South Caucasus

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze met with his Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan on Thursday. According to media reports,  they discussed the importance of the strategic partnership between the two countries as well as the issues to be discussed at the 14th Meeting of the Intergovernmental Commission for Economic Cooperation. They also gave attention to the situation in the region including progress in the peace process.

LINKS Europe held its first event within the recently launched EU4Peace III programme in Tbilisi on Thursday 30 January. Armenian and Azerbaijani participants engaged in an open and constructive discussion on how to shape a dialogue best suited to today's realities. As part of the initiative, LINKS Europe will shortly launch five thematic groups: The thematic groups, with Armenian and Azerbaijani participants will discuss the following topics: (1) Climate Change & the Green Economy; (2) Peace & Security; (3) Governance; (4) Regional Connectivity; (5) Gender and Diversity . On 2nd April, at a meeting in The Hague, LINKS Europe will launch the Armenia-Azerbaijan Expert Political Dialogue Platform. The platform is a parallel, mutually reenforcing initiative bringing together experienced Armenian and Azerbaijani experts and stakeholders. It is expected that one of the main tasks of the platform in 2025 will be to support the thematic groups, particularly in the phase of preparation of their reports. The EU4Peace III action, supported and funded by the European Union, aims to contribute to the sustainable normalisation of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan. By broadening the engagement of social groups, the initiative aims to link political processes to wider societal transformation.

Georgia’s delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has announced that it will immediately halt its participation in the assembly after the plenary voted to impose strict conditions for ratifying the delegation’s credentials. Among the conditions is a rerun of the contested October 2024 parliamentary elections, which Georgia’s governing party, Georgian Dream, is accused of rigging, and the release of all political prisoners detained at ongoing pro-EU protests in the country. According to the resolution, which was passed on January 29 by 114 votes to 13 with seven abstaining, should the conditions be met, the assembly would revisit the ratification of the Georgian delegation’s credentials in April.

The influential chairman of the Georgian Dream Party Bidzina Ivanishvili and his family members have been transferring their business assets from offshore entities to companies registered in Georgia, according to Transparency International. This follows the financial sanctions imposed on Ivanishvili by the U.S. Treasury Department on the 27th December of last year due to Ivanishvili's alleged efforts to undermine democratic processes in Georgia in favor of the Russia. A few days later, on December 31, 2024, Ivanishvili began transferring his companies from offshore zones to Georgia, Transparency International reported on Wednesday.

Russia has warned the Armenian government of severe economic consequences if it pursued plans to move towards membership of the European Union. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk insisted on Wednesday that the EU accession process will mark the beginning of Armenia’s withdrawal from the Eurasian Economic (EEU), a Russian-led trade bloc that gives Armenia tariff-free access to Russia’s vast market. “The outcome here is obvious: opening markets with the European Union will mean closing markets with the Eurasian Economic Union,” Russian news agencies quoted him as telling journalists.

In his interview to Azerbaijani media on January 7 this year, President Aliyev touched upon the issue of the upcoming Trump administration, notably speaking about his positive expectations, up to the prospects of establishing strategic partnership relations. This statement was rather unexpected, given many recent tensions between Baku and Washington, including the spat with the U.S. Embassy and the Azerbaijani side’s refusal to hold a US-mediated meeting of foreign ministers with Armenia during the OSCE Summit in Malta. Back then, Azerbaijani MFA issued a statement saying that the four years of the Biden administration were “lost years” for the Azerbaijan-US relations.

The Council of the European Union has decided to suspend parts of the EU-Georgia visa facilitation agreement leading to Georgian diplomats and officials having to apply for visa when travelling to the EU. "For travels to a member state which has reintroduced visa requirements, Georgian diplomats and officials will also no longer benefit from shorter application times, lower visa fees, and the possibility to submit fewer supporting documents," a Council statement announced on Monday.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has signalled plans to seek European Union (EU) membership. Though framed as an attempt to diversify away from decades of dependency on Russia, Moscow instead sees it as a western attempt to simply oust it from the region. Such a move is supported by some in Armenia amid disillusionment with Russia and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) following the 2020 war with Azerbaijan and a 2022 incursion into Armenia itself.

Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243 was downed by a missile on 25 December fired from a Pantsir-S1 air defence system which was brought from Syria to Russia, according to reliable sources familiar with the investigation quoted exclusively by Azerbaijan-based international news channel AnewZ and reported for the first time in Europe by Euronews. Electronic warfare systems were deployed against the Azerbaijani aircraft on 25 December as it was on its approach to land in Grozny, leading to severe malfunctions in its control systems before its crash near Aktau airport in Kazakhstan, AnewZ reported based on its sources.