NEWS: Georgia News Digest 05-08-08

A service of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies

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Conflicts news
1. Additional Russian troops set up two base camps in Abkhazia
2. Russia may bring 500 more troops into Georgian region - senior Moscow source
3. RF peacekeepers reinforce positions in Georgia-Abkhazia conflict area
4. Peacekeeping post removed in zone of Georgia-S Ossetia conflict
5. Georgia has no plans to deploy troops in upper part of Kodori Gorge
6. Abkhazia says breakaway region to gain independence eventually
7. Tourists still visit Abkhazia
8. Sokhumi hopes Medvedev to take ‘resolute step’
Georgia-Russia relations
9. Georgia seeks friendly relations with Russia
10. Tbilisi doesn't want to fight
11. Georgia hopes for international support in its conflict with Russia
12. Georgia rendered Russia subject to call-up: Tbilisi asking the West to avert war
13. Georgians watch RF president inauguration ceremony with interest
14. Newly elected Russian president needs time to get accustomed to presidential office
15. Talk to Medvedev [excerpt]
16. Russia is not an empire
17. The west can respond more effectively to Russia’s assault on Georgia
18. Georgia, NATO, and Russia
19. Georgia: War with Russia?
20. Bad neighbours: The acrimony between Russia and Georgia is threatening to boil over again
21. Patriarch warns of war in the Caucasus
22. Is Georgia being dragged into war?
23. A group of 12 Russian journalists arrived in Tbilisi
24. Georgians watch RF president inauguration ceremony with interest
25. Newly elected Russian president needs time to get accustomed to presidential office
26. Talk to Medvedev [excerpt]
International reaction
27. MEPs debate the situation in Georgia amid escalating tension in the region
28. Western overlooking of Russia could lead to coup d'etat in Georgia -- Lithuanian MEP
29. Estonian MEP: War being stirred up in Georgia under peacekeeping label
30. Estonia in Council of Europe slams Russian action in Georgia
31. EU Troika to visit Georgia
32. EU concerned over Russian buildup of troops in Abkhazia
33. U.S., EU fret over Abkhazia
34. U.S. calls on Russia to back off in Georgia: White House assails 'provocative actions'
35. Nobody wants escalation of Russia-Georgia tension-US diplomat
36. Speaker meets US States' Secretary
37. NATO: Is bigger really better?
38. Catholicos says Georgia's accession to NATO unacceptable
39. Armenia could play more important role in the region
40. Speaker urges "effective" negotiating formats for conflict zones
Politics
41. EU allocates eur 2 million for Georgian elections
42. On May 21 Georgia will get rid of Mikheil Saakashvili and his ministers
43. Vakhtang Khmaladze demands irregularities in the voters list be fixed
44. Oppositional candidate claims, Akhmeta TV channels under the pressure of governmental authority
45. Georgia plans cut of defense spending in next years
46. Opposition candidate met with NDI
47. In Adjara to commemorate ousting of dictator, Saakashvili calls for clean elections
48. Mikheil Saakashvili visited Adjara
49. Saakashvili vows to turn Kutaisi into ‘second capital’
50. Opposition MP accuses Adjarian minister of pressue on pedagogues
51. Getting back separatist regions still Georgia’s top problem
Misc.
52. Lighter tax burden comes with potential pitfalls for taxpayers
53. Georgia’s sacrifices in Iraq
54. Project puts conflict zone produce on supermarket shelves
55. 55-year-old man died in Gurjaani market

Jonathan Kulick, Ph.D., Director of Studies, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies, 3a Chitadze, Tbilisi 0108, Georgia (Republic), jonathan.kulick@gfsis.org, office: +995 32 47 35 55, mobile: +995 95 33 33 40, USA voicemail: 310.928.6814