South Ossetia Goes to Europe

Dmitry Sanakoev, head of the temporary administration of South Ossetia, in Tbilisi

Head of the temporary administration of South Ossetia Dmitry Sanakoev appeared before the European Parliament committee on cooperation with Georgia yesterday in Brussels. In Tskhinvali, Sanakoev's authority is not recognized and he is considered to have been installed by Tbilisi. The opportunity he was given to address the Europarliament shows that the European community intends to discuss the Georgian-Ossetian conflict specifically with him, rather than the de facto head of the unrecognized republic Eduard Kokoity. That means that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's plan to return South Ossetia to Georgia is coming along successfully. [More]

Georgia: "Alternative" South Ossetia Leader Says Europe Key to Peace

An unprecedented three-day visit to Brussels by Georgia-backed "alternative" South Ossetia leader Dmitri Sanakoyev is the latest step in Tbilisi’s campaign to align conflict resolution in Georgia with European, rather than Russian, interests. Despite Georgian optimism, some international observers note that there is little chance the mission will result in Sanakoyev’s inclusion in peace talks over the South Ossetia conflict zone.

In a June 26 speech to the European Union-Georgian Parliamentary Cooperation Committee in Brussels, Sanakoyev told parliamentarians that it is his "deep belief" that Europe is "the key" to conflict resolution in Georgia. Sanakoyev shied away from details about the region’s 15-year conflict with Georgia or his own role in that struggle. Instead, the onetime separatist fighter concentrated on the need for dialogue between Georgians and Ossetians and the potential role of the EU as a mediator. [More]

US Official Chastises Russia on South Ossetia, Kokoity Denies Corruption Charges

Russia is threatening Georgia's territorial integrity by "giving renewed support to separatist regimes and issuing veiled threats to recognize breakaway regions," says a top US official. Tbilisi agrees, unveiling its unilateral annulment of a Georgian-Russian treaty on South Ossetia in a denouncement of Russian investments in South Ossetia.

"…We want to work with Russia to help resolve these conflicts [in the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia] peacefully. Russian-Georgian relations, after a period of extreme tension, have shown tentative signs of improvement, but we hope that Moscow does more to normalize relations. Russia should end the economic and transportation sanctions it imposed against Georgia last fall," declared Daniel Fried (pictured), US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs on June 21. [More]

Georgia Suggests Russia Overthrow Kokoity Regime

Eduard Kokoity, president of the unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia, sensing that he is being squeezed off the political scene

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will meet with his Georgian colleague Gela Bezhuashvili in Istanbul today at the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization summit. Kommersant has learned that Tbilisi will propose that Moscow break off its ties with president of the unrecognized Republic of South Ossetia and deal exclusively with head of the temporary administration of South Ossetia Dmitry Sanakoev. Georgia took efforts to make the suggestion hard to refuse. [More]

Economic Pacts with United States Reflect Progress in Georgia

A three-part package of economic cooperation initiatives signed recently by Georgia and the United States underscores the strong economic ties between the two countries and Georgia's steady economic progress since its "Rose Revolution" of 2003, US officials say.

On June 21, the United States and Georgia signed an "open skies" cooperation agreement expanding and liberalizing bilateral civil aviation relations. The same day, the US Trade and Development Agency granted Georgia almost half a million dollars to develop the Georgian tourism sector. On June 20, both countries signed a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) that establishes a platform for expanding bilateral trade and investment relations. [More]

Open Skies Between Georgia and US

Georgia and the United States signed a comprehensive Open Skies agreement, expanding and liberalizing bilateral civil aviation relations between the two countries.

The agreement was signed by Georgian Economy Minister Giorgi Arveladze and Assistant Secretary for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs Daniel S. Sullivan in Washington on June 21. [More]

Tbilisi Annuls Treaty on S.Ossetia

An agreement allowing for Russian investment in economic rehabilitation in the South Ossetian conflict zone has been annulled by the Georgian president. The disclosure, inexplicably, has only come to light now, three months after President Saakashvili issued a decree on April 20.

The decision is seen as a sign of Tbilisi's unease with Russian funding of certain programs in South Ossetia, which have been undertaken without prior agreement with the Georgian side. [More]