United Nations

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US President Joe Biden and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze. Illustration by OC Media.

Freedom of Assembly

Biden snubs Georgian PM Kobakhidze by revoking UN reception invite

by OC Media

•2 min read

The White House has disinvited Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze and Georgia’s delegation from a reception for world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. On Wednesday, the US Embassy in Georgia told local media that Kobakhidze’s invitation to the reception was revoked due to his government’s anti-democratic actions, misinformation, and negative rhetoric about the US and the West. Voice of America reported the snub on Tuesday, citing anonymous sources including a se

US State Deparment spokesperson Matthew Miller. Photo: state.gov.

Freedom of the Press

US State Department says to ‘stay tuned’ for possible Georgia sanctions

by Tata Shoshiashvili

•3 min read

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has told reporters to ‘stay tuned’ regarding possible sanctions on Georgian officials responsible for reintroducing the foreign agent bill. Answering journalists’ questions on Monday, Miller stated that adopting the foreign agent law ‘would derail Georgia from its European path’. ‘We are concerned that the legislation would impede independent media organisations working to provide access for Georgian citizens to high-quality information’, he sa

Armenia

Nagorno-Karabakh seeks UN peacekeeping mandate

by Ani Avetisyan

•3 min read

The authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh have called for a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission as a ‘security guarantee’ for the region’s Armenian population. On Tuesday, the president of Nagorno-Karabakh, Arayik Harutyunyan, told France24 that they were seeking ‘more fundamental international guarantees’ as the five-year mandate of Russian peacekeeping troops in Nagorno-Karabakh ends in two years. The November 2020 ceasefire agreement that brought an end to the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War include

Abkhazia

Abkhazia bans EU–UN confidence building programme

by OC Media

•2 min read

Abkhazia has banned the activities of a joint EU–UN project aimed at fostering dialogue between Abkhazians and Georgians, accusing it of promoting the goals of the Georgian Government. According to the Abkhazian Foreign Ministry, Foreign Minister Inal Ardzinba took aim at the Confidence Building Early Response Mechanism (COBERM) in a meeting with the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Abkhazia on Wednesday. COBERM is a multimillion-dollar programme that has been acti

A protest outside the US Embassy on 2 November. Photo: Dvin Titizian/OC Media.

Armenia

Refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh protest diplomatic missions in Yerevan

by OC Media

•3 min read

Refugees displaced by the war in Nagorno-Karabakh have held a series of demonstrations in front of the US and UK embassies as well as the EU and UN missions in Armenia. Almost 1,000 women and children gathered on Monday in front of the American Embassy calling for US recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh as an independent state. They also called on the US to sanction Turkey and Azerbaijan and send humanitarian assistance for those forced to flee the conflict. The authorities in Nagorno-Karabakh ha

Chechnya

Chechen writers appeal to UN over ‘campaign of bullying’ over gay persecutions

by OC Media

•2 min read

On 9 May, the Union of Writers of Chechnya published an open letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein, requesting protection from what they describe as a ‘campaign of bullying’ by European countries and organisations against Chechnya and its people. In the letter, the writers insist that there are no gay people in Chechnya, and that widespread reports in the media that they are being ‘harassed’, negatively affects the image of the whole Chechen nation.