The Week in Brief
Friday, July 4
Georgia’s separatist conflicts are at their most violent in years following a series of bomb blasts in Abkhazia and two targeted attacks—one deadly—in South Ossetia. Separatist officials accuse Georgian forces of plotting the destruction; Tbilisi says criminal warfare within the breakaway regions is blame. [See article on page 6.]
A GUAM summit in Batumi finished with talk of tighter regional cooperation and energy projects moving ahead. But the ‘M’ in the Georgian, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova organization was noticeably bearish on the proceedings, with the Moldovan president skipping the event and questioning the use of membership in the group.
A ferry route from Russia’s Sochi to an Abkhazia’s Gagra was restored when a hydrofoil made the first sea trip for tourists in years. Georgian officials say any unauthorized commercial deals with the separatist enclave are illegal.
Georgia’s central bank cut 100 jobs in a reorganization mandated by controversial fiscal policy amendments. The ruling party’s vice-speaker called the job losses unnecessary and the bank’s acting president ‘incompetent.’
Ethnic minorities in Georgia are less likely to know about and support the country’s NATO membership bid than other Georgian citizens, said a local organization which works with minorities. The wariness of Georgia’s ethnic Armenians, Azeris and others could be another potential stumbling block in the country’s campaign for NATO integration.
A GUAM summit in Batumi finished with talk of tighter regional cooperation and energy projects moving ahead. But the ‘M’ in the Georgian, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova organization was noticeably bearish on the proceedings, with the Moldovan president skipping the event and questioning the use of membership in the group.
A ferry route from Russia’s Sochi to an Abkhazia’s Gagra was restored when a hydrofoil made the first sea trip for tourists in years. Georgian officials say any unauthorized commercial deals with the separatist enclave are illegal.
Georgia’s central bank cut 100 jobs in a reorganization mandated by controversial fiscal policy amendments. The ruling party’s vice-speaker called the job losses unnecessary and the bank’s acting president ‘incompetent.’
Ethnic minorities in Georgia are less likely to know about and support the country’s NATO membership bid than other Georgian citizens, said a local organization which works with minorities. The wariness of Georgia’s ethnic Armenians, Azeris and others could be another potential stumbling block in the country’s campaign for NATO integration.