South Caucasus

2,581,093 voters are eligible to vote in Armenia's early parliamentary elections being held on 20 June. This was announced on Monday in Yerevan by the country's Central Elections Commission. The Central Elections Commission has also approved 26 parties and blocs to participate in the elections which some see more as a referendum on Nikol Pashinyan, his policies, his style of government, his strengths, and his weaknesses.

The decision of the United National Movement (UNM), Georgia's largest opposition party, to enter parliament after a seven-month stand-off that threatened Georgia's political stability, is the correct one.

On 26 May 1918, Georgia gained its independence from the Russian Empire. Now, 30 years after reclaiming it from the Soviet Union, a sovereign Georgia remains committed to restoring its territorial integrity and taking its place in the Euro-Atlantic community, writes Giorgi Nakashidze in this op-ed for commonspace.eu.

More than 20,000 Georgian servicemen have participated in the mission in Afghanistan since 2004, usually serving six monthly rotations.  Predominantly tasked with peacekeeping in the volatile Helmand province, Georgia was the largest non-NATO, as well as largest per-capita, contributor to ISAF mission. Dozens of Georgian soldiers were killed or injured during the Afghanistan operation.

The campaign, Landmine Free South Caucasus, is a collaborative effort by organisations from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia working with international partners to raise awareness of landmine issues in the region.