Georgia’s EU U-turn
LiveGeorgia live updates | OSCE publishes final election report
We continue our live coverage of the fallout and widespread protests over Georgia’s EU accession U-turn.
News Stories
Today, 21 December 2024
Today, 21 December 2024
Yesterday, 20 December 2024
Abkhazia
MP opens fire in Abkhazian Parliament, killing fellow MP
The shooting roiled an already tense political environment in Abkhazia.
Azerbaijan
War of words between Azerbaijan, US Embassy in Baku
Azerbaijan officials have criticised a statement from the US Embassy in Azerbaijan, leading to further accusations from both sides.
Russia
Putin considers Chechnya a ‘modern Russian miracle’
Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the republics of the North Caucasus several times during his annual live broadcast.
Georgia
UK, US unveil new sanctions against Georgian officials responsible for violence against protesters
The sanctions targeted several key officials in charge of police and internal security, but did not extend to Georgian Dream politicians.
Armenia
Outrage after Yerevan’s Mayor calls local media a ‘big garbage dump’
The comments came after Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan was investigated for corruption by CivilNet and the OCCRP.
Daily Brief
Friday, 20 December 2024
Regional * Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has responded to the recent statements from Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, who issued threats to Armenia in an interview with Russian state-run media on 17 December. Pashinyan said it was ‘obvious’ that through the narrative of so-called western Azerbaijan, Baku ‘wants to materialise its territorial demands’ against Armenia, and that if Azerbaijan doesn’t have intentions to attack Armenia, ‘then the likelihood of escalation in the region is zero’
Georgian Dream
When EU politicians say one thing, Georgian Dream leaders say another
EU politicians have taken to issuing their own corrective statements following meetings with Georgian Dream leaders.
Georgia’s EU U-turn
Georgia live updates | UK and US announce sanctions as mass protests continue
We continue our live coverage of the fallout and widespread protests over Georgia’s EU accession U-turn.
Thursday, 19 December 2024
Chechnya
Pro-war Russian blogger accuses Chechen ‘Akhmat’ fighters of torture
Yegor Guzenko, the author of the Telegram channel Thirteenth, has claimed that he was tortured by Chechen fighters.
Armenia
Prosecutors reject criminal case over Yerevan bus strike
The Prosecutor General’s office did not launch any criminal proceedings regarding the Yerevan bus drivers’ strike in early December, following which city authorities submitted a report about the strikers’ alleged crime to the Prosecutor General. The update on the case came on Wednesday, with the Prosecutor General’s office telling RFE/RL that no criminal proceedings have been brought. ‘More simply, the investigator did not see any criminally punishable actions in the drivers’ strike,’ RFE/RL w
Armenia
Yerevan’s ‘unhealthy’ air provokes harsh reactions from residents
The high rates of air pollution in the Armenian capital remains a hot topic on social media.
Daily Brief
Thursday, 19 December 2024
Regional * Opposition representatives have visited the Enguri (Ingur) hydropower plant (HPP) to discuss the ongoing energy deficit crisis in Abkhazia. The Abkhazian government reportedly intends to ask the Enguri HPP to increase the supply of electricity to the Abkhazian grid. * Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, stated that unlike the ‘destructive actions of the West, Russia is taking constructive measures’ in the South Caucasus. According to Gerasimov
Georgia’s EU U-turn
Georgia live updates | TBC and BoG offer money to ‘people affected’
We continue our live coverage of the fallout and widespread protests over Georgia’s EU accession U-turn.
OC Insider
Georgian Dream’s ‘alternative facts’ machine
As public backlash — and condemnation from Georgia’s traditional allies — over the government’s EU U-turn continues, the Georgian Dream government and its media affiliates have increasingly tried to bend reality to suit their purposes. This is not a new tactic for the government and its media supporters like TV Imedi and PosTV, but it has reached jarring levels of cognitive dissonance amid the ongoing protest movement. From my perspective as a journalist, whose primary goal is to cover, as bes
Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijani public awaits answers after deadly police shooting
On 16 December, police killed Alkhas Shikhmatov, a 30-year-old resident of Gusar, northern Azerbaijan.
AbzasMedia
Abzas Media trial begins in Baku
The seven media workers were detained for smuggling in November 2023.
Chechnya
Opinion | Chechen women are speaking up, but is anybody listening?
The first all-women Chechen March highlights how Chechen women are forced to live at the intersection of Islamophobia and xenophobia.
Daily Brief
Wednesday, 18 December 2024
Armenia * On Tuesday, Defence Minister Suren Papikyan met his French counterpart Sébastien Lecornu to discuss a series of new agreements, which were not publicised. Papikyan also met with the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Armed Services of the French Senate, Cédric Perrin, and several other French lawmakers. * The Armenian government has proposed a project to provide students and employees of educational institutions with the opportunity to purchase bicycles as a mai
Georgia’s EU U-turn
Georgia live updates | Zourabichvili speaks at European Parliament as protests enter 3rd week
We continue our live coverage of the fallout and widespread protests over Georgia’s EU accession U-turn.
Tuesday, 17 December 2024
Georgia’s EU U-turn
Calls for a general strike in Georgia: where are the unions?
Amid growing calls for a general strike, Georgia’s largest trade unions have remained mostly silent.
Nagorno-Karabakh
Vardanyan faces 45 new charges in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan has also sent cases involving 15 other former Nagorno-Karabakh officials to court.
Syria
Kadyrov offers support to new Syrian authorities
Chechen head Ramzan Kadyrov suggests that the Syrian opposition should not be considered terrorists.
More than 600 businesses sign statement calling for new elections
The number of signatories to the collective statement by the Free Business association has exceeded 600, including some of Georgia’s largest business chains and local franchises of global companies like McDonalds and Spar. In the statement, the businesses demand new parliamentary elections to ‘de-escalate the situation’ in the country and the release of those detained during protests. ‘The current crisis has transcended the boundaries of party politics and is posing an imminent social and econo
Daily Brief
Tuesday, 17 December 2024
Armenia * Russia’s Ambassador to Armenia, Sergey Kopyrkin, expressed his country’s political will to maintain and elevate cooperation with Armenia ‘to a new level’. * Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said they hope Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan would participate in the informal summit of the CIS in Saint Petersburg at the end of December. * The Foreign Ministry has stated that the diplomatic mission of Armenia in Syria resumed its activities, noting that the Consulate General
Georgia
Georgia live updates | Day 20 of mass protests against government’s EU U-turn
We continue our live coverage of the fallout and widespread protests over Georgia’s EU accession U-turn.
Monday, 16 December 2024
Azerbaijan renews calls for restrictions on Armenian military and removal of EU monitors
Azerbaijan’s calls come despite increasing its own military budget.
Azerbaijan
Georgia rejects asylum request from family of detained Azerbaijani activist
Georgia has rejected the asylum request of Nurana Ashurova, the wife of a detained Azerbaijani activist, claiming that she would be safe in Azerbaijan despite there being a warrant for her arrest in her home country. Ashurova has said that she received the rejection from the Migration Department on 29 November. ‘They informed me that my request for recognition as a political refugee was denied because no harm will come to me if I return to Azerbaijan’, Ashurova told OC Media. Ashurova’s husba
1adat
Russian authorities charge Yangulbaev’s detained mother with assaulting prison guard
Russian authorities have charged Zarema Musaeva, the 55-year-old mother of three popular Chechen opposition activists, with assaulting a prison guard. The Crew Against Torture, a local rights group, told OC Media that Musaeva was charged with disorganising the activities of a prison colony on 13 December, after allegedly hitting a prison guard and tearing his epaulettes, which she denies doing. The incident allegedly took place as she was being transported back to the prison colony from the ho
Georgia
Georgia live updates | Backlash against government enter 19th day
* Georgian Dream leaders, judges, and others: Who was sanctioned by Lithuania and Estonia * EU’s top diplomat Kallas says discussions underway on sanctions and visa restrictions * Georgian Dream calls Lithuania and Estonia’s sanctions ‘anti-Georgian’ * Marches and protests scheduled for today
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