ARCHIL GEGESHIDZE

The EU-Russia relations are of importance to Tbilisi, above all, in terms of non-recognition of the status-quo after the war between Georgia and Russia.

GHIA NODIA

The preparation for the presidential elections in Abkhazia and the nomination of Sergei Bagapsh for the presidency are important political events, but in Georgia they are of interest only to political analysts in terms of understanding the Abkhaz society’s attitudes.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Quite chilly relations between Georgia and Armenia did not become warmer even after Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili’s recent visit to Yerevan where he had vainly attempted to solve the long-standing problems in the bilateral relations.

ARCHIL GEGESHIDZE

If the reforms are conducted, there is a hope that next elections will be free and honest. This is an achievable task for both the authorities and the opposition, as other political goals are in the distant future. Those include NATO membership, integration with the EU, return of the lost territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

The Georgian political establishment and the whole society share an opinion that in August 2008 Russia was aggressive and acted improperly. Russia invaded Georgia, which is acknowledged by all the political forces regardless of their status, by the authorities and by the radical and constructive opposition.

GHIA NODIA

After the failure of the opposition’s plans to make Mr Saakashvili step down the Georgian politicians may focus on preparation for local elections, which were brought forward from autumn to the end of May, 2010.

GIA ZHORZHOLIANI

The Russian leaders’ words that it is necessary to replace the Georgian authorities strengthen Mikheil Saakashvili’s positions. However I believe that drastic measures will not be taken. Both the authorities and the opposition are willing to act moderately.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

I believe that Barack Obama managed to avert another Russia-Georgia war and now Tbilisi is arguing more confidently that Russia’s war threat has been prevented. The question is for how long.  

ALEXANDER ISKANDARYAN

It is hard for the U.S.A. and other Western countries not to take into account Russia’s interests in the South Caucasus. In case there were any illusions in this respect, the five days war between Russia and Georgia in August 2008 has dispelled them.

DAVID LOSABERIDZE

The situation in Georgia will be one of the issues of the negotiations between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama which will be held on July 6 in Moscow.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

After May 26 (Georgia’s Independence Day), when an impressively large-scale rally organized by the opposition had shown that too many people in Georgia sought to make Mikheil Saakashvili and his team resign, the opposition and the ruling party decided to weaken their confrontation and to step back from the “Red Line”.

SERGEI MARKEDONOV

What does the current situation in Georgia mean for Russia? On the one hand, the confrontation between the government and the opposition is Georgia’s domestic affair. Whoever wins the struggle, no one would take a pro-Russian position.

GHIA NODIA

The Georgian opposition has been holding the protest actions for over a month. The protest started subsiding after several days of mass rallies in April. However, after the 7 May physical skirmish between the police and the opposition the protests recommenced.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

How long the opposition’s rally in Tbilisi will last and how long can it maintain the protest mood? Many have asked this question since the seventh day of the protest rally when it became clear that the opposition had failed to take to the streets the number of protesters, which would be a weighty argument for the authorities to effect changes.

DAVID LOSABERIDZE

The rally showed that many people were displeased with the current authorities. The global economic crisis adversely affects the ratings of the authorities, in particular of President Saakashvili, which also forces the sides to seek the consensus.

ARCHIL GEGESHIDZE

It is early to speak whether the Georgian opposition may make President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia step down and whether the early presidential elections will be held.

GHIA NODIA

The opposition rally started in Georgia on April 9. The opposition leaders are sure that they will make President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili resign, and the early elections will be called.

ALEXANDER RONDELI

The U.S. will not throw away its allies including Georgia for the sake of "reset" of the relations with Russia.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

The external players, which have their own plans and interests in Georgia and the Caucasus region, have become increasingly involved in monitoring of the internal developments in the country along with raising Georgia’s political temperature.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Having announced the date for the protest action beginning, the opposition does not tell the people what will happen in the country, even if they manage to oust Saakashvili.

GHIA NODIA

Frequent changes of Prime Ministers are good for the opposition members. They can criticize the authorities more actively, talk about the instability in the country, but they do not care who will be the next Prime Minister.

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has no personnel resources, which is shown by another change of Prime Minister. Grigol Mgaloblishvili who had held office of Prime-Minister for three months, resigned on January 30.

ALEXANDER RONDELI

In the eyes of the U.S. Administration Saakashvili represents the guarantor of stability and further development. If Saakashvili slowly but steadily promotes democratization in the country, he has nothing to worry about.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

It is difficult to forecast how diligently the Administration of President Barack Obama will follow the above-mentioned articles of the Charter. But there is a high probability (taking into consideration the increased tension in the Russia-U.S. relations) that Russia would consider the Charter as a challenge to its interests in South Caucasus.

ARCHIL GEGESHIDZE

The year 2008 was the most eventful in the entire history of independent Georgia. It started with the January presidential election: it was held against a background of the mass protest marches in November 2007. 

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

Grigol Mgaloblishvili, the new Georgian Prime Minister, was appointed about a month and a half ago. Then there were made ministerial reshuffles without  significant changes. So, it is incomprehensible why President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia decided to reshuffle the government again on 5 December.

ALEXANDER RONDELI

The decision of the NATO Foreign Ministers meeting not to allow Georgia to join NATO Membership Action Plan did not surprise Tbilisi or anybody else. Georgia has received an annual plan for 2009, but its substance is not known. 

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

For the first time, Georgia has not celebrated the anniversary of the Rose Revolution in a traditional pompous way and the authorities have not boasted about their successes as they had done annually on 23 November since 2003.

ALEKSANDR RAHR

On 2-3 December 2008, Brussels will host the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of NATO member states. On the agenda of the meeting there will be the issue of granting  the NATO Membership Action Plan to Georgia and Ukraine.

SERGEI MARKEDONOV

The main reason why the fifth anniversary of the Rose Revolution is not celebrated with a great pomp is that the Georgians are bitterly disappointed with the results of the revolution. In fact, nobody was going to carry out democratic reforms, although the ‘revolutionaries’ had set themselves this goal.

MERAB PACHULIA

Over the past 10 months, most of opposition leaders have not enjoyed public support because they failed to solve important political issues and fell short of expectations of those who were strongly opposed to the government.

DAVID APRASIDZE

I believe that Georgia's Prime Minister Vladimir Gurgenidze was dismissed over both the Russia-Georgia armed conflict and the internal political situation. The August conflict in South Ossetia made it clear that the policy, pursued by the Georgian government must be changed and some reshuffles were necessary.  

VLADIMIR CHIZHOV

The outcome of the extraordinary EU summit held on September 1 in Brussels was more or less predictable, both in terms of the views expressed by the EU member states and in terms of the EU Presidency conclusion.

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

Russia’s decision to recognize the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has been made not only by the Russian President and the Russian political establishment, but also, regrettably, by the majority of the Russian citizens. Few people in Russia criticized their authorities.

ROVSHAN IBRAHIMOV

When holding the military operation in South Ossetia the Georgian government tried to solve the problem of territorial integrity. If the military operation in South Ossetia had been successful, Saakashvili would have again recieved wide support from the Georgian population and his country could have been integrated into the Western community. 

GEORGETA POURCHOT

The current Russian military operation in Georgia marks the beginning of the end for Georgian sovereignty. The peace deal brokered by France contains the seeds of further chipping away at Georgian territory.

ANDREY MAKARYCHEV

South Ossetia and Georgia have been at war with each other since last week. The towns and cities came under fire, the reservists were mobilized. There are the killed and the wounded, and a lot of refugees.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

The guns are bellowing now in South Ossetia and Georgia, and muses of those who might mull over the solution of the grave crisis, are still silent. Many things including the people’s lives depend on how long the diplomats and policy-makers will be inactive.

SERGEI MARKEDONOV

I believe that the withdrawal of the Russian railroad troops from Abkhazia and the UN Security Council meeting, which was held on July 21 at Georgia’s request, cannot be directly linked to each other. 

ALEXANDER RONDELI

I do not think there is a relation between the UN Security Council meeting where the Russian fighter jets’ violations of the Georgian airspace were discussed and the withdrawal of the Russian railroad troops from Abkhazia.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Ex-chairwoman of the Georgian Parliament Nino Burjanadze who had scandalously quitted President Mikheil Saakashvili’s team right before the May 21, 2008 parliamentary elections, returned to politics the very way that was most expected from her cautious and pragmatic mind.

VLADIMIR ZHARIKHIN

The main result to be drawn from the informal CIS summit is that under the new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Russia's policy in the post-Soviet space will not change drastically.

ARCHIL GEGESHIDZE

There are several reasons behind the victory of the “United National Movement” in Georgia's parliamentary elections, which took place on May 21. One of them is that the ruling party has drawn the right conclusions from the January presidential election.

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

There was a lot of electoral fraud in the parliamentary elections that took place in Georgia on May 21. Such elections do not favor the rapprochement between Georgia and NATO. At the NATO summit in Bucharest it was decided that all the Alliance members would observe the parliamentary elections in Georgia carefully.

SERGEI BAGAPSH

What will Abkhazia do, if Georgia joins NATO? Abkhazia will do nothing. Let Georgia join NATO even tomorrow. We do not care about that.

EROSI KITSMARISHVILI

Currently, there are several negative points in the Russian-Georgian relations. The first one is Georgia’s bid for the NATO membership, the second one is Tbilisi’s conflict with the breakaway territories – Abkhazia and South Ossetia. There are also the problems of the bilateral relations.

TEMUR IAKOBASHVILI

It is impossible to settle the conflicts, on which I am working, without Russia’s participation, especially today when the situation has become so strained that the so-called "frozen conflicts" have got "unfrozen".

DAVID LOSABERIDZE

The Georgia's ruling party has one serious problem – its approval rating is falling. This is due to the lack of clear strategy rather than to the unpopular reforms.

KONSTANTIN GABASHVILI

We do not want to be at war with anybody. We want to normalize the situation, start negotiating with Russia and other countries to put an end to the conflict.

VALERY KENYAIKIN

The parliamentary elections will be held in Georgia soon. That’s why an “external enemy” is being looked for to mobilize the country’s public opinion.

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

Probably, Burjanadze thought that the President had grown weaker and she would be able to put her team on the list. But the point is that Saakashvili is unfair to his partners. At the last moment she was prohibited from doing that. Burjanadze was left alone.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Almost all significant political forces in Georgia, including the ruling party, say that there are sufficient reasons for making the compromises with Russia that would not infringe upon Georgia’s national interests.

ALEXANDER KRYLOV, ALEKSEY MALASHENKO, ANATOLY OTYRBA, SERGEI MARKEDONOV, SHALVA PICHKHADZE, ZURAB ABASHIDZE, IVLIAN KHAINDRAVA

"For the first time the President of Georgia has put forward such far-reaching proposals," Alexander Krylov.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

The other day Berezovsky clarified the hints which he had dropped about his moral responsibility and his wish to continue Patarkatsishvili’s work.

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

The main purpose of the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's visit to the USA is to enlist the support for Georgia’s joining NATO Action Plan that will be on the agenda of the April NATO summit in Bucharest.

DMITRY MEDOEV, GURAM GUMBA, SERGEI ARUTYUNOV, SERGEI MARKEDONOV

"If to look at a map, one can realize that in the event of the conflict in Abkhazia the Georgian party is doomed to defeat, as has happened before. This is why Abkhazia has a very good chance of becoming independent," Sergei Arutyunov.

DMIRTY MEDOEV, VLADIMIR KHOMERIKI, MIKHAIL ALEKSANDROV

"After the recognition of Kosovo, South Ossetia’s position remains unchanged. When asked about our attitude to that precedent we have always answered that it is South Ossetia that can be a de jure precedent for Kosovo, not vice versa," Dmitry Medoev.

KONSTANTIN GABASHVILI

Georgia’s wishing to change the format of the Mixed Verification Committee on Settlement of the Georgian-Ossetic conflict and the consideration by the State Duma of the Russian Federation of the situation with South Ossetia and Abkhazia during the March 13 parliament hearings are different things.

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

I believe that the opposition and the West’s intensive efforts will make it possible to hold the forthcoming parliamentary elections in a more democratic setting than the presidential ones. But I am far from supposing that those elections will be absolutely fair. 

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Mikheil Saakashvili once again extends hand of friendship to Russia and proposes to “turn over a new leaf” in bilateral relations.

MALKHAZ SALDADZE

In spite of Mikheil Saakashvili’s initiative to offer the opposition politicians posts in the government, nothing was done in this direction. Apparently, neither the authorities nor the opposition were ready for such a turn.  

SERGEI MARKEDONOV

It is unlikely that after the election President Mikheil Saakashvili has changed his position on Georgian-Russian relations. For the time being, the statements about his wish to normalize those relations cannot be taken seriously.

GHIA NODIA

Non-recognition of the presidential election results is one of the opposition’s trump cards. So, I do not think that the opposition will make serious concessions to the authorities.

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

The Georgian opposition believes that Mikheil Saakashvili is not a legitimate President. Those polls were rigged everywhere. In the large regional centers Saakashvili took less than 50 percent of the vote.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Mikheil Saakashvili who is seeking re-election to the second term in office as President of Georgia must be very lucky. The resolution of the issue concerning recognition of Kosovo’s independence by the West, which was due on December 10, has been postponed, even if not for long.

KONSTANTIN GABASHVILI, IVLIAN KHAINDRAVA

"You perfectly know what the administrative resource is and can suggest what budget resources are being spent on Mr. Saakashvili’s election campaign, " said Ivlian Khaindrava.

GIORGI TARGAMADZE

The Georgian government continues to put serious pressure on the journalists, editors and producers of the “IMEDI” company. Officials are using all the ways, for example, blackmailing and intimidating of the people including their relatives and families.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

The “Beacon of Liberty”, that, to believe U.S. President George Bush, Georgia embodied in May 2005, when he made a visit  to the country, is dying out, even though the West does not want to believe that and continues to give Saakashvili and his government a helping hand.

SHALVA NATELASHVILI

As long as Mikheil Saakashvili stays in power, Georgia will be a superpresidential republic. So, it is necessary to elect a new President who would abolish this vicious system. But there are other questions. Which kind of a republic do we need? What powers should the President have? Who will elect him?

MALKHAZ SALDADZE

If to take into account the control of the mass media by the propresidential United National Movement and the authorities’ monopoly on the financial and administrative resources, Saakashvili’s position is more advantageous than that of his rivals.

GIGA BOKERIA

No democratic Georgian government will ever agree with Abkhazia’s independence, because in this territory a few people with the assistance of the large neighboring state and the military aggressively hoisted the flag of ethnic nationalism.

LEVAN GACHECHILADZE

When I become President, Georgia will continue to be West- and NATO-oriented. I think it is the only way for a democratic country. I am also going to give great attention to the development of good-neighborly relations with Russia.

SERGEI MARKEDONOV

There is no alternative to the incumbent president Mikheil Saakashvili in the forthcoming presidential polls in Georgia. Like it or not, he stands to win the forthcoming elections. The opposition cannot compete with Saakashvili. 

ALEXANDER RONDELI

The Georgian people do not want destabilization of the situation. So, channeling political activity into election campaign would stabilize the situation. In short, the force that swings the presidential polls, will make it into the Parliament.  

MERAB PACHULIA

DAVID BERDZENISHVILI

The international organizations severely criticize the Georgian authorities’ actions - their means of breaking up the rally and suppression of the TV channels “Imedi”, “Kavkasia”. All in all, the Georgian President has reached a deadlock. 

GHIA NODIA

Now the Georgian opposition needs a leader who can be an alternative to the current President. I doubt that the opposition’s sponsor Badri Patarkatsishvili can become such an alternative leader. Okruashvili is a more attractive political figure.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Barely had the Saakashvili’s team got rid of Okruashvili, when a much stronger opponent, oligarch Badri Patarkatsishvili, who is expected to become leader of the united opposition, came up as a new opponent to Saakashvili.  

ALEXANDER RONDELI

Irakli Okruashvili was afraid of being arrested and decided to pursue a preemptive tactic making accusations against Mikheil Saakashvili. We do not know which of his accusations are true and which are false.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Irakli Okruashvili may use his arrest as the political dividend that he lacked until recently. Now he is unlikely to be reproached for the implicit connections with the authorities, as it was often done in recent times.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

The presidential and parliamentary elections in Georgia will take place in a year and a half. However, the voters’ attitudes and opinions about the policy pursued in the country are already in the process of shaping.

GHIA NODIA

On July 24 Tbilisi hosted the first meeting of the State Committee on the status of South Ossetia. The Committee is intended to work out an approach to resolving the argument about South Ossetia’s status that would be acceptable both to Georgia and South Ossetia. 

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

The Georgian authorities did their utmost to convince the Europeans in Brussels that Dmitry Sanakoev was not Tbilisi’s puppet, but a representative of the Ossetian population in Georgia including the breakaway region.

OLEG FESENKO, VITALY KULIK

Early in May the Tbilisi officials voiced that “it is necessary to carry on the political dialogue with the authorities of the Tskhinvali region”. But Mikheil Saakashvili’s government decided to negotiate with the “alternative President” of South Ossetia Dmitry Sanakoev, who is close to the Georgian government.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

The pending recognition of independence of the Serbian province Kosovo by the United Nations and attempts by Russia to apply the “Kosovo precedent” to the conflict zones in the post-Soviet space might reverberate negatively for Georgia.

ARCHIL GEGESHIDZE

After the Russian ambassador Vyacheslav Kovalenko had come back to Georgia early in this year, hope emerged that the relations between the two countries would improve. But little change followed the ambassador’s coming back.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Initially, the Georgian authorities under plausible pretexts had refrained from filing a suit against Russia. The action was brought to the ECHR only four days before the deadline, which indirectly shows that Tbilisi has been intensely examining that issue.

MERAB PACHULIA

Ambitions of the Georgian authorities to develop cooperation with NATO are largely supported by the population. There is a consensus on the benefits that the country could receive after acquiring membership of the Alliance, though contradictions remain.

KONSTANTIN GABASHVILI

President Mikheil Saakashvili’s active foreign policy goes in line with his aspiration to make Georgia a connecting link between Asia and Europe.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Members of the “National Forum” and some other opposition parties fear that Georgia may join NATO without Abkhazia and South Ossetia, thus losing those territories for good.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Tbilisi and Baku managed to overcome the worsening of their relations in 2005 connected with the possibility of spread of the “Orange-Rose Revolution” to Azerbaijan.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Last week Russia and Georgia’s presidents Vladimir Putin and Mikheil Saakashvili almost simultaneously confirmed their aspiration to improve the volatile Russian-Georgian relations.

STANISLAV BELKOVSKY

Summing up the Russian foreign policy in the post-Soviet space in 2006, we should acknowledge that Russia has ceased to be a regional power.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Russia has overestimated the effect of its sanctions against Georgia. It seems that the Kremlin officials have finally counted and compared their losses and gains from the sanctions against Georgia and ruled out that they better to loosen the grip.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

While signing the constitutional amendments on January 10, Saakashvili made no secret of the fact that they were introduced to “please friends and disappoint enemies”, and immediately he suggested working on a new Constitution.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

The relationship between Russia and Georgia which has been marked by tension and confrontations bears influence on Georgia’s political landscape and forthcoming national elections.

GHIA NODIA

Abkhazia, an unrecognized republic of Georgia, held December 6 a “national gathering” to express its will to gain independence.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Tbilisi intends to show Moscow and the whole international community that the Saakashvili Administration is eager to restart the two countries’ dialogue.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

The smooth neutralization of the ambitious and aggressive Okruashvili has dispelled the halo of power surrounding him.

ZAAL ANJAPARIDZE

Now that the Georgian-Russian confrontation is gaining momentum and is approaching the dangerous point, the sides appear to think over in what mode they will continue coexistence.

ALEKSANDR RONDELI

The elections provided a conclusive proof that the incumbent authorities have no competitors. In comparison with the former authorities they look more active, and the Georgian society likes it, so the majority supports Mikheil Saakashvili’s regime.

MERAB PACHULIA

Under the current circumstances there seems to be no compromise between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway regions.

GHIA NODIA

One cannot say for sure if the Russian military officers accused of espionage and detained by Georgian authorities are guilty or not. But on the whole, it is impossible to disclaim the (Russian - EH) intelligence activities.

MIKHAIL ALEKSANDROV

President of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity has signed the decree on holding the territory’s independence referendum in November.

GHIA NODIA

Georgian political organizations, whose members were arrested on September 6, can’t be considered to be a classical opposition.

GHIA NODIA

As regards Abkhazia, Georgia is not going to undertake a military operation in that region. At least this idea does not enjoy a wide public support.

TEMUR YAKOBASHVILI

I believe that withdrawal of Georgia’s signature from the agreement on Russia’s WTO accession is caused by the Russian government’s different economic sanctions imposed on Georgia.

GHIA NODIA

I believe that Georgia is not very enthusiastic about putting the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline into operation. This project is of importance to Georgia in terms of politics rather than economy.

MERAB PACHULIA

Georgia could exert pressure on the separatist authorities in Tskhinvali by means of military force, but the U.S. position is a peaceful conflict settlement.

MIKHAIL ALEKSANDROV

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is heading to Russia for negotiations practically with one purpose – to settle the issue of Georgia’s territorial integrity.

KONSTANTIN GABASHVILI

We should and we can move forward as two neighboring democratic countries. However, Russia at the moment prefers to keep to quite a different viewpoint. 

VLADIMIR ZHARIKHIN

The economic preferences, which some of the CIS countries have due to the Russian authorities’ decision, such as gas delivery at a cut price, etc. have nothing to do with the CIS Charter.  It is a matter of the bilateral relations. 

SERGEI MARKEDONOV

I would like to analyze the deadlock crisis in the Russian-Georgian relations and to suggest a way out of this crisis.

Georgia has resolutely condemned Russia’s actions in Chechnya. Russia has severely criticized NATO actions towards Serbia. Later on the Georgian authorities tried to do the same thing in South Ossetia as the Russian authorities had done in Chechnya. Moscow decided to treat Georgia in the same way as NATO had treated Serbia.

The Russian foreign policy boringly runs around in circles: the row with Estonia on the historic past, the squabbles between Moscow and Kyiv over the Crimea and Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, the confrontation with Georgia because of its breakaway republics etc. After having made a full circle we are back to square one - another conflict with Georgia.

The Georgian government has apparently been offering olive branches to the Russian government over the last two weeks, with the demotion of hawkish defence minister Irakli Okruashvili to the ministry of economy (he’s since resigned).

Some have connected the broadcasting of the hoax Chronicle programme on Imedi TV with the local elections, others with opposition leaders Zurab Noghaideli and Nino Burjandze’s visits to Moscow.

Unsurprisingly, the majority of the population either spends their whole income on food and utilities, or has to borrow for food quite regularly.

Despite number of local and foreign actual problematic, election campaign and corresponding legislation are actively highlighted in media.

Following long-running debates the Government has agreed to meet opposition halfway and set a 30 percent threshold for local government elections.

The Georgian government is conducting an investigation into a series of video clips posted on Facebook that insult the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili appears to have survived more than three months of daily street protests and calls for his resignation and new elections.

Georgia's withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) last Tuesday highlights the uncertainty of the post-Soviet alliance's future.

More Georgians favor close relations with United States, European Union.

Although Georgia went to war with Russia last year, a new nationwide survey indicates mixed feelings about Russia.

Starting from April, 28 till May, 5 IPM has conducted next in turn wave of omnibus survey and used political questions only for estimation of political organization’s ratings.

Just 22% of Moldovans are confident in the honesty of their elections.

About 20,000 people rallied outside the Georgian parliament in Tbilisi on Monday in the fifth consecutive day of protests, demanding the resignation of President Mikheil Saakashvili.

The streets of Moldova and Georgia are boiling with protest and anger, while Kosovo continues to grapple with its self-proclaimed statehood.

Interview with Irakli Alasania, leader of the Alliance for Georgia.

Saakashvili’s address did not have a radical tone this time. Populist rhetoric was also missing. Saakashvili said almost nothing about his vision of how territorial integrity would be restored.

The US-Georgia Charter is not a Mutual Defence Pact. But It Draws Red Line for Russia.

Deepening Georgia’s integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions is a mutual priority, and we plan to undertake a program of enhanced security cooperation intended to increase Georgian capabilities and to strengthen Georgia’s candidacy for NATO membership.

Georgia's United Nations envoy Irakli Alasania has become the latest potential player in the country's ever-changing gallery of opposition leaders, following the December 8 announcement of a coalition between two centrist parties.

The August events have given a boost to major shifts in the alignment of forces and priorities in NATO territory, although these consequences will not become manifest in full at once.

As Georgia marks the fifth anniversary of the Rose Revolution the mood is somber and the celebrations of past years are conspicuously absent. This is understandable. The revolution has lost a lot of its luster and Georgians are in a funk.

Barack Obama's election may have prompted celebrations from Chicago to Nairobi. But in Tbilisi, it was disappointment that carried the day, with many Georgians ruefully contemplating what John McCain's defeat would mean for them.

On August 12, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced his country's withdrawal from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). However, recent Gallup Polls reveal widespread support for some type of formal relationship among almost all CIS populations, even Georgians.

Georgia and Russia have agreed to an EU-sponsored peace plan to end five days of fierce fighting in Georgia that has killed at least several hundred people and left thousands homeless.

1,625 Georgian military servicemen are taking part in a large-scale international military training, alongside US forces, known as Immediate Response at the site of the fourth infantry brigade of Vaziani base.

President Saakashvili is considering a Georgian version of the Putin-Medvedev scheme to maintain political power after his presidential term expires.

The new Parliament kicked off its inaugural session on June 7, a few days earlier than expected. This rush to convene left no time for opposition members to challenge the first meeting with the large-scale demonstrations they have been planning.

With the parliamentary elections less than two weeks away, Georgians are swamped with opinion poll results and left to deduce what they mean.

The voters’ concern is that in Georgia, the party traditions and culture are low and all parties are more or less dependent on their leaders. In this regard, it is enough to look through the election list submitted to the CEC.

Days before the NATO summit in Bucharest began, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili rolled out a new peace initiative for breakaway Abkhazia.

The number of majoritarian MPs elected in single-mandate constituencies in the new parliament will increase from 50 to 75, according to the amendment, and those elected through the proportional party-list system will go down from 100 to 75.

Davit Bakradze, the Georgian foreign minister: “As a result of an agreement between the presidents, [direct] air traffic will be resumed between Russia and Georgia in the nearest future, it is expected that flights will resume from the second half of March.”

Georgian society is generally characterized by passive demographic activity. This means that the difference between birth rates and death rates was not high.

In a long-expected move, Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze announced on January 24 a large-scale cabinet reorganization.

The municipal authorities in Tbilisi have refused a request by the opposition to hold a rally on Rustaveli Avenue on the day of the inauguration. Instead, the opposition alliance says it will hold a protest at the city hippodrome.

Most international observers deemed the election essentially democratic, and foreign heads of states have already called to congratulate Saakashvili on his reelection.

The foreign policy priorities of the presidential candidates. Most put Euro-Atlantic and NATO integration front and center, but good relations with Russia is, for some, another major consideration.

Georgian voters will have to answer a question if Georgia should become a member of NATO at the January 5th plebiscite, which will be held alongside the presidential poll.

With Georgia gearing up for a presidential election campaign in January and a degree of normality returning after the recent crisis, the Imedi television station remains at the centre of national and international controversy.

In independent Georgia’s history, this will be the first election where voters will be asked to focus on the programs, slogans and promises of the candidates.

As anniversaries of the events in Georgia and Ukraine approach, high hopes and great expectations have been replaced with apprehension.

In an apparent bid to reduce potential support for opposition candidates in Georgia’s upcoming special presidential election, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is reshuffling his government.

Saakashvili appeared to offer a concession to his political opponents. He announced he would schedule early presidential elections, moving the vote from next autumn to January 5, 2008.

Tens of thousands of protesters have turned out in Tbilisi for the largest opposition rally since the 2003 Rose Revolution swept pro-Western Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to power.

Georgia says it will move to formally ask Russian peacekeepers to leave the breakaway region of Abkhazia following reports that they seized and beat five Georgian police officers.

While the opposition-minded Republican Party insists on a semi-presidential model, the New Rights and others hail the idea of a constitutional monarchy.

Thousands of peoples took to the streets last week to protest Okruashvili’s arrest and the demonstrations are likely to continue this week.

A Georgian Times source says that Burjanadze will be one of the most serious rivals for Saakashvili if she takes part in presidential elections.

Tensions are hitting a high in Tbilisi, as Georgian politicians are expecting the comeback of a former political heavyweight in Saakashvili’s government, ex Defense Minister, Irakli Okruashvili.

How will the balance of power change after new leaders take the reins in France, England, Turkey and in Russia in 2008?  

Interview with Jaroslaw Walesa, the member of parliament of Poland.

President Saakashvili unveiled new plans for tax reforms and Tbilisi’s intention to launch official talks with the Tbilisi-loyal self-imposed leaders of South Ossetia.

What we are witnessing today is the very critical moment the US and, especially, the UK have long been preparing for — a kind of  “British Caucasian Project".

The concealed redistribution of power is taking place in Georgia, which strengthens influence of the Defense Minister. 

Eurasian Home with a kind permission of The Institute for Policy Studies (Tbilisi) publishes a report, prepared by Nana Sumbadze, “Georgia Before and After the August War”. The report reflects the results of the survey of the Georgian population, carried out in 2007 and 2008.