
From: “Ariel Cohen” <Ariel.Cohen@heritage.org> Subject: INVITATION: Kennan Institute Caucasus Railroads and Pipelines Conference April 2, 9:30AM-2PM Date: Tue, 26 Mar 2013 Dear Friends: I am honored to invite you to the following event, at which I co-chair a panel. If you do not live in the Washington, D.C. area, our apologies. Feel free to forward to your friends in the area who may have an interest in the subject or
TBILISI,. March 15 (Interfax) – Georgian citizens welcome the government’s steps to normalize relations with Russia, said the Georgian prime minister’s special envoy for Russia Zurab Abashidze. “More than 80% of Georgian citizens polled support the process of finding a way out of the impasse in relations with Russia, and creating a more positive atmosphere in them, which is actually happening now,” Abashidze told reporters on Friday. Abashidze was commenting
[Russia & Georgia: wine tasting - Financial Times - Isabel Gorst - March 7, 2013 - http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2013/03/06/russia-georgia-wine-tasting/] The Financial Times covers preparations to lift Russia’s ban on Georgian wine and mineral water imports, as the two countries look towards trade as an initial foundation for improved relations: Sanitary inspectors in Russia look set to lift a ban on Georgian wine and mineral water imports imposed in 2006 for reasons that
(International Relations and Security Network (ISN) – www.isn.ethz.ch – Aglaya Snetkov for the ISN – February 25, 2013) Aglaya Snetkov is a senior researcher at the Center for Security Studies (CSS). Despite the attempts by Western powers to penetrate the Caucasus, Russia continues to exert unmatched influence over the region. In today’s Questions and Answers presentation, the CSS’ Aglaya Snetkov outlines some of the differences between Moscow’s North and South
MOSCOW, February 25 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow reiterated its position on the normalization of ties with Tbilisi on Monday, saying it was not ready to discuss the issue of the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, despite a move toward improved relations between the two sides. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin reiterated Russia’s interest in normalizing its ties with Georgia in areas where the Georgian side is prepared
(RIA Novosti – Fyodor Lukyanov – February 14, 2013) Fyodor Lukyanov is Editor-in-Chief of the Russia in Global Affairs journal an authoritative source of expertise on Russian foreign policy and global developments – http://eng.globalaffairs.ru] Georgia has most likely entered the final stage of its political transformation. The next few weeks will show whether President Mikheil Saakashvili, whose term ends in October, is prepared to fight the government of billionaire
MOSCOW. Feb 12 (Interfax) – A total of 69 Georgian wine and mineral water producers have applied to export product to Russia, Russian consumer safety watchdog Rospotrebnadzor said. “All of the documents received have been forwarded to Rospotrebnadzor experts for study. Priority will be given to those 31 organizations that have submitted information for the documentary check in full. The checks of the other 38 will be carried out after
(Caucasus Reporting Service – Issue 674 – IWPR Institute for War & Peace Reporting – iwpr.net – Sofo Bukia) From: “IWPR Institute for War & Peace Reporting” <mailing@iwpr.net> Subject: Caucasus Reporting Service – Issue 674 Date: Tue, 5 Feb 2013 Despite their election defeat last October, President Mikhail Saakashvili’s political allies want the Georgian constitution to be changed to force all future governments to pursue the same external policies. In
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – February 5, 2013) Georgian wine and mineral water could return to Russian store shelves as early as this spring, Russia’s chief sanitary official said Monday. Moscow will send teams of sanitary inspectors to facilities in Georgia, Gennady Onishchenko told reporters. If they approve local quality levels, producers can register in Russia and resume imports, he said in comments carried by Interfax.
MOSCOW. Jan 30 (Interfax) – The attempts of the new Georgian authorities to improve relations with Russia have affected the attitudes of Russians toward that country, sociological studies indicate. Presently, the number of positive comments on Georgia exceeds the number of negative, sociologists from the Levada Center told Interfax on Wednesday. Thus, while in January last year 36% of Russians had a positive attitude toward neighboring Georgia and 48% a
TALLINN. Jan 31 (Interfax) – Georgia’s foreign minister made assurances on Wednesday that her country would stick to its policy of seeking membership in the European Union and NATO. “Both for Estonia and for Georgia, joining the European Union is primarily a security issue, but, of course, it would help revise the Georgian economy as well,” an Estonian government statement that was made available to Interfax quoted Maia Panjikidze as
(Business New Europe – www.bne.eu – Molly Corso in Tbilisi – January 31, 2013) In power for just three months, the government of Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili appears to have struck gold in economic relations with Russia: officials in Moscow have tentatively given the green light to resuming Georgian wine and mineral water imports, reopening a major market for Georgian farmers and businesses. While critics in Tbilisi have slammed the
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – January 25, 2013) A cocktail-party chat that lasted only minutes has triggered hopes that the country’s troubled relations with Georgia might be headed for substantial recovery. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had a conversation with his Georgian counterpart, Bidzina Ivanishvili, during a reception at the Davos World Economic Forum late Wednesday, Medvedev’s spokeswoman, Natalya Timakova, said Thursday. “Both prime ministers were at
STRASBOURG. Jan 22 (Interfax) – Problems facing Russian-Georgian relations could be resolved easily if Moscow agreed to give up its “territorial claims”, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said. “Russia ought to give up its imperial ambitions, its territorial claims, and Georgia should rebuild its territorial integrity,” he said at the winter session of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) in Strasbourg. The head of Russia’s delegation to PACE, Alexei Pushkov,
TBILISI. Jan 12 (Interfax) – Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has accused Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili of an attempt to change Georgia’s foreign policy. At the ceremony for introducing the new governors, which was held in the presidential palace on Saturday, Saakashvili said Ivanishvili in his recent interview had said that he had to “repel” the attacks of the Western world and the U.S. to keep his policies independent. The prime
[No America in the Caucasus: The False Promise of Westernization in Georgia - Foreign Affairs - Thomas de Waal - December 5, 2012 - click here to read full article] Writing in Foreign Affairs, Thomas De Waal questions whether Georgia could ever be considered “westernized.” He also holds that the story of political transitions involving Mikheil Saakashvili actually shares themes with that of Eduard Shevardnadze: Nine years after Georgia’s Rose
TBILISI. Jan 1 (Interfax) – Twenty Georgian companies producing wine and mineral water are preparing to resume the deliveries of their output to the Russian market, head of the Center for Georgian-Russian Economic Cooperation Giorgy Seturidze told the press summing up the results of a Monday meeting with representatives of these companies. He said all technical questions related to the return to the Russian market have been practically settled, only
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Jonathan Earle and Alec Luhn – Dec. 14, 2012) On the eve of the next major anti-government protest, investigators announced that they had evidence that a Georgian politician helped organize violent clashes at a May 6 protest in Moscow. Givi Targamadze, a close ally of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, “managed” opposition leaders responsible for the so-called “March of Millions” on May 6 that ended in
[PM's Envoy to Meet Russian Diplomat 'Informally' - Civil Georgia - Dec. 12, 2012 - http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=25533] Civil Georgia covers plans for Georgia and Russia to have informal diplomatic talks, possibly in Switzerland. The two sides apparently are already in direct contact, for the purpose of setting up the meetings: Georgian PM’s special representative for relations with Russia, Zurab Abashidze, said on Monday he would meet “informally” a senior Russian diplomat
(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Nikolaus von Twickel – Dec. 6, 2012) BRUSSELS Two months after an opposition party swept elections in Georgia, NATO on Tuesday reconfirmed its 2008 decision to treat the nation as a future member but expressed concern about its democratic development. “Georgia’s commitment to NATO is solid. And NATO’s commitment to Georgia remains just as solid,” the alliance’s secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told reporters after
(Interfax – Dec. 2, 2012) Georgia believes it is necessary to start resuming dialogue with Russia despite radical disagreements regarding Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s status. “We believe we should look for common interests without preconditions, especially such that rule out the possibility of dialogue. We are sure that the settlement of problems between Georgia and Russia are in the interests of our states and peoples,” Zurab Abashidze, the Georgian special
(Georgia eyes double-digit growth, renewed Russia ties – Reuters – Margarita Antidze – Nov. 26, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/26/us-georgia-economy-idUSBRE8AP0NE20121126) Reuters covers Georgia’s expressed need for increased economic growth in the face of unemployment and low per capita GDP, with one hope being that trade with Russia will play a part: Georgia’s new economy minister says his country, beset by high unemployment and low per capita output, wants double-digit growth rates in
MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) – Russia is ready to cooperate with the new Georgian authorities, if they take into account Russia’s decision on the recognition of Abkhazia’s and South Ossetia’s independence, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “This is not the easiest path, but Russia has always said that we are ready for dialog with the new Georgian authorities, but of course given the existing geopolitical reality and decisions on
TBILISI. Nov 28 (Interfax) – U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Eric Rubin discussed relations between Tbilisi and Moscow with Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili at a meeting at the Georgian State Chancellery behind closed doors, the prime ministerial press service reported on Tuesday. Ivanishvili said following the meeting that he hoped for the U.S. assistance in bringing Georgian-Russian relations back to normal. “We also
TBILISI. Nov 23 (Interfax) – Another holiday will be marked in Georgia this year instead of the Rose Revolution anniversary for the first time since 2003. The government led by Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in Georgia following the resignation of President Eduard Shevardnadze on November 23, 2003. This date has been marked officially as the Rose Revolution anniversary, but this year it will see only festivities celebrating St. Giorgi
TBILISI. Nov 19 (Interfax) – The Georgian Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection does not intend to revise the status or name of the Soviet Occupation Museum functioning in Tbilisi, a ministry statement says. With the change of government in Georgia activist groups have stepped up efforts in the past few weeks demanding that the museum be closed or renamed. They have opponents in the person of college students who
(Voice of America – James Brooke – November 3, 2012 – James Brooke is VOA Moscow bureau chief, covering Russia and the former USSR) Vladimir Putin is suffering back pains and is cancelling foreign trips and his annual November press conference marathon. He may also be suffering from a foreign policy migraine: multi-party democracy is alive and well in the most unexpected of places: Russia’s neighboring southern republics Georgia
(“Georgia Appoints Special Envoy for Relations with Russia Civil Georgia” – Civil Georgia – November 1, 2012 – http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=25407) Civil Georgia reports that Georgian Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili has created a new post of Special Representative for Relations with Russia, appointing Zurab Abashidze, former ambassador to Moscow, to the position. Abashidze is to report directly to Ivanishvili. Ivanishvili touts the move as a sign of Georgia’s good faith in wanting
TBILISI. Oct 18 (Interfax) – Billionaire Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgia’s likely next prime minister, insisted on Thursday that NATO speed up his country’s process of accession to the North Atlantic alliance now that the nation has carried out democratic parliamentary elections, a condition for joining the organization. “NATO should now take practical steps to enable Georgia to join the alliance as soon as possible,” Ivanishvili, leader of the Georgian Dream coalition,
Church’s Muscle Helped Propel President’s Rivals to Victory in Georgia – New York Times – Ellen Barry – October 14, 2012 – http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/14/world/europe/churchs-muscle-aided-win-of-presidents-rivals-in-georgia.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 Ellen Barry writes on the Eastern Orthodox church in Georgia and its views of politics and recent elections: “As sharply contested parliamentary voting approached in Georgia last week, the country’s Orthodox patriarch implemented his own peculiar pre-election ritual: He arranged for an airplane carrying icons and holy
Print 
PDF