Region

South Caucasus

The South Caucasus – a region encompassing Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia - is one of strategic importance, not only for adjacent countries, such as Turkiye, Russia, Iran and the Central Asian states, but also for neighbours such as the European Union and the GCC states, and globally for the United States, India, China, Pakistan and Japan.

commonspace.eu team brings decades of experience of working in the South Caucasus and we are pleased to share our insights with our loyal readers through the website, and the sister newsletter, Caucasus Concise.

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Stumbling blocks for Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Road to SCO Membership

Stumbling blocks for Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Road to SCO Membership

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, held on August 31–September 1, 2025, in Tianjin, China, brought together leaders of the 10 member states, as well as representatives from over 20 countries and 10 international organisations. The summit resulted in the adoption of the Tianjin Declaration and the SCO Development Strategy until 2035, outlining key directions for cooperation and security. Armenia officially announced its intention to join the SCO on July 3, 2025, emphasising its commitment to the organisation’s core principles, territorial integrity, non-use of force, and inviolability of borders. Azerbaijan submitted its application later, in August. Currently, the process of admitting Armenia and Azerbaijan to the SCO is in the preliminary co-ordination stage, involving the attainment of partner status with the prospect of transitioning to full membership in the future.
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Campaign "Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025" launched

Campaign "Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025" launched

LINKS Europe is pleased to announce the launch of the campaign Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025. This will be the fourth Landmine Free South Caucasus campaign that LINKS Europe is co-ordinating since 2019, and like previous editions, the campaign will be regional, involving Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, and will have five official languages: Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Russian and English. LINKS Europe will work with stakeholders in the three countries in the delivery of the campaign. The campaign will run from 1 September to 15 December. The first part, from 1 September to 15 November, will be largely informative, using media and social media, whilst engaging with decision makers and civil society in the three countries. In the second part of the campaign, from 15 November to 15 December, the focus this year will be on the human and economic costs of landmine contamination. The Campaign will again mark 30 November as the Day of Solidarity with the victims of landmines and other remnants of war in the South Caucasus. A spokesperson for LINKS Europe said this year the campaign takes special significance following the progress in the Armenia-Azerbaijan Peace Process and the historic meeting between the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders, together with the US president in the White House on 8 August. For six years, between 2018-2024, LINKS Europe worked on landmine issues in a very difficult political context, but always insisted that a regional approach was necessary for successful mine action in the South Caucasus. It consistently held that mine action could serve as a confidence-building measure in the region. Landmine Free South Caucasus 2025 will again push these ideas, but the context has changed, and the chance of success is now higher.

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Armenia-EU free trade negotiations launched
Armenia-EU free trade negotiations launched

Armenia-EU free trade negotiations launched

The EU decided to launch negotiations on a deep and comprehensive free trade area with Armenia in order to boost economic growth and investment with this Eastern European Partner
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Azerbaijan participated for the first time as a guest at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Mexico this week.
Azerbaijan participated for the first time as a guest at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Mexico this week.

Azerbaijan participated for the first time as a guest at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Mexico this week.

Azerbaijan participated for the first time as a guest at the G20 Foreign Ministers meeting in Mexico this week. After the smiles of the group photo the Ministers got down to some serious discussions on urgent global issues.
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Director NSSI:
Director NSSI:

Director NSSI:

Opponents of Artsakh's statehood try to down grade its importance for prevention of Genocide
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Talks on making agreement on simplification of visa regime and readmission to start on 27 February between Armenian and EU
Talks on making agreement on simplification of visa regime and readmission to start on 27 February between Armenian and EU

Talks on making agreement on simplification of visa regime and readmission to start on 27 February between Armenian and EU

Naira Zohrabyan, Head of Armenian National Assembly Standing Committee on European Integration, met Thursday with Ambassador Klaas van der Tempel, Special Representative for the Eastern Partnership at MFA of the Netherlands.