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Medical Students in Tbilisi have participated in the campaign LANDMINE FREE SOUTH CAUCASUS 2026. The regional’ Landmine Free South Caucasus’ (LFSC) campaign was initiated by LINKS Europe Foundation in 2018 to address the critical issue of landmine and unexploded ordnance contamination in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. With significant landmine contamination in the region posing an ongoing threat to life and eliciting high economic costs, LFSC advocated for a regional, holistic approach to complete clearance.  Future Doctors Join the Conversation on Friday, 16 October in Tbilisi. "As part of the Landmine Free South Caucasus 2026 campaign, an informative and interactive meeting was held in Tbilisi with medical students. The session was conducted by George Simonishvili, South Caucasus Co-ordinator for LINKS Europe.  The meeting focused on the humanitarian consequences of landmines and other explosive remnants of war in Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia, with particular attention to the Red Bridge minefield near the borders of the three countries, and emphasised that these dangers remain a current humanitarian challenge. It also underlined that future medical professionals will encounter the long-term effects of explosion injuries and can play a role in awareness and prevention.  Students actively engaged throughout the discussion, showing strong interest in the humanitarian impact and the need for cooperation. Under the slogan "Future Doctors for a Landmine Free South Caucasus," the event encouraged students to support public awareness, solidarity with survivors, and a safer South Caucasus free from landmine threats.  The event was organised by LINKS Europe as part of LFSC26.  "Medical Students Stand for a Landmine Free South Caucasus," "Future Doctors, Safer Futures: Together Against Landmines." "Future Doctors for a Landmine Free South Caucasus".

Georgia has spent the past few years moving in a direction few expected a decade ago. Following disputed parliamentary elections in October 2024 and the government’s decision to suspend the country’s EU accession process, opposition leaders have been jailed,  with civil society groups now operating in an increasingly narrow space, and a country that once looked like the South Caucasus’s closest candidate for European integration is now drifting farther away from that path. Only a few people have been in such a position to see Georgia’s reality transform as Tinatin Khidasheli. A human rights lawyer by training, she served on the Tbilisi city council and in parliament before becoming Georgia’s first female Defence Minister in 2015. Since leaving the government, she has chaired Civic IDEA, a Georgian think tank whose research has focused on Chinese influence in the country and the wider region. In this conversation, she reflects on her path from human rights law into politics, the moment she concluded the Georgian Dream coalition was heading in the wrong direction, what it means to keep working in Georgia today, and what she believes it will take to bring the country back to its European trajectory.

LINKS Europe has announced that it will continue with its campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus in the period October-December 2026. This campaign has been ongoing since 2018 and is implemented in co-operation with partners in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. The contamination from landmines and other remnants of war is a heavy legacy from the decades of conflict that the region has experienced. Big areas are not available for agriculture and other economic use, but worse of all is the killing and the maiming of people that occurs on a nearly daily basis, as despite warnings and precautions, the inevitable happens. Incidents involving landmines occur regularly. Landmines, and other remnants of war, cast a shadow over life, over the hope of those who aspire for a new beginning and impede progress. For many, the landmine threat means that for them the conflict is not over yet. When LINKS Europe launched the Landmine Free South Caucasus campaign in 2018 it envisaged a collaborative regional effort to eradicate landmines. At the time this was a far cry. Armenia and Azerbaijan were still engrossed in a bitter conflict. But LINKS Europe persisted, and the campaign gained momentum. In 2026 things are different. Peace is on the agenda and on the horizon. Landmine clearance is a common goal. But work still needs to be done in order to deal with the problem in a collaborative way. Landmine clearance can and should be a confidence building measure. The campaign has also two other important considerations. It says thank you to deminers. Hundreds of people, working with ANAMA in Azerbaijan, or CHDE in Armenia, and other organisations risk their life as they try to make the land safer. They deserve our gratitude. Another consideration is the impact of landmine incidents on victims. The campaign marks 30th November as the regional day of solidarity with the victims of landmines in the South Caucasus. Listening to the testimony of victims in the LFSC events in the past eight years has been a humbling experience. The Landmine Free South Caucasus campaign has always been a collaborative effort, involving state bodies, such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Azerbaijan and the Security Council in Armenia, the demining agencies, and many NGOs and civil society organisations in Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia. For the period 2018-2024 campaign was also a collaborative project with the European Union. We regret that the EU has not joined effort with this campaign this year. This means we depend on the generosity of our partners for funding the campaign in 2026. Landmines cast a dark shadow over the whole Caucasus region. As long as there is a landmine problem peace is incomplete. Let us work together for a Landmine Free South Caucasus!