Region

South Caucasus

Stories under this heading cover the South Caucasus – a region encompassing Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as the unrecognised entities of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, and Nagorno-Karabakh.

For those interested specifically in Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and events and developments in and around Nagorno-Karabakh following the 2020 44-day war, check out our sister page, KarabakhSpace.eu.

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News
Armenian Prime Minister confirms ambitous reform programme and EU membership bid

Armenian Prime Minister confirms ambitous reform programme and EU membership bid

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia wanted to become a member of the European Union within twenty years and will commit to an ambitous reform programme to meet the criteria of EU accession. In a press conference on 16 July, Pashinyan referred to his recent visit in Brussels and said the law adopted by the Armenian parliament meant the country seeks to join the EU. He acknowledged that this was not a simple process and all EU member states needed to agree to Armenia’s membership. He emphasised that regardless of whether Armenia ultimately joins the EU, the country will continue its ambitious reform programme.
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Opinion
Peace Has Never Been This Close Between Armenia and Azerbaijan

Peace Has Never Been This Close Between Armenia and Azerbaijan

After a long hiatus following the Brussels summit facilitated by Charles Michel, then President of the European Council, in July 2023, the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan met on July 10, 2025, in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to advance their peace process. Although they had met on several occasions over the past two years, those encounters took place on the sidelines of international gatherings, with substantive negotiations typically conducted by official representatives behind closed doors. The Abu Dhabi meeting was particularly significant as it marked the first bilateral summit in recent years organized directly by the two sides, without the mediation of a major power.

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News
Georgian Parliament Speaker says EU Funding is Promoting ‘Hatred, Violence, and Propaganda’ in Georgia

Georgian Parliament Speaker says EU Funding is Promoting ‘Hatred, Violence, and Propaganda’ in Georgia

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has severely criticised how funding from the European Union is being implemented in Georgia saying that ministers from European Union Member States and EU Commissioners are making unjustified critical statements about Georgia while hatred, violence, and propaganda are being encouraged in the country with EU funding. According to the Georgian Public Broadcaster, Papuashvili said he was troubled by the narrative heard from various ministers from EU Member States before the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council held on 23rd June claiming that “disinformation is being spread about some alleged democratic backsliding or walking the wrong path”.
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Analysis
Analysis: Shadows and Sunlight: Armenia and Türkiye Seek Common Ground

Analysis: Shadows and Sunlight: Armenia and Türkiye Seek Common Ground

Pashinyan's official visit to Türkiye on June 20, 2025, marks a strategic shift from symbolic reconciliation to strategic rapprochement. Normalisation, for Yerevan, is not an end in itself but a transformative initiative to put an end to Armenia's geopolitical isolation, to diversify its transit routes, to decrease its reliance on Russia and to get access to Turkish ports, measures that reorient Armenia economically and logistically toward the West. Türkiye, on its part, is seizing the moment to strengthen its role as a regional intermediary. Consequently, by promoting normalisation, Ankara solidifies its impact in the South Caucasus and sends a positive signal to Western partners: the EU and U.S., in particular, about its evolving role in the region's stabilisation.
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News
 Pashinyan-Erdogan meeting may be a game-changer in Armenia-Turkish relations

Pashinyan-Erdogan meeting may be a game-changer in Armenia-Turkish relations

Armenian prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, made a well-prepared and carefully orchestrated visit to Türkiye on Friday evening (20 June), during which he held talks with the Turkish President, Recip Tayip Erdogan. Commonspace.eu political editor in a comment said that Pashinyan‘s visit to Türkiye was well prepared and carefully orchestrated by the two sides. Potentially the visit can be a game-changer in Armenia- Türkiye relations, leading to the restoration of full diplomatic relations and the opening of borders. In both Armenia and Türkiye there is increasing support for these steps.  No major breakthrough was announced after the visit, but none was expected. The day before Pashinyan’s visit, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev also met Erdogan in  Türkiye. Aliyev continues to push Türkiye not to take any steps with Armenia before Armenia and Azerbaijan settle the differences between them. But Türkiye may decide to make a move sooner than the Azerbaijan president wants.
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News
Armenia aims to become tech hub of South Caucasus with new AI data factory

Armenia aims to become tech hub of South Caucasus with new AI data factory

Armenia is set to host its own artificial intelligence data factory, with the project valued at $500 million and scheduled to begin operations in 2026. This investment initiative is being jointly implemented by Firebird, the Armenian government, and NVIDIA, JAMnews has reported. “FirebirdCloudAI is Armenia’s largest and most important tech investment the country’s ‘Stargate’. The idea was born when Jensen Huang, co-founder and CEO of NVIDIA, visited Yerevan in 2023. Today, it’s becoming reality. The AI factory, equipped with thousands of Blackwell GPUs, will spark innovation across Armenia,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan wrote on X.
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Monday Commentary
The Georgians are still waiting for the man on the white horse!

The Georgians are still waiting for the man on the white horse!

The political crises in Georgia that started after disputed parliamentary elections at the end of last year, shows no sign of easing. The government, formed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, appears exhausted. Its strategy of wearing out the opposition failed. It is now increasingly resorting to repression. Many opposition activists have been arrested, and the Government keeps introducing laws and administrative measures that are meant to tighten its control of the country, but in practice increase the resolve of its opponents. The Georgian Dream government is at a dead end.
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Opinion
Armenia and Azerbaijan Dialogue in the context of the European Political Community

Armenia and Azerbaijan Dialogue in the context of the European Political Community

The latest European Political Community summit held in Tirana in May this year, featured Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev at a time when Baku’s period of bad blood with Brussels seems to be over and Europe once again is viewed as a constructive partner. It is not a coincidence that Aliyev briefly met Pashinyan in Tirana for the first time in months and even had a seemingly friendly conversation with French President Macron despite the two countries’ intense feud.
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Opinion
Pashinyan Targets Remnants of Old Regime as Election Showdown Looms

Pashinyan Targets Remnants of Old Regime as Election Showdown Looms

For over a week now, the Armenian public has been subjected to another unedifying spectacle between the country’s political and spiritual leadership. Tirades posted on social media by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan targeting Armenian Catholicos Karekin II, who he accuses of fathering at least one child despite an oath of celibacy, have been incendiary. The allegation is not new. Armenian media even named an alleged daughter back in 2013. However, Pashinyan’s wife, Anna Hakobyan, further ratcheted up tensions by referring to some members of the clergy as paedophiles while not presenting any evidence.