South Caucasus

On 21 January this year, the European Court of Human Rights found Russia responsible for a number of major human rights violations during the 2008 war against Georgia. In this opinion piece, Erekle Koplatadze gives his perspective on what this decision means.

The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, mediated talks over the political crisis in Georgia yesterday evening. The meeting between the governing party and the country’s opposition parties was called after Michel held separate meetings with each earlier in the day.

During his visit to Georgia, Charles Michel, the President of the European Council, has called for an end to the country's political crisis, referring to it as “of great concern to the European Union” and asking all parties to “step up their efforts to de-escalate the situation and come together to find common ground”.

Thousands of Georgians on Sunday (28 February) demonstrated in the country's second city, Kutaisi, against the construction of a Hyrdro-electric Power Plant  (HPP) in the nearby Rioni Gorge.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan held a trilateral meeting in Ankara on Tuesday (23 February). Hailing the results of the meeting Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country wants to work closely with Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan as part of its "Asia Anew" initiative, which it launched in 2019 to improve ties with Asian countries

Opposition supporters have been protesting in the Georgian capital Tbilisi after Georgian special police forces this morning stormed the headquarters of the main opposition party – the United National Movement (UNM) – and arrested its Chairman, Nika Melia.

Last week Georgia's prime minister Giorgi Gaharia resigned citing disagreements with the ruling party. A new government is likely to be approved next week, but the opposition keeps contesting the results of last October's parliamentary elections and demanding news polls. Most opposition MPs have not taken up their seats in the new parliament.