Georgia–US Relations
US State Department sends representative to meet Georgian Dream and opposition
Sonata Coulter is a Deputy Assistant Secretary of the US State Department.
News Stories
Friday, 08 May 2026
Friday, 08 May 2026
2026 Armenian parliamentary elections
Armenia arrests suspects in two Karapetyan-linked alleged vote-buying cases
These are the latest of similar criminal cases involving Karapetyan’s affiliates in the last several months.
Azerbaijan
Former Azerbaijani soldier arrested for hooliganism
Haji Valiyev was the chair of a veterans’ rights organisation.
Abkhazia
How Georgian artist Tedo Rekhviashvili smuggled an Abkhazia piece into Nauru’s Biennale pavilion
Rekhviashvili, whose family is from Abkhazia, tells OC Media how he slipped the piece into the exhibition of a microstate that recognises Abkhazia.
Armenia
Russia expresses outrage over Zelenskyi’s remarks at EPC summit in Yerevan
The Kremlin’s anger comes at a time of sharpened tension between Moscow and Yerevan.
Georgia
Georgia sentences 4 October’s ‘peaceful revolution’ detainees to lengthy prison terms
Those sentenced included both politicians and protesters.
The Georgian Orthodox Church
Senior Georgian bishop calls leading patriarchal candidate Mujiri ‘dangerous’ and preferred by Russia
The final vote on the succession of the late Patriarch Ilia II is set for 11 May.
Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Grozny struck by drones as attacks shut down airports across North Caucasus
Drone debris landed in the centre of the Chechen capital Grozny, but there are no reports of casualties at the time of publication.
Georgia
Three sentenced to life in prison over high-profile mafia murder in Tbilisi
Levan Jangveladze, the brother of famed mob boss Merab Jangveladze, was shot to death in Tbilisi’s upscale Vake neighbourhood in March 2025.
Daily Brief
Friday, 8 May 2026
Armenia * Today, pre-election campaigning kicked off in Armenia for the 7 June parliamentary elections. * Yesterday, Russia summoned Armenia’s Ambassador Gurgen Arsenyan, claiming Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi had ‘voice[d] terrorist threats against Russia’ during his speech at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan earlier this week. * Armenian authorities have arrested an undisclosed number of people over allegations of vote buying and attempts to obstruct the free vo
Thursday, 07 May 2026
Georgia
Georgia charges five police officers over attacks during 2024 anti-government protests
The charges mark the first time that police have been held accountable for violence inflicted on protesters since 2024.
Kabarda–Balkaria
Director Sokurov snubbed at Venice Biennale after criticism from Russian and Ukrainian activists
The director worked in the North Caucasus for many years and founded a film workshop in Nalchik whose graduates include Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko.
Armenia
Pashinyan says he will sue Karapetyan over hallucinogenic mushroom allegations
Russian–Armenian tycoon Samvel Karapetyan claimed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been speaking under the influence of mushrooms.
Nagorno-Karabakh
France’s mention of destruction of churches in Nagorno-Karabakh triggers condemnation from Baku
‘We firmly reject the anti-Azerbaijan allegations’, Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesperson Aykhan Hajizada said in response.
Armenia–France Relations
The ‘Emmanuel’ Political Community summit — or how Macron took Yerevan by storm
As EU leaders met in Yerevan for a key summit, Macron set Armenian social media ablaze with his walkabouts, selfies, and duet with Pashinyan.
OC Insider
A celebration with tears in one’s eyes
Patriotism in Russia has taken on monstrous forms and its ‘victory over fascism’ has taken on a distorted meaning.
Ingushetia
North Caucasus republics spend over $265,000 on preserving ‘traditional values’
Ingushetia — Russia’s poorest region — has received the largest share of the funds.
Armenia–Ukraine Relations
Georgian and Ukrainian foreign ministers hold phone call amid signs of thaw
Both mentioned the issue of normalising relations in their post-call comments.
Freedom of the Press
Opinion | Foreign agent laws are becoming the scourge of media freedom across Europe
Brussels needs to deliver a stronger, more decisive response to the spread of foreign agent laws across Europe, including in Georgia.
Daily Brief
Thursday, 7 May 2026
Regional * Former Nagorno-Karabakh Parliamentary Speaker David Ishkhanyan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azerbaijan, has shared an audio message, asking Armenian Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan to mediate with Azerbaijan to provide his family with the full texts of his indictment and verdict. He also called his trial, which involved 15 other Armenians, as being not against them, but ‘against the Armenian people and Armenian statehood’. Ishkhanyan is the third Armenian prisone
Wednesday, 06 May 2026
Economy
Georgian National Bank raises refinancing rate to 8.25% for the first time since 2022
The regulator has cited rising inflationary pressure linked to the Iran conflict.
Georgia
Georgia detains former Ivanishvili associate on espionage charges
If found guilty, Udzilauri faces eight to twelve years in prison.
Azerbaijan Prison Dispatches
Azerbaijan prison dispatches: isolation, self-harm, silence — the psychological toll of detention
Imprisoned Azerbaijani journalist Ulviyya Ali writes of the psychological toll on Azerbaijani prisoners in a letter dated one year after her arrest.
Chechnya
Chechen woman detained by police has been unreachable for three weeks, activists say
Human rights advocates say lawyers are being denied access to Belkisa Mintsaeva.
Armenia–Belarus Relations
Belarus summons Armenia’s Chargé d’Affaires over ‘unfriendly actions’ by Yerevan
Days earlier, Armenian Parliamentary Speaker Alen Simonyan appeared to refer to Belarus as a ‘peripheral province’ of Russia.
Georgia
Controversial US rapper Kanye West to perform in Tbilisi
The artist has caused controversy and condemnation for his antisemitic and pro-Nazi remarks.
Armenia
Armenia signs agreements with EU and France
The signing of the documents came during the inaugural Armenia–EU summit.
Daily Brief
Wednesday, 6 May 2026
Regional * Today, four freight wagons of fertilizer and four wagons of grain were sent to Armenia via Azerbaijan. Armenia * Yesterday, Armenia hosted the inaugural Armenia-EU summit, in the scope of which a joint declaration was adopted and a number of documents were signed, including the Armenia-EU Connectivity Partnership. The sides also initialled a ‘working arrangement on operational cooperation in the field of border management’ and published a call for ‘expressions of interest from E
Reviews
Review | Adibas — a Georgian war novel without the war
★★★☆☆ Zaza Burchuladze’s war novel is not an easy book to love — but in 2026, it is an uncomfortably easy book to recognise. Zaza Burchuladze began writing Adibas on 8 August 2008 — the day rumours of Russian tanks entering Tbilisi first spread. He would later claim that war was the strongest stimulant he had ever found. The novel that emerged from that charge of adrenaline is slim, corrosive, and set in a sweltering Tbilisi that is doing its best to pretend nothing is happening. Like its tit
Tuesday, 05 May 2026
Azerbaijan
Italy’s Meloni visits Baku, talks energy cooperation with Aliyev
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas had just attended the EPC summit in Yerevan.
